Henry DeLozier Receives Dave White Editorial Award

Henry DeLozier is the 2023 Recipient of the Dave White Editorial Award for his many contributions to BoardRoom magazine, especially his Excellence in Governance series, which focuses on private club governance issues.

Henry DeLozier believes in club managers…just as fervently as he believes in himself. And that is no surprise to those who know this industrious soul. The catch is that management was not Henry’s original ambition.

All-American golfer?

Henry was 12 years old when he announced to his parents that he would become an All-American golfer at 美国俄克拉荷马州立大学 . He did, and along the way, Henry won the Oklahoma Amateur championship and numerous other golf tournaments.?

And he’s the first to discount his golfing accomplishments, “I am no Rickie Fowler or Viktor Hovland and I am proud to let my golf history speak for itself. I could play a little bit.”

He knew his capabilities and was planning a career on the PGA Tour until he made one of his first and biggest business decisions, “I was a good enough player to know that I wasn’t good enough.”?

Oklahoma State’s legendary golf coach, Labron Harris Sr., famously said of Henry, “This guy has more guts than an Army mule.” So, he wasn’t afraid of the big time. “I believed that I had more to offer than my golf skills,” Henry summarized as he enumerated his agile mind, alertness for details, and tireless work ethic.

Club management and beyond?

His first job working in a private club was at Stillwater Country Club during his university years. “I was a janitor who worked from 3 am until my classes convened at 7 am. It was an excellent chance to earn extra money without undermining my ambitions with competitive golf and my academic responsibilities.”

While waiting to begin law school, he started as a golf professional. He quickly advanced to director of golf, general manager, resort manager, and then to guiding a portfolio of 30-some private clubs for Del Webb Corp/Pulte Homes. Henry summarized his career growth: “I had an intuitive understanding of the business and, apparently, a knack for strategy and finance that lifted me up the organizational chart.”

He spent nine years working for America’s largest homebuilding company and its most prolific developer of new golf courses and clubs. He was responsible for investing more than $500 million in the development of golf assets and building 27 new golf courses within 10 states.?

As a result, Henry was responsible for the financial performance of the portfolio of club assets, the replacement value of which exceeded $300 million and annual revenues greater than $90 million.

“I learned every day at Del Webb / Pulte Homes. It was a time of enormous growth for me. At the same time, I watched experts acquire vast parcels of land, develop brilliant age-targeted communities, and enrich the lives of thousands of people.” During his years in the housing sector, Del Webb and Pulte Homes built 42,000 to 47,000 homes annually, and one key factor was the lifestyle proposition enacted within the captive clubs within those communities.

Learning from every job?

Excluding chef, Henry will tell you about hands-on learning in every job to which he was exposed.?

“I always wanted to learn the jobs well enough that I could teach others to do them successfully.”

However, it was from others that he learned most.?

“A dishwasher—let’s call him Kenny—with whom I worked taught me a great lesson in teamwork. You know, we competitive golfers are self-contained, so teamwork was a skill I needed to develop.?

“One evening, our club was serving a 700-person wedding, and I was concerned that this particular dishwasher, who came to us from a special program for young people with learning limitations. To help with the dishes, I brought in an extra person –Scott –who passed out from the heat and volume of dishes just as the entrees were going out.?

“To remove the fainted substitute from the kitchen floor, I gathered him like a baby and carried him out the kitchen door. Once out of the kitchen, we iced down the blacked-out worker and had 911 on the way.

“Thinking that I should check on Kenny and encourage him to take a break before desserts went out, I suggested that he watch over Scott while the first responders were en route.

“Kenny didn’t even slow down the dishwashing machine as he shouted over his shoulder, ‘I will work until I drop because you will take care of me when I do.’?

“In that humbling moment, I learned from a man who one might think had limited learning skills the value and empowerment through teamwork. I remember Kenny often,” Henry recalled from the experience.

Private club governance ?

In his experience collaborating with servant leaders in private clubs, Henry has observed that reliable strategy and governance are the foundation stones. Thus, he has sought to learn how to do the most good for the men and women who are so dedicated to leading their clubs well. DeLozier feels club leaders must use leadership methods that are highly accountable to those being served–members and staff at private clubs. In too many clubs, boards and individual board members assume a parental attitude, suggesting that members do not know enough to govern themselves well.?

“My aim is to see that everyone–and especially servant leaders– recognizes the importance of accountability,” he expressed.

Thinking strategically–Henry’s deep interest in and knowledge of military history, in particular, helped develop his sense for strategy.

“Remember, golf is a particularly strategic game,” he observes. “I seem to have gravitated to strategic thinking in every job and life activity.”?

Now, he is considered a leading strategic thinker in the private club space, having executed several hundred strategic plans in private clubs. In fact, Henry teaches the strategic management section of CMAA’s BMI III curriculum. ?