Richard M. Kopplin, CMAA Fellow, Partner
Dick started KOPPLIN SEARCH, INC. in 1996 following a 35-year career as a general manager and vice president for nationally recognized clubs, like Castle Pines in Castle Rock, CO, Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, AZ and PGA WEST in La Quinta, CA. His goal was to provide private clubs with an exemplary level of service in matching executive level candidates with private clubs and their culture through a more informed, researched, and educated process.
Dick also began a tradition for the Firm wherein a core foundation to its success is in its commitment to professional development, not only for its own Team, but more importantly for the industry and managers as a whole. In that vein, Dick has been one of the highest rated presenters at the CMAA World Conference on Club Management consistently since 2000. Drawing upon the hundreds of interviews, boardrooms and board retreats he has conducted, Dick is a sought-after keynote speaker on executive leadership, team development and the critically important “Board Dynamics/Model Clubs” program he developed many years ago to help boards and managers better identify and execute their roles and responsibilities in a successful and consistent manner.
Since that time, the firm has conducted over 1000 search assignments for many of the finest member-owned, developer-owned, golf, country, community-based, yacht, city, and athletic clubs in the country and worldwide.
Dick is the recipient of The BoardRoom Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and 2018.
Email: dick@kkandw.com
Phone: (833) KKW-HIRE, ext. 702
Resources & Insights from Dick…
Serendipity often takes us on a path we’ve never considered but a path that often leads to a passion. In a nutshell, that describes the long, illustrious career of Dick Kopplin, a mainstay of the private club industry…
Created in 2019, the CMAA Fellows Program is an honorary recognition program distinguishing CMAA members who epitomize the leadership, integrity, involvement, and contributions of club management professionals. Each of these individuals has made a significant impact toward the betterment of the profession and CMAA throughout their active careers…
Richard Kopplin Inducted into the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame
Richard Kopplin has been recognized for his career dedicated to the betterment of the private club industry and one of five new inductees to the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame held recently at the Induction Ceremony hosted at Paradise Valley Country Club.
Following a 35-year career as a general manager and vice president for nationally recognized clubs, Kopplin started Kopplin Search, Inc. over 23 years ago with the objective of assisting clubs in their search for skilled, competent staff. Today he leads KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE, a dynamic firm with a focus on executive searches, industry education and consulting…
The job of a private club General Manager/COO has changed faster in the last five years than in the previous twenty, and the skill set required to do it well has changed with it.
This isn’t a soft, generational-complaint story. It’s a labor-market story. Clubs are chasing a shrinking pool of hospitality talent, competing against employers who never used to be their competitors, and trying to retain people who have more leverage than any generation of club employees before them…
Private club boards ask a great deal of the volunteers who serve on them. Directors are expected to fulfill significant fiduciary and leadership responsibilities, including setting policy, overseeing finances, safeguarding the club’s culture, and partnering with the general manager, often with little formal governance training and relatively short board tenures. Given those stakes, it’s striking how few clubs formally evaluate the people doing the governing. Most clubs track General Manager/COO performance closely. Far fewer turn that same discipline inward, toward the board itself…
As we journey through our lives and careers, how many times have we been told that “there is no shortcut to success”? Well, I beg to differ. I was fortunate early in my club management career to have the counsel of a wise club president and candid feedback from my administrative assistant…
Momentum influences nearly every aspect of club operations, from culture and member satisfaction to financial performance, employee morale, and confidence in leadership. It determines whether a club feels optimistic or exhausted, aligned or divided, progressive or stagnant.
Perhaps most importantly, momentum takes years to build and can be lost much faster than most leaders realize…
After nearly three decades of observing boards in action, one thing is clear: high-performing board members don’t just attend meetings, they drive progress. They’re aligned, strategic, and accountable to the club’s mission and to one another…
I have also observed that clubs facing internal issues and problems often lack praxis. When actual practices don’t match stated beliefs, a disconnect is evident in even some of the most recognized clubs in the country…
“I will bet anyone in this room one hundred dollars (and I toss my money clip with at least that amount to another board member to verify and hold) that I can have Joe, my golf student volunteer, my 20 handicapper, hitting to the pin on the 18th hole from 75 yards, with more accuracy than
Rory Mcllroy. Any of you in this room can take Rory by wagering your hundred dollars against my golfer, Joe, and we will take Rory and Joe out to the 18th hole at the same time…”
The first is that the board needs to have an “executive session” at the end of every board meeting without the general manager. A bad practice, a terrible idea and unsustainable in the long run if the club wants professional management…
Can you share with me how much compensation you give Mr. Schwab?” Charles Schwab became president of Carnegie Steel Corporation in 1897 at age 35…