Establishing a culture of excellence does not just happen, it takes time and commitment. Recently, I have worked with courses where there is a history of lackluster conditioning and new, enthusiastic superintendents have taken over with a mindset of changing the culture of the team. The results have been impressive. Tony Hsieh, the late CEO of Zappos said, “If you get the culture right, most of the other stuff will just take care of itself.” But changing the behavior and personality of a maintenance team takes time and must be worked on every day.
Every maintenance team has a culture – intentional or unintentional, good or bad. Courses I visit that exude a culture of excellence have some things in common: the shop and surrounding area are always clean and organized, equipment is clean, employees are polite and respectful of golfers while working on the course, the course is clean, bunkers are detailed, cart paths are edged and the quality of cut on closely mown turf is excellent. These characteristics of a positive culture are not solely found at high-end courses. I have witnessed these attributes on golf courses with all kinds of budgets. The one thing they all have in common is that the culture must be established by the superintendent and followed by assistants, equipment managers and everyone down the line.
Superintendents influence culture through their dedication to excellence every day. Those who choose to ignore culture are doomed to struggle with staff that are not invested in the team, which means performance and course conditions will suffer. One of the key messages from the book “Extreme Ownership” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin is that leaders must engage all parties within the team, even the least-senior member, and must get “buy-in” from all if they are to believe in what is asked of them.
I’ve been impressed recently by several new superintendents that have taken over a course and within a year have been able to improve team culture. These superintendents made it a priority to instill a positive culture, and employees have responded favorably. Employees recognize the difference between a sloppy environment with loose rules and one where they feel valued and know what the maintenance team stands for and what is expected of them. Golfers notice the difference as well.
The team culture is dynamic and requires continual attention. Taking an autopilot strategy does not achieve desirable results. Leadership author Glenn Van Ekeren stated that you must be there for people and demonstrate that you have their back and their best interests at heart. You cannot build a positive culture if you are disconnected from your staff. Here are a few tips I’ve learned from superintendents to establish a positive culture with your team:
- Set goals for the entire team, including management, and share them with all employees. Transparency is key.
- Set expectations for professional behavior around the turf care facility and on the course.
- Employees and managers alike will recognize what the superintendent permits and what type of behavior is rewarded. If and when they “buy in,” they will hold themselves to the standards on their own.
- If management fails, mitigate the damage by being proactive, taking responsibility and be transparent about what happened and how you can do better.
- Kindness, compassion and empathy are underrated leadership values – this is straight out of "Ted Lasso". When these attributes are displayed by superintendents, I see employees respond well.
- Lead by example and reward staff for their efforts. Give credit where credit is due and make successes known to the entire team.
- Show that you love what you do and your attitude will influence the entire team.
It seems that in this day and age, fostering a healthy team culture is more important than ever to attract and retain valuable employees and to deliver the best possible results on the course.
West Region Agronomists:
Brian Whitlark, regional director – bwhitlark@usga.org
Cory Isom, agronomist – cisom@usga.org