On, or In? What Kind of Board Are You?

Golf has been played for over 500 years. Google its origins, and you’ll find it predates the piano’s invention. This means that for almost five centuries, club boards have worked in areas they shouldn’t and have argued over silly issues. So what if Fergus Macdonald plays too slow? Or the tee markers were too far back on Saturday?

Board conversations over frivolous and non-strategic issues continue to plague clubs.True, some club boards have mastered excellent governance and leave the managing to the staff and the daily details of the club’s operation with them.

However, there is one common element to dysfunctional boards, so easily solved yet ubiquitous: the board that works IN the club’sbusiness and not ON it. They try to solve themetaphorical Fergus McDonald problem when the issue should never have risen to be on theboard level in the first place. And if not slow play, today it could be green speeds, what color shirts to carry in the pro shop, how napkins should be folded, divots aren’t being replaced, etc. This list is endless – ask any club manager or department head for hundreds more.

By the way, boards and their members who work IN the club’s daily business and micro-manage the employees drive the staff crazy. We know. We’ve been there as the General Manager of a private club before we founded Bobby Jones Links. It makes club employees feel powerless and distracts them from what they should be doing—managing the club and serving its members.

Most importantly, it means the board is not doing what it should be—focusing on strategic, high-level issues and working on the club’s business. Developing strategy and long-range plans can be complex and challenging, but inserting themselves in operational matters is irresistible, low-hanging fruit for some people.

Let’s be clear: board members mean well. It’s a voluntary job that requires time and effort and often leads to difficult conversations with friends and members.

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The solution is straightforward. Please let the managers manage and stop supervising the staff. You will have a better club and happier, more engaged employees.

IN or ON? Pick one.