Team-building 101

Throughout his career, Eric Greytok has preferred working in the field with his crew to sitting behind a desk pushing a pencil, or crunching away on a keyboard. 

 

"I don't like the detail stuff," Greytok said recently at an educational seminar for assistant superintendents. "I'd much rather be out on the golf course."

 

That said, it took Greytok a while to realize that assistants whose skills complimented his, not mirrored them, were the best fit.

 

"When I hired assistants, who did I hire? I hired people like myself," Greytok said during last month's Northern California Golf Association Assistant Superintendent Bootcamp in Monterey. "It was a train wreck. It took me years to find out in retrospect what was going on. It wasn't (the assistant's) fault things weren't getting done. It was my fault.

 

"You have to hire to your weakness. When I started hiring assistants who were different than me, it was amazing how much more enjoyable my job became."

 

Now, rather than beat his head against a wall over staff management issues, Greytok teaches others how to build and train a staff that reflects a superintendent's goals and management style.

 

Developing a team, Greytok said, is a six-step process that includes self reflection, getting to know your team, defining roles and responsibilities, proactive training, acknowledging and rewarding your team members, and celebrating success.

 

Greytok has enjoyed a great deal of success throughout his career. He has worked at places like Pebble Beach, Winged Foot, Riviera, Merion and Congressional, and he has accomplished things that no other superintendent has done before or since. 

 

Greytok, who most recently served as director of golf course maintenance at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, began his turf career in 1996 as spray tech at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. He followed up with brief stints as an assistant at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland and Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, before being named superintendent at Pebble Beach Golf Links in 1999, the following year, at age 27, became the youngest superintendent to host a U.S. Open. 

 

A year later, his career journey took him to Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, site of the 2006 U.S. Open. At age 33, he was the youngest superintendent to oversee the Open twice.

 

A graduate of Penn State's turf management program, Greytok has since been the grow-in superintendent at Remington Ranch in Powell Butte, Oregon, followed by Belfair Plantation in Bluffton, South Carolina, and Eagle Point, a job he left earlier this year to allow an injured disc in his back to heal. 

 

 

It is impossible for a superintendent to build a good team around him if he doesn't understand himself first.

 

"Are you grumpy, happy, a yeller, do you have realistic expectations or unrealistic expectations?" he said.

 

"Until you understand yourself and how you work, I don't think you can do the right kind of hiring. You need to understand your own strengths and weaknesses. You can't correct them, but you can manage them," he said, pointing to his hiring mistakes noted above.

 

"These are things I didn't know when I became a superintendent. If I'd known these things, it would have been easier and more stress-free.

 

 

Just as important as knowing yourself is knowing the members of your team. A good way to get to know them better, Greytok says, is by working alongside them.

 

"How do you lead? Do you point fingers and tell people what to do, or are you in the trenches with them," he said. "You'll be respected more if you're the guy who jumps in the trenches with them."

 

Greytok says it helps to look at individual members of a team as pieces to a puzzle that can be put together in more than one way.

 

"You have to fully know your team," he said. "Some people are all about hours. They can ride a mower all day. Some like to be congratulated for work well done. You have to figure out what motivates them.

 

 

Clearly defined roles are for everyone in the operation, from the assistant superintendent to the mechanic to every worker on the team. It gives each person a degree of ownership in what is going on and also builds a system of accountability, says Greytok.

 

For example, the irrigation tech should be responsible for everything associated with the irrigation system; the same goes for the spray tech, with both responsible for maintaining all equipment, inventory and records.

 

Follow-up is an important part of this step to ensure that work is being carried out to the superintendent's expectations.

 

"Don't give responsibilities and expectations without follow-up. You have to follow-up," he said. "Each person on the team is dependent on one another. We're dependent on the mechanic to make sure mowers are set and working properly. We depend on the operator to mow straight lines and we depend on the superintendent to manage the budget so we all have a job at the end of the year. And I am dependent on my whole staff to do their best on a daily basis so I have a job. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about. That is the cold, harsh reality of it. If something doesn't get done to the members' satisfaction, where are they going? The superintendent. And they're not going to come to you too many times and say ?that's OK, you'll get ?em tomorrow.' They're going to say ?I want it fixed, and I want it fixed today.' "

 

 

Greytok says it is important for the superintendent to do staff training rather than delegate it, and to do it in the right order, starting with assistants, then secondary management followed by core staff. 

 

"That's your job. You're a leader, and that is what you do, you do the training," he said.

 

"The club hired you and your expertise. Once they get what you want and become proficient at it, it becomes easy. It's not going to happen in the first 30 days. It's not going to happen in the first 60. I might not happen in the first year. When it does, then you'll get the product you want."

 

 

"Always acknowledge and reward people," Greytok said. "People want to feel like they are making a difference. Be sincere about it. If you pay a compliment, be sincere and that person will work harder for you."

 

A successful superintendent is constantly evaluating the staff. Years of experience have taught Greytok the art of using feedback as a training tool.

 

"It's the key to ensuring people always stay on track," he said.

 

"Never assume a job is getting done correctly. Always communicate and always give feedback. It's your job to ensure everything is done correctly, not the assistant's."

 

 

A key to maintaining a long and successful career includes getting away from it once in a while, or "playing" as Greytok called it.

 

Whether it's hunting, fishing, playing golf, vacationing with family or friends, stepping back and keeping job-life balance in perspective can help prevent burnout.

 

"Remember, you're only as good as your last day," he said. "It's the brutal reality of being a golf course superintendent. You have to perform every day. If the greens are rolling 13, you're a hero. If they're rolling 9, you better run for shelter."