Here's how you can motivate your team effectively in the golf course industry.

Celebrating success is absolutely important. However, celebrating the individual efforts of staff is tricky. The phrase "above and beyond" for example is a double edged sword. On the one side it encourages 110% effort in each interaction with a golfer. On the other, the focus on going above and beyond may cause employees to stray from the game plan in an effort to satisfy one customers vision of service that does not align with what you've trained your team to provide. By celebrating that effort, you encourage everyone to go off script and now no one is executing the playbook! Celebrate events well executed. Celebrate a staff's achievement as a group. And celebrate an individuals effort to exceed their role via training or leadership

"Just Do It" is a great slogan and a lousy mission statement! All too often there is assumption in play about what a new hire, and even an existing hire, brings to the table and can do within the operation. The head of every department should be responsible for training. Delegating training is a HUGE mistake. Formal training not only specifically highlights how YOU want things done, it enables you to evaluate that staff member's ability to deliver! Delegating training, no matter how basic, can lead to disaster a month or two down the road. Create a training and onboarding plan that satisfy's YOUR vision for the operation, then execute it YOURSELF. The success it guarantees is worth the effort!!

Leaders can't lead without managers, and managers cannot manage without staff. If you've been a head professional you know that the silence can be deafening, and that if you want to know what is going on you have to talk to your assistants and your outside ops. They hear EVERYTHING. Fostering an open line of communication enables managers to pivot with services, goods and events, and allows leaders to address gaps in what is being provided to achieve the vision of the facility. You cannot sit back and wait to hear whats up! Create a lunch or breakfast schedule with every staff member for one on one conversation and never cancel a staff meeting if it can be avoided. Value communication in all its forms!

Work / Life Balance is a myth. Mentor your staff to create boundaries so that the pursuit of their professional aspirations enhances their lives, but doesn't define their lives. They should be free to shift from work to home to hobby to family to WHATEVER without feeling guilt that they aren't working. In the service industry, 24/7 access via text and email is an intrusion into life outside of work. Mobile numbers should be off limits to customers, and managers in all departments should be respectful not to blur the lines between off hours and work hours. Finally, time off should be encouraged and planned. Family events, celebrations, and special interests like sports and concerts should never be missed!