Position your club for excellence

Baseball has been a part of my life since before I knew how to walk. Back in the day, crawling around the carpet, I was hitting a rubber ball with a 6-inch wooden bat. The game was fun right from the start. As a kid, I watched, and I played. Dreams of the majors roamed through my nights until I realized my dreams were much larger than my talent. I continued to watch and play the sport right through my teen years.

One of the essential parts of the game back then was how the manager moved his defensive players around to suit a game situation or adjust for a particular player. They made the same adjustments in my games as in the big leagues. We would see the manager moving infielders side to side or up and back. The same held for the outfielders until the manager felt his players were each positioned just right.

Proper positioning also holds for business. Adjusting people for a certain situation, a key customer or an event is critical in maximizing the moment. In baseball today, the defense continues to be moved around depending on the situation. Now, however, every player has a special card kept in their back pocket that guides them, based on the player coming to the plate, the number of outs, etc. Positioning is still just as important, minus the screaming manager. This In My Opinion post today is about positioning the club for excellence: reminding staff members about the mission of the club as well as critical standards for each role.

Create a reminder card for every staff member to carry each day: Remind all of the vital standards the club was built on. Although you may provide great onboarding, people forget, get promoted or are reassigned. Beyond the initial training, staff members can always use specific reminders.

Create the card with two sides: One side provides the mission and standards for every person, and the other side can provide some reminders about things to do in a specific department. These may include a next tee time, upselling in the shop or restaurant, or providing information about holiday room reservations.

During staff meetings, have everyone bring their card: Have them ask in what ways team members use the card. As you finish the meeting, remind everyone that positioning the club each day for success is the true value of the card.

As a leader, you know that people aim to be self-directed. They want to do their job without any micromanagement or oversight. This positioning card can be a gentle, self-directed reminder about how to…