Be Good or Be Great?

Often asked question, we all know that we want to strive for greatness, but what does that really mean? Are we missing something, is “great” something we try to do in everything that we do, or in just one thing?

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I had a chance to hear Stewart Cink in a Q&A this week during a conference, and one question, and subsequent answer, has stuck with me for several days. Now Stewart Cink is no slouch…his resume included 8 Tour wins, including the 2009 Open Championship, 5 Ryder Cup teams, 4 President Cup teams, and over $43mm in career earnings. Kinda Hall of Fame worthy in my opinion, and a career to hang your hat on as possibly “great”. But when he was asked what advice he would give his younger self, his answer was intriguing. “Being good or great at something was always a goal, but if he could go back and do it over, he would focus on not trying to be a great overall player, but rather focus on being elite one aspect of the game”. Now Elite takes greatness up a level, and he says that he would have focused on one thing in his game, and worked his butt off to become elite at it. Great putter? Go be elite or the absolute best at it. He feels that would have made his career even better.

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So naturally, I try to turn that into what we do. Do we provide great service, or is it elite? Greens really good, or are they elite? Is there a few things on the menu that are absolutely great, but could one or two of them be leveled up and made elite, where everyone knows they come to the club for exactly that? Are the racquet sports programs the best in the state, could they be even better if the focus was elite? On a personal level, or even as a department head, are there things you and your team do really well, but if you tried a little harder, or if your sole purpose and intention was to be truly elite at it, would it be even more successful?

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In simple terms, being elite means that you are absolutely better than anyone else that’s doing the same thing. Think Navy Seals. Think Lewis Hamilton or now Max Verstappen in Formula One. Think Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, so many examples. Can your burger be elite? Can your hospitality and service levels be elite across the board, regardless of how old your facility may be??

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Go find that one thing, stop focusing on trying to be good or great at everything, find your thing and go be elite at it…..you’ll be better, your operation will be better, and of course our people will all have even more fun and leave happier!!

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Go get em, go be elite at something.

Dale Folmar