Governance Archives | KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE

Best Practices for Successful Clubs

In order for clubs to maintain a high level of performance and overall success, they must adopt best practices that promote continuous improvement and accountability.

According to Tom Wallace, partner with the consulting firm KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE, there are several essential practices that can ensure clubs stay effective and on the path to long-term success. Those practices include:

› Holding a best practices retreat. This retreat is an excellent opportunity for club executives to reflect on goals and progress, evaluate performance and plan for the future.

› Board/committee member assessments. Screening potential board and committee members for behavioral traits ensures those in leadership roles align with the club values and culture. This creates a cohesive and effective governance team.

› Mandatory annual board/committee orientation. This ensures new board and committee members understand their roles, responsibility and the club’s strategic goals.

› New member orientation. Welcoming new members with a comprehensive orientation helps to smoothly integrate them into the club. It ensures they understand the club’s culture, values and expectations as it fosters a sense of belonging and engagement from the onset.

› New GM/COO onboarding. A structured and organized onboarding process for a new GM/COO ensures he/she will be well prepared to lead the club quickly. Onboarding should include familiarization with the club operations, culture and strategic goals.

› Board and committee 360-degree reviews. Performing 360-degree reviews for board and committee members provides comprehensive feedback from multiple perspectives which identifies areas for improvement and fosters a culture of continuous learning and development.

› GM & board member coaching. Providing professional coaching for the GM/COO and board members can enhance leadership skills and governance effectiveness, while providing personalized guidance and support to address specific challenges and goals.

› Volunteer leadership development. Developing volunteer leaders is crucial for long-term club success. It is essential to provide training and development opportunities for volunteer leaders as it promotes a steady pipeline of capable and committed leaders for the future.

“Implementing these best practices ensures that club governance remains effective and the club continues to thrive,” explained Wallace. “By committing to regular evaluations, orientation and onboarding programs and leadership development, clubs can achieve their strategic goals and provide exceptional value and experiences for their members.”

Notable – September 2024

Tom Wallace is a partner with KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE, a consulting firm providing executive search, strategic planning and data analysis services to the private club and hospitality industries. Tom can be contacted at tom@kkandw.com.

Blog Home

Best Practices for Successful ClubsRoxanne2024-09-12T18:40:27+00:00

How to Move Forward When the Board Retreats

Over the many years I have worked with private club boards, the annual board retreat is one common strategy that high-performing, successful clubs have in place.

Attendance is typically mandatory for board members who are serious about their leadership role as volunteers serving their fellow members.

The retreat’s purpose is for board members to take time away from their clubs to look at club issues strategically and with both future and historical perspectives.

It is difficult to objectively review many of the issues flowing from club committees and staff to the board without appropriate context. Especially if some of these decisions impact the long-term well-being of the club. Everyone’s best interest is served if the directors can gather once a year away from the club to discuss their leadership roles and the direction they see for the club operations.

The progress that can be made when club issues are viewed dispassionately and with some reflection is truly amazing. This methodical review cannot be achieved during normal monthly board meetings. Only an annual “brainstorming” session where board members can freely exchange comments and observations will produce results of substance and tenure.

You can select a variety of ways to conduct this retreat, but I have found the following process works effectively for many clubs. Select a half-day. Usually, a Friday or Saturday works best. Try to time this retreat when the activity at the club is slowest but also when board members are not away on vacation, sometimes a difficult balancing act.

Hold the retreat at a site away from the club. This is important. Very often another club in your area will be happy to provide you their boardroom in exchange for you extending the same courtesy in the future. You might also have access to a board member’s corporate meeting room or you can rent space at a nearby hotel or resort. A recent board retreat I helped facilitate was held in the tasting room of a neighboring vineyard. (A wonderful environment, a great feast for the senses and some wonderful wine at the end of the retreat.)

My preference is for a half-day meeting rather than a full day. If the agenda is thoughtfully developed, most board members participate with enthusiasm if they know there is a time limit to reviewing the issues. Board member attention will significantly wane after lunch no matter how enthused the facilitator or how important the topics are to the club.

I often suggest that the retreat start by 8 a.m. and finish with lunch at noon, where discussion can continue, often followed by a round of golf and dinner. A great way to cover important issues and build camaraderie among board members.

This annual opportunity to review issues dispassionately within a strategic framework will provide club leaders with a powerful and effective process for leading their club. It will also ensure that the general manager/COO (who should attend this retreat) will align with the board on many of the operational issues that are dealt with daily.

Club boards that have “retreated” annually have seen dramatic results in moving their clubs forward. In today’s high-tech environment taking a break from the daily routine of club management and governance is one of the most important strategies the board can adopt. The annual retreat allows directors to stay productive and engaged in their important roles while getting the perspective they need to make sound decisions. This much I know for sure.

THE BOARDROOM MAGAZINE – July/August 2024

“This Much I Know for Sure” is a regular feature in BoardRoom magazine beginning Fall 2022. Dick will share some of his reflections based on his 50-plus years of working in the private club business.

Blog Home

How to Move Forward When the Board RetreatsRoxanne2024-08-13T17:00:32+00:00

It’s YOUR Club … But It’s MY Life!

An eager and extremely qualified GM begins a new job with a great club. The club president and board give the new GM goals and set initiatives.

Everyone is excited about the new working relationship. Within a year or two, the GM completes the initiatives set forth … yet confusion and frustration begin to arise in factions of the membership. Then those feelings begin to spread to more members. Soon the staff also begins to raise concerns that are then fueled by members’ frustrations … all because members and employees don’t know or understand the board’s directions to the GM. The problems snowball and suddenly the GM is let go … even though the GM did exactly what the board asked the GM to do.

This story may seem far-fetched, but this kind of situation happens over and over again in the club industry. All too often decisions are made to eliminate a GM based on emotional factors caused by gaps in communication and misalignment. When it comes to significantly impacting a person’s life, career and family, terminating a GM should not be quick or reactive.

Members and employees must be included in the initiatives the board and GM have agreed upon, or they will be left to make their own conclusions and assumptions. When objectives are not shared or not clearly articulated, it leads to a lot of behind-the-scenes conversations which lead to misinformation. When misinformation is fueled by emotion, things get out of hand and escalate quickly.

So, when bringing in a new GM, the board must share with the membership and staff the direction/goals that the board has given to the new GM. Transparency is essential so the path ahead is clear, there is a level of understanding and no surprises. During a transition and the onboarding of a new GM, widespread understanding is essential.

Alignment and accountability of the club’s constituencies (board, committees, members at large, employees, etc.) are crucial for a successful transition. Constituency groups may get overlooked or are unaware when boards only communicate directions, master goals and initiatives among themselves and the GM. Consequently, there must be effective communication, which is never easy, along with clear expectations and alignment between constituency’ goals, and accountability at every level.

To ensure alignment and accountability:

1. Schedule a board orientation that includes the new GM within the first 30 days of the new GM’s start. We have found this to be one of the most effective ways to ensure alignment.

2. Clearly define roles and responsibilities and tie them to the master goals, which the board sets with the GM.

3. Have a plan, data and information for true accountability. This document clearly spells out the objectives, tactics, accountabilities, time frames and costs, and it should be updated for each board meeting to ensure continued focus of this critical success factor. Essentially, use a performance management system to document the GM’s accountability and the accountability of anyone else in the organization who is responsible for certain aspects of the plan.

4. Communicate the role members and employees play in helping the GM achieve goals.

The GM must be aware of the performance management criteria. Scheduled performance reviews should occur regularly (annually at minimum, quarterly at most) to ensure alignment of priorities and that goals are being met. Master goals for the GM should inspire the performance management criteria.

Use an evaluation matrix to give the board a clear snapshot of the GM’s performance and provide a basis for decisions that may need to be made in the future. If predetermined performance goals aren’t met, the performance evaluation matrix should detail a specific timeline to offer the GM the opportunity and time for improvement.

When it comes to GM accountability, there should be a standard operating procedure for raising an issue about the club/operations/GM. The process should be respected and the results clearly communicated. The board must also be brave, prompt and communicate effectively the actions being taken. This is much more successful than the board defending itself or the GM after “shots have been fired.” Establishing
trust right out of the gate with members and employees is crucial. Ensure a transparent, data-driven process and follow up and follow through, recognizing that communication takes many forms for constituencies to fully understand expectations, priorities and overall allocations of money, time and focus.

Boards must be vigilant on the front end to create success on the back end.

For example: If pace of play is an issue at the club and the pro is out on the golf course actively moderating pace of play, then there shouldn’t be much shock that the pro is hurrying people along. And the pro most certainly shouldn’t be reprimanded for doing so. If the golf committee’s goal is to speed up the pace of play, then the members can’t be allowed to criticize the pro for working to speed up play. This initiative needs to be communicated effectively in advance so no member should be surprised.

Being good communicators and “playing offense” is much more effective than keeping directives closely held by a small group of members and the GM, and later being on the defense when people claim to be unaware of what is happening and why. People rarely win when they only play defense.

Clubs must make every effort to openly share expectations, provide data-driven feedback and identify areas of improvement with reasonable timelines to ensure managers are well aware of how their performance aligns with club expectations.

Club presidents and boards must consider the ramifications of just “switching out a manager” or making quick decisions without thinking about the lasting effect a termination has on the person, their career, their family … and on the club.

As a follow-up to this article, we will offer best practices for setting goals and creating a performance management system in the next issue of this publication.

BoardRoom – January/February 2024

Blog Home

It’s YOUR Club … But It’s MY Life!Hannah2024-03-19T20:08:37+00:00

Steps to Strengthen Club Governance

For the Outlook 2024 Pulse Survey question, “What do you think are the major issues affecting private clubs today?” one reply read:

“Lack of volunteerism within the club, from committee involvement to sitting on the board of directors. Our newer members are not as engaged in governance and would rather someone else do it.”

To address this very common lament of club managers and help to strengthen overall club governance in the year ahead, there will be a stronger focus on these best practices:

Continued emphasis on clubs operating more like a business where data, financials and the strategic plan/capital reserve study are used to make decisions.
Using a third-party portal of governance-related items. This will be one of the biggest opportunities for clubs in 2024. Portals can be accessed by desktop or on a mobile device and give board members easy access to all governance documents. Portals allow governance to be more efficient by dealing with minutia outside of the boardroom and focusing on strategic issues during meeting time.
Boards will become more strategically involved in how the club is recruiting, onboarding and retaining staff. There will be a plan for how the club can become an employer of choice, and boards will become strategic partners with paid staff in attracting and retaining talent.
Additionally, we will see more frequent and transparent communication between all constituencies, club management, the board and the membership base as a whole.

Key components of improved communication will be:

Sharing master goals for the board, committees, and GMs/department heads annually with the membership.
Surveying members (not anonymously) through day-to-day satisfaction and feedback surveys, while moving away from using committees as sounding boards.
Transitioning from a nominating committee to a leadership development committee that works year-round to actively nurture volunteer leadership and make it easier to find good people to fill volunteer positions.

Club Trends – Winter 2024

Blog Home

Steps to Strengthen Club GovernanceHannah2024-08-16T14:05:03+00:00

2024 Trends in Private Club Governance

What can we expect in governance in the year ahead? Stronger communication, more strategic boards and clubs that run like businesses basing decisions off data are trends Tom Wallace expects to see continue in the year ahead. Wallace, a partner with the firm Kopplin, Kuebler and Wallace, believes there are some key aspects that will become increasingly important in the governance realm in 2024. They are:

Surveying and Understanding Members. Clubs will move away from using committees as sounding boards and will do more loyalty and satisfaction surveys of members. “These surveys won’t be anonymous, they will include members’ names,” Wallace said. “If they aren’t willing to put their name on it, then they are thinking like a customer, not like an owner.” Removing the anonymity also means demographics add key data for club executives to understand the member’s age/background/etc. to help put the comments/suggestions/complaints in perspective. Without those demographics, it limits how club executives can lead and make decisions based on member feedback.

Responsibilities, Orientation and Education for Members. There will be a bigger focus on education and training for members, especially when they first join the club. Wallace believes that more explanation of the club’s responsibility matrix will happen during new member orientation rather than waiting until a member serves in a volunteer position. “There will be better education up front to make sure every member understands the governance model where committees are advisory, the staff is responsible for operations and the board is strategic,” he said. He believes more clubs will be better explained to new members that they are expected to serve on the board and/or committees. Not to imply forced volunteerism, but rather setting the expectation that members are asked to volunteer.

Human Capital Prioritization. Board members will become more involved in the club’s strategy for recruiting, hiring, retaining and training staff in the year(s) ahead. There will need to be a plan for the club to be an employer of choice. “While this is still a paid staff responsibility, boards will have to become partners in this initiative because it’s only going to become more challenging and cost more money. It is not getting any easier to hire people in the hospitality industry,” Wallace explained.

Board Portals. The biggest opportunity for boards in 2024, is the use of a third-party board portal service for all governance items. This is not a password protected area of the club website specific to board members which has been popular for several years. Rather, a third-party portal is an app online with a password which grants access to all club governance documents such as board/committee agendas, minutes, voting items, training videos, recurring education, supporting resources and more. All of these documents live in the portal so it is an easy way to communicate and stay more organized, functional and effective.

As boards trend toward less frequent meetings that may be longer to tackle strategic issues, using a third-party portal allows for more focus in the board meetings and for the board to have the ability to communicate and stay active in between meetings. It allows the minutia of committee agendas and other tedious issues to be handled in the portal and approved in advance of the board meetings. This way time spent in board meetings can be focused on strategic items. Wallace gave the example of approving an unexpected repair expense through the portal rather than scheduling a pop-up board meeting or waiting until the end of the month for approval.

Third party portals are customary for nonprofit boards and are beneficial because the platform tracks all voting, decisions, minutes, consent agenda items, what was approved or not, how long it takes people to view items and respond, who signs off on what, attendance and more. The portal is accessible by desktop or mobile device and it sends a text or notification to the person when something is posted they need to review. “The portal makes all the board and committee details very efficient, accessible and organized, which is why it presents such an opportunity for clubs to evolve their governance to the next level,” Wallace concluded. Some sample third-party portals are BellesBoard and Board Effect.

Private Club Advisor – January 2024

Blog Home

2024 Trends in Private Club GovernanceHannah2024-08-16T14:15:44+00:00

Private Club Leadership in a Nutshell

Our hobbies often provide us with a mindset for making sense of conundrums that we face as leaders in the club world.

Mine are the lessons learned while riding motorcycles through mountains across North America. From the Rockies of the lower 48 and Canada on to Alaska, across to Nova Scotia, from the east coast to the west coast, and down to the hills of Texas and Alabama. As diverse as that vast terrain is, simple truths guide motorcyclists to stay upright while riding the “twisties.”

The attraction of beautiful and awesome mountain roads is that at every turn the physics of the terrain threaten to put to ground the motorcyclist. It is counter intuitive to foil the impulse of nagging fear and look beyond the moment. We carve a mountain road successfully while enjoying the flow of focus, discipline, and physical exertion. Where we choose to look and focus our attention is where we go. Looking to the far end of the curve ensures the rider makes the right moves in the moment as the road comes too fast and furious to mentally process. Gaze at an object and your tires will hit it; look down a second too long at the road in front of you and you will meet it personally.

Vision and strategy are like that. We lead best when we have our gaze fixed on the future to make the right moves in the present. I believe General Managers are hired to operate in the present and to think in the future. The confusion comes when trying to figure out how to do that successfully when we as leaders are pulled in all kinds of directions. How we make sense of the road of leadership coming fast and furious is dependent on where we put our attention.

Analogies eventually run out of road, so setting aside the idea of sitting atop a machine let’s make the transition to that of a General Manager. That is, to make sense of the complexity of leadership to enable us to lead with confidence.

The data set I reference comes from my work as an executive coach for managers across the country as well as the results of KK&W Culture Surveys we administer prior to searches. Viewed together, a picture of what clubs require in leadership becomes clear. Regardless of the type of club a General Manager is leading, the concerns are common. They know they must be an inspirational leader for operations as well as a strategic partner with the board. Similarly, there is a commonality amongst club boards as they identify the attributes they value most in a General Manager. It is satisfying to note that there is harmony between board expectations and the aspirations of the executive.

While recently speaking to the Greater Michigan Chapter of CMAA, I proposed that General Managers and their leadership teams adopt a mindset that intentionally embraces problems and challenges to create a culture of excellence. I have found that there is a misunderstanding of the nature of culture, thinking it is just about feelings and atmosphere. Although there is truth in that line of thinking, the reality is that culture is knitted together and becomes resilient through systems and processes. Embracing problems and challenges as the gateway to new and better ways of operating requires leadership to make corrections systematically. This is where the value lies for the General Manager and their team.

Leadership in a nutshell is about operations, governance, and the culture that binds the two together. We do best as General Managers when we put our focus on the future by nurturing and protecting the culture of our clubs in the present. Culture affects everything we and the board try to accomplish, so it is worth our while to give it our utmost attention. Culture comes before strategy. An important truism is that a healthy club culture is necessary to enable the execution of brilliant strategies.

The best academic minds writing about culture stress that as vast and as complex as an organization’s culture is, leadership can only engage the culture for its improvement through the curious inquiry about why a problem is present and persists. As the Executive Manager of the Detroit Athletic Club, I was committed to protecting and nurturing the culture of the club.

I viewed it as my and my team’s most important job. Just as a club president sets the agenda for the board, a General Manager sets the agenda for the staff of the operation. This is where the flow of good leadership produces something new and better.

As we carve a road through the “twisties” of club leadership, it is critical for the General Manager, the management team, and the Board to embrace problems and challenges. Embrace means to put your arms around something and give it your best. If we don’t, the future will come fast and furious and we may unintentionally meet the hard unforgiving reality of problems undetected.

Contributed by J.G. Ted Gillary, CCM, CCE, ECM, CMAA Fellow. Ted is a search and consulting executive with KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE.

BoardRoom Magazine – November/December 2023

Blog Home

Private Club Leadership in a NutshellHannah2023-12-12T17:33:38+00:00

12 Next