Coaching Your Way to Excellence

One of the most important responsibilities of any club general manager is coaching your team to success.? The business concept of coaching is one borrowed from the sports world as can be seen from the following Merriam-Webster definition:

“Coach – one who instructs or trains; especially one who instructs players in the fundamentals of sports and directs team strategy.”? (Note the words “fundamentals” and “strategy.”)

Given the sports origins of coaching, let’s look at the role of coaches in the National Football League.? In this highly competitive arena, the measure of success is winning.? As legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

Every team in the NFL is loaded with talented players who by their athletic prowess, physical conditioning, and demonstrated abilities over years of competition, have risen to the pinnacle of their profession.? Yet despite their talent and experience, these players are guided by a team of experts – the coach and assistants – who instruct players in the fundamentals of their positions, mold individual talent into a team for optimum performance and plan the strategy for each game of the season.

This analogy could not be more appropriate for club general managers who have a team of assistants – the individual department heads – and the players – the line employees who interact daily with members and whose performance is critical to overall success.? The general manager and department heads are responsible for instructing their line employees in the fundamentals of their positions and establishing plans for success – the club annual plan and each departmental plan.

Recognizing the key role of coaching in the excellence of any enterprise, why is it so often neglected in club operations?? I suspect the main reasons are the busy pace of daily operations, the time-consuming involvement of managers in the basics of the business – basics that should be made routine by organization and structure, and the lack of ready materials to organize and convey instruction to managers and employees alike.

Private Club Performance Management has created proven coaching tools covering the fundamentals, structure, organization, and disciplines for success.? These can be used in short, easy-to-absorb sessions to focus any team on the fundamentals of the profession.? When used in conjunction with well-thought-out strategy and plans, they become powerful conveyances on the road to operational excellence.? Here’s a list and brief explanation of each:

Leadership on the Go:? Leadership is the key element of success in club operations.? Ensure a consistent understanding and application of Service-Based Leadership in your management team with ongoing discussion of these important principles.? 53 topics in PDF format, sent digitally to your inbox within 48 hours.

Accounting on the Go: Does your management team have a consistent understanding of their financial responsibilities including budgeting, real time accounting, benchmarking, purchasing, expense coding, and other key financial tasks and processes?? If not, Accounting on the Go?will help them achieve that understanding with minimal time investment.? 37 topics in PDF format, send digitally to your inbox within 48 hours.

Employee Development and Discipline on the Go: Avoid potentially costly grievances and litigation by ensuring your managers and supervisors understand how to get the best from employees with motivating staff development best practices and appropriate and legal disciplinary and discharge procedures.? 65 topics in PDF format, sent digitally to your inbox within 48 hours.

Organizational Values on the Go: The?importance?of?well-defined?and?promoted?organizational values cannot be overemphasized or underestimated in its impact on quality, performance, and member service. 52 topics in PDF format, sent digitally to your inbox within 48 hours.

Human Resources on the Go: All managers and supervisors must have a basic understanding of labor laws and HR best practices. There is no better way to achieve this necessary professional development than constant review and discussion of the underlying laws and best practices.? 75 topics in PDF format, sent digitally to your inbox within 48 hours.

Management Disciplines on the Go: Ensure the consistent application of club management disciplines and best practices by constant reminder with ongoing discussions of these critically important topics.? 124 topics in PDF format, sent digitally to your inbox within 48 hours.

Service on the Go: Consistent service training of managers, supervisors, and employees is an absolute necessity in club operations. This can only be achieved with ongoing review of key service principles and techniques.? 55 topics in PDF format, sent digitally to your inbox within 48 hours.

Food Service Management on the Go:? Make sure this most complex area of your club operations is managed efficiently and professionally by constant review of food service best practices. 138 topics in PDF format, sent digitally to your inbox within 48 hours.

Alcoholic Beverages on the Go: ?Suggesting alcoholic beverage accompaniments to a meal provides club members a richer culinary experience, but to properly do this, servers must know about the beverages they are suggesting. By providing your staff with this information in small doses over time, you can give them the knowledge to engage and suggest with confidence.? 136 topics in PDF format, sent digitally to your inbox within 48 hours.

Food and Beverage Training on the Go: Food and beverage pre-shift modules, totaling 124 pages of content on a wide range of common F&B topics.? 60 topics in MS-Power Point format for easy customization for your operation. Digital copies sent to your mailbox within 48 hours of purchase.

Each of these coaching tools can be purchased individually on the PCPM Marketplace store.? As an alternative, all ten can be purchased at a 20% discount here.

Clubs that engage in a formal program of coaching experience significant benefits, ranging from improved morale and engagement from people who recognize their employer’s commitment to their development, to enhanced performance resulting from a focus on the fundamentals of the business, and to pride in belonging to a high-performing operation.?

Lastly, there is no greater satisfaction than that of the coaches who share their knowledge and experience in a meaningful way with those following in their footsteps.

For more useful ideas and information, check out the wide range of highly integrated and widely acclaimed Professional Development, Operational, and Training Resources at the PCPM Marketplace Store.