In part two of our conversation with Woking Golf Club’s Managing Director, Scott Clark considers adaptability, professional development and the changing demands facing golf club managers.
Experience gives managers a valuable bank of knowledge, helping them recognise familiar challenges and respond with greater confidence. Continued development also requires them to examine established approaches and remain receptive to ideas that reflect their current club, team and working environment.
Those qualities sit at the heart of the refreshed Advanced Management Programme Leadership Award, Leading and Managing People, which explores the demands placed on modern golf club managers and supports them in developing the skills required to lead effectively.
Woking Golf Club’s Managing Director Scott Clark has spent more than three decades in the golf industry. That experience has given him principles on which he can rely, while each new role has required him to understand a different organisation and reconsider how those principles should be applied.
Remaining open to new approaches
Scott believes managers risk creating problems for themselves when confidence in their existing methods prevents them from considering other possibilities.
“I don’t think you can ever stop learning,” he said. “If you start to become too stuck in your ways, you will trip up at some stage.
“There are some basic principles in terms of people management and people skills that I have always had. There are also tried-and-tested concepts built through experience and an understanding of what has worked and what hasn’t worked.
“I would never close myself off to learning a new way of doing things.”
Every appointment introduces a manager to a different set of circumstances. An approach that proved successful at one club may need to be adjusted when working with new colleagues and responding to unfamiliar expectations.
“Everybody is different,” Scott explained. “When you go into a club, you are managing completely different personalities and you have to learn the best way to manage them.
“There are principles that you should follow whenever you go into a club, but the methods are never completely set in stone.”
Adapting as the role changes
The environment surrounding golf club managers has also changed during Scott’s career. Clubs face an expanding range of pressures, while the expectations employees bring into the workplace continue to develop.
“You have to evolve and stay relevant with the times and the industry,” he said. “When I look back to when I first started as a manager, the challenges in the industry have become greater.
“There have always been challenges, but we have faced more over the last five or 10 years than we ever had before. You have to adapt to those changes and understand them.”
Experience can bring greater composure when a problem emerges, even when the precise circumstances are new.
“What has helped me is that more than 30 years of experience makes you much calmer in challenging situations because it is unlikely to be the first time you have faced them,” Scott said.
“Even when it is a challenge you haven’t experienced before, you are probably calmer dealing with it because you can rely on previous experience and the processes you have gone through.”
An adaptable approach has become increasingly important in Scott’s relationships with employees. Recognising the pressures people may be managing beyond the club can help build stronger and more enduring working relationships.
“I have found that being more flexible and working with your employees, rather than having everything strict and cast in stone, builds retention, loyalty and trust,” he said.
“It shows that you understand the outside world and the pressures they may have. I am certainly a different manager from the one I was 25 or 30 years ago.”
Making time for development
The immediate demands of running a golf club can make professional development difficult to prioritise. Scott believes managers have a responsibility to create space for it and clubs should actively support them in doing so.
“The biggest excuse we have as managers is, ‘I don’t have the time,'” he said. “It is probably the worst excuse in the book. You have to make time and stay relevant. You have a responsibility to your club to develop yourself professionally.”
Formal education can also help managers look beyond the boundaries of their own organisation. Without that external contact, Scott believes the role can become isolating and a manager’s knowledge may narrow.
“You can become very insular in this job if you aren’t careful, so you need to keep up with the industry and the education that is available,” he explained.
“I have been part of the board that put together the Advanced Management Programme. In terms of its skill set and equipping managers, it provides deep dives into key topics. Other qualifications may be much broader and more general, whereas the AMP offers detailed information that will equip a club manager as they need to be equipped today.”
Attending a course only has value when a manager is prepared to engage fully with the opportunity and protect the time required to learn.
“It is like going to school and sitting in a class with a closed workbook,” Scott said. “You are present, but you aren’t taking anything in.
“My advice is always to make time for your education, and your club should dedicate that time as well. At every club I have joined, I have discussed my own professional development and made sure there is a commitment from the club to continue it.”
Preparing for a demanding profession
Managers beginning their careers now enter an industry carrying pressures that were less pronounced when Scott first moved into club management. They also have access to more structured education and support.
“I think new managers today face more challenges than managers have faced previously,” he said. “It is a much more challenging environment than it was 20 or 30 years ago.
“Associations such as the GCMA are helping managers become better equipped with the support, resources and education to deal with it. The association has recognised how challenging the industry has become and is providing more resources to support managers.”
That support provides a foundation, although continued progress still depends on a manager’s willingness to make time for development, remain receptive to different approaches and evolve with the people and organisation they lead.
Get involved…
The GCMA has refreshed the Advanced Management Programme Leadership Award – introducing an updated programme providing Golf Club Managers with a high-quality immersive learning and personal development experience.
Designed and delivered by specialist training provider Progrezo, the three-day residential programme brought together under the Leading and Managing People banner sees delegates examine a range of topics including leadership styles, performance management, coaching and feedback, emotional intelligence, difficult conversations and stakeholder influence, while also developing a personalised plan for professional growth.
The next course is hosted at Moor Park Golf Club, from October 6 to 8. Click here to learn more or download the full Leading and Managing People brochure.
