Filter The Feedback and Other Lessons for a First-Year Director
by Ed Shanaphy, CMAA
I was playing golf recently at a Top 100 course in New England and had the opportunity to meet its Director of Golf. He had been hired in March—just before the season begins up here—and immediately faced the considerable pressure of assembling a staff and putting together a program. He managed to do both, and apparently did them very well.
Near the first tee, I swung my aging driver back and forth as I waited for my member-host to return from the driving range. I asked the director, “How has your first year been?”
Without any fuss, and in a characteristically reserved tone—aren’t all Directors of Golf a little more reserved than we tennis directors?—he replied:
“Quiet. I like it that way. I have a good staff, and I filtered the feedback.”
That expression, “filter the feedback”, stuck with me.
It struck me as advice that was sage beyond his years. He is a younger director, but as we continued talking, it became clear that he had developed some profound ideas about leadership. It is indeed wise for any new director to filter the feedback.
I thought back to the three occasions on which I had been the new Director at a club. I had tried to do much the same thing, although I had never been able to express it so succinctly. He had captured an essential part of first-year leadership in just three words.
In fact, it once took me several conversations to communicate that lesson to someone I had recruited from Jupiter Island Club to serve as General Manager at Sippican Tennis Club, just as I was assuming the role of Director of Tennis. It was the first New England season in those roles for both of us.
One member had approached her seven days in a row, prior to my arrival for Memorial Day Weekend. Each day brought another request, suggestion or reminder that “this is how we do it here at STC.”
Finally, I said to our new general manager, “He is just one member. He lives here full time, he is highly involved and he is one of the few members around this early. But there are 425 memberships out there, and most of them won’t arrive until late June. So, for now, let’s just listen.”
What I should have said, in a suitably reserved tone, was, “Let’s filter the feedback.”
A new director should certainly listen. Every comment offers information about the club, its members and its history. But listening does not mean acting upon every suggestion.
Whenever a new Director assumes a position, some members see the transition as a fresh opportunity to secure the program, policy, clinic time or tee time they have wanted for years—something the previous director may have repeatedly declined to provide. The new director rarely knows the history behind the request, how representative it is of the broader membership or whether it has already been considered and rejected many times.
That is why the first-year director must listen widely, resist reacting too quickly and learn to distinguish an individual preference from a genuine institutional need.
In other words: filter the feedback.
The urge to change everything you notice, dislike or simply disagree with is one that you should resist—at least during your first year. Just as you listen to the membership during that year, you must also learn to listen to yourself with an objective mind.
Changing too much too quickly can easily alienate you from the membership. Members may see sudden change as a threat to their club, its traditions and even their own history and place within it.
I have found that observing how different generations and demographics use the club provides valuable clues about where the club has been, where it is today and where it might be headed. I tend to spend that first year trying to understand why certain events are more popular than others, why particular things are done in a particular way and how the club balances tradition with progress.
Your first year should not become a renovation project—either physically or culturally.
Certainly, a new director, or even a new general manager, must address obvious and urgent operational problems. Lines of communication and authority should also be established clearly. But when confronting bigger, longer-term issues, take the time to observe and earn the membership’s trust before attempting to redesign the club physically—or, more importantly, culturally.
That leads to my final Sunday-morning musing about being a new director: Build relationships before you need them.
I mean relationships across the entire club—with members, management and fellow employees. Build trust with members by listening and responding when appropriate, but not always by acting. Depending upon the circumstances, a member may ultimately trust you more because you did not act hastily upon a request.
Build a strong relationship with the general manager. Get to know the committee and its chair. Become familiar with the board members, while also discerning their motivations, their priorities and why they may have been asked—or felt called—to serve the club.
Build relationships with the grounds crew, the golf-course superintendent or court-maintenance team, the food-and-beverage department and the front office. A director’s success rarely depends upon the director’s department alone.
When you eventually have to make the difficult weather-related decision, cancel an important event, close a court or course, address a staffing problem or disappoint a vocal member, it is much easier to act confidently when the membership, management and your fellow employees trust your judgment and have your back.
All of this brings me back to the words that young Director of Golf shared with me:
“Filter the feedback.”
Listen to every voice, but determine how much weight each one deserves. Learn the club before trying to change it. Build relationships before circumstances require you to rely upon them.
Filter the feedback, formulate the appropriate response and fulfill the role—all while respecting the motivations, traditions and future of the club you have been entrusted to lead.