By Kurt Kuebler , CCM^*

What If That Club "Urban Legend" was Reality?!!

One of those ‘club’ urban legends that has always intrigued me with its possibilities for improving behaviors goes something like this…

At the end of each year the club, located somewhere in the southwestern U.S. has the staff anonymously vote on which member they believe the club would be better off without. That member then gets the ‘dreaded’ annual notice that they are no longer a member of the club and a check is included reimbursing them their initiation fee.

Think this “urban legend” would be effective at your club?

Its an interesting one to ponder; you behave appropriately, treat the staff with respect, treat other members with respect (the ‘voting’ staff sees how members treat one another as well!) and, in general, leave your truculent behavior at the door. If you think about what’s in the overall best interest of the membership and club, not yourself, you’re very likely to retain your membership! Isn’t that what every member should be doing anyway!

And, who gets to see member behaviors more than staff members living in the club ‘fish bowl’ where little escapes their observation. From the locker room talk, to the range and course escapades, to late night lounge activities and so on, the staff has a ‘reality show’ view of much of what goes on in a members’ life while at the club.

So, why doesn’t it happen?

From my vantage point, it’s primarily the lack of any consequence for bad behavior. Clubs are obviously very peer oriented, camaraderie-driven environments where members often don’t want to challenge one another in that type of situation. So, it often falls to the executive team to do so, but they can typically only go so far without strong support from the Board. If that support is not there, or wavers from time to time depending upon whom the offending party is, the whole thing breaks down. Obstreperous behavior now becomes a tolerated ‘standard’.

Now, I’m not a big fan of club environments that are so rules-driven that it’s simply no fun to be there. And, I’ve often thought that if a club has to have a Grievance Committee, its probably not a club that would be much fun to belong to or work at!

It really should start at the initial ‘vetting’ process for members, ensuring that we really do figure out whether they are people who appreciate the decorum intended in our environment, rather than if they can simply write the check to join.

In a mandatory type membership environment, it really needs to start at the orientation process with a VERY clear and deliberate discussion of the expectations. Most of what I would call “successful” clubs out there today (those with GREAT membership satisfaction), in my experience, are ones where behavior doesn’t have to be ‘mandated’; its clearly ingrained as part of the overall culture of the club. Anyone who doesn’t adhere to such behavioral etiquette doesn’t pass admission to begin with, or should they develop such behavioral tendencies after joining, are quickly and unsparingly dealt with!

I’ve heard a lot of pretty interesting club ‘urban legends’ over time, but this one is the one that has stuck with me more than any other---if more clubs adopted this ‘legend’ as common practice, and clearly articulated it at the orientation phase of courting or welcoming a new member to the club, its fascinating to ponder the results!

Kurt D. Kuebler, CCM and Richard M. Kopplin are Partners with Kopplin & Kuebler, specializing in the national placement of General Managers/Chief Operating Officers, Directors of Golf and Golf Course Superintendents. dKurt’s office is in Jupiter, FL and Dick’s is in Scottsdale, AZ. They may be reached at 407-864-6798 or480-443-9102, or through the website at www.kopplinandkuebler.com

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Credits

Originally posted by KurtKuebler on 08 Nov 2010.
All contributors: KurtKuebler,

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