The Dynamics of Change
The Reflections of Linda Carroll

By Rick Coyne

Linda Carroll has taken over the helm as CMAA's president for 2007. At this year's annual CMAA World Conference in Anaheim, CA, I had the opportunity speak with her.

Reflective of the overall mood of the industry, Linda shared her concerns for the future of our industry and the challenges affecting both volunteer and professional leadership.

Born in Spirit Lake, Iowa; the oldest of five children, Linda arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota and enrolled in The School of Associate Arts with dreams of becoming a commercial artist. Working her way through college at a small restaurant, Mitch's Supper Club, Linda fell in love with the hospitality industry and a career began. In that first hospitality experience she learned two very important things that would shape her hospitality career in the years to come.

• Whatever I did or wherever I worked, the result of the job that I did became my reputation! The rest wasn't important.
• And the taste of the roast is only as good as the handshake of the host.

Linda started the club side of her career in 1981 as the assistant clubhouse manager at Somerset Country Club in St. Paul. The general manager of Somerset at the time was Jerry Murphy who was also the golf course superintendent. Jerry impressed on Linda the importance of the golf course and the role of the superintendent. She spent seven years at Somerset, two as the assistant and five as the manager.

In 1988 Linda was hired to her current position as the general manager of White Bear Yacht Club. Founded in 1889, the club began its existence as a summer club for families in the St. Paul area, many of whom had lake homes or second residences in the immediate area. Open from April to October, the club remains seasonal today and offers a challenging Donald Ross golf course, tennis, swimming and sailing.

While the trend has changed, Linda, for many years, was the only women manager in the Upper Midwest Chapter of CMAA. Since that time many more females have joined the ranks of general managers and there has also been a surge of female leadership on club boards. White Bear Yacht Club's first female was elected to the board in 1996. In 2003 Laura Eldridge became WBYC's first female club president and, in 2005 Mansy Godfrey became the first woman to chair the golf committee.

Linda, who describes her husband George as her greatest mentor ever, has been a member of CMAA since 1981. Together, she and George have attended conferences in golf and club management in Canada, Singapore, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and last year in Dubai. They celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary this year.

While speaking, Linda commented on some of the challenges facing the private club industry.

LC: I'm not sure where to begin because I think there are many challenges we face as an industry that affect the vision of our operations. Perhaps the greatest challenge is the availability of leisure time. Families are so busy now. Eighty percent of families are dual wage earners and modern communications technology has created an almost seamless transition from work, to home, to play. Leisure time today is almost as precious a commodity as disposable income.

At White Bear we are seeing an increase of nine-hole golf events as members find it increasingly difficult to find time for 18 holes. In response, we are encouraging more nine-hole events and have even created a to-go menu for our members.

Another issue is the challenge of finding strong volunteer leadership to serve on the boards and committees. The trends that I'm seeing in the industry are more adoptions of the COO/CEO concept, a decrease in the size of boards, and longer terms for board members.

As part of the discussions, I also talked with Carl Kuhrmeyer, the current Commodore of White Bear Yacht Club, concerning the challenges facing clubs today.

CK: Time at the club is much more precious today as demands on members' time has increased. In response, Linda has advised various generations of boards as to the nature of the facilities and activities that would be appropriate to meet our members' wants and needs and make each moment at the club that more pleasurable and important.

Part of the time issue is also the cultural issue. As our club's demographic changed, Linda continued to recommend change to a more couple and family oriented environment with more activities to meet the diverse needs of our members.

Cultural change has been a topic for many boards over the years and at the direction of our general manager we have met them head-on. Gender neutralization of tee time availability, the movement from the coat and tie environment to casual dress and the development of three long range initiatives covering golf course, clubhouse and lakefront facilities are just a part of the vision for White Bear Yacht Club that Linda has assisted in creating.

Regarding governance, the partnership between our board and management team, we believe, segregates those issues that boards should address and the responsibilities or our professional staff.

We have encouraged the ongoing education and involvement of Linda in the CMAA and her travels around the world as White Bear is the beneficiary of the experience and knowledge gained in that process. She is truly a well-rounded and accomplished executive that we have all come to respect and admire.

RC: With Linda, we talked about some of the other issues affecting clubs today.

BR: What about competition Linda. What effect is it having?

LC: Competition comes from a variety of directions these days. It's not just competitive clubs anymore; it's restaurants and really anything that competes for leisure time. Some of the new daily fee courses are simply spectacular and some potential members looking for an upscale golf experience are having a more difficult time justifying an initiation fee and monthly dues in lieu of a small daily fee to enjoy their golf.

As a result of competition most clubs are redefining themselves from a cultural perspective offering more in the way of activities, particularly couple and family related activities such as we have offered at White Bear.

Members are also demanding more in the way of menu variety, quality of product, a more casual atmosphere and more healthy options. Competition for quality staff has increased as more restaurants have been built and the elimination of trans-fats at most commercial kitchens could have an enormous impact on how the private club's menu will look in future years.

Labor and food costs are increasing, but the private club is limited in the number of members that it serves. Being a seasonal club, this has been a particular challenge for us requiring a much more professional training program for our seasonal staff.

Some of the solutions that we have initiated are the creation of a more family friendly atmosphere and menu, dress codes being relaxed, increasing casual dining opportunities and providing every opportunity to attract the younger families including ÒDate NightÓ, where the club provides child care on certain evenings. We will very likely continue to be challenged to make food and beverage a profit center in the private club. This simply cannot be accomplished without asking our members what they want and need.

BR: Over the past several years it appears to me that government regulations have increasingly challenged the private club. What are some of the things that you have found most challenging?

LC: No question about it, government regulations have created a more difficult operational environment, so much so that many clubs have had to hire personnel for a human resources department.

Some of the major issues that I see are OSHA requirements and training programs, the increased pressure on documentation for all of our workers, special licensing requirements and tax increases that more and more seem to be targeting the private club industry.

RC: We also had the opportunity to talk with John Steiner, golf course superintendent at White Bear for the past 26 years, about some of the environmental challenges and other issues he and Linda have addressed together.

JS: When Linda first came to the club we transitioned to the general manager form of governance. It couldn't have been smoother. Over the years as the long-range plan for golf was discussed, while Linda took a leadership role, she delegated and allowed me to develop the plans, along with the board and committees, which were eventually implemented. The environment, particularly when you are located on a lake, is always an issue. Along with Linda and myself, the board and membership wholly endorsed our becoming 'Audubon Certified' nearly eight years ago. Linda has been the consummate executive and has created an excellent and supportive team.

BR: Linda, it appears that there have been a great many things that are affecting the culture within our memberships at the private club. What are some of the issues that you are seeing or experiencing?

LC: White Bear Yacht Club's history goes back for over 100 years. A yacht club since 1889 and a combined yacht and golf club since 1912, it has a strong record for both its nautical and golfing accomplishments, of which it is very proud. We also take a great deal of pride in our Donald Ross designed golf course and that fact that tee times are not necessary. Although we have many third generation members, one of the cultural changes we see is a weakening of the ÒlegacyÓ program meaning that belonging to a club as a third or fourth generation just because your parents, grandparents and great grandparents did, may not be as important as it was for previous generations.

This also manifests itself in the perception that members have of their club community. While the club community is still vibrant and healthy here, club members in other clubs are beginning to see their club more as a business entity and not the social environment experienced by past generations.

Because of the changing economy and increase in the number of clubs, many clubs are accepting members that have never experienced the lifestyle and these members are bringing their own culture to the club. As a result, the perceptions of what a club should be are changing.

Lifestyle changes likewise bring new challenges. For example, significant other policies are often required as younger members may not marry early in their lives and older partners find that living outside of matrimony has distinct tax advantages.

My opinion is that we need to listen more to what our members want. You can do this through focus groups or member surveys, but it's really important to know what they want so that we can try our best to provide for them.

RC: One of the many changes that Linda and the rest of the club industry have experienced is the removal of barriers allowing females to assume a more direct role in the governance process of the club. In 2003, Mrs. Laura Eldridge became White Bear's first female Commodore and President. She spoke of the many changes that the club has seen over the past several years and how, through the leadership of Linda Carroll, the club addressed those changes.

LE: One of the key attributes that Linda possesses as our chief executive is her willingness to share her experiences and knowledge gained in her association with CMAA. Likewise, she is not afraid to listen and try new things. Through information gathering processes such as member surveys White Bear has tried to ascertain the diverse nature of activities, programs and facilities that our members wanted. Once that information was gathered, our board discussed the various paths we could take in delivering what our members indicated that they wanted.

Essentially, we came to understand that not only must we provide an atmosphere offering a pleasurable experience for our more senior members but we also had to address the families, and for two reasons. First, they will become an increasing percentage of our total membership and second, an active younger membership will ensure the longer-term viability of the club.

To fulfill these needs we have continued to stress the importance of our children's program, which provides instruction in golf, swimming, tennis, and sailing. In golf we continually look for new ideas for events and for family oriented activities while still keeping the golf course very available to all of the members. Social activities range from "theme" dinners and family oriented events to golf events with dinner dances.

RC: Clearly, our industry continually faces the challenge of change. The nature of change suggests to us that change is not static, but rather a dynamic process. Traditional, old-line clubs like White Bear Yacht Club, just like any other private club, must first identify changes that will affect their strategic ability to stay positioned at the top of the marketplace. Second, they must have the leadership, both professional and volunteer that can recognize the need for change and the appropriateness of specific changes that are meaningful to them.

Linda Carroll provides that leadership for her club. She has evolved through wise and experienced mentors, through the excellent training of the CMAA and GCSAA, through her extensive travels throughout the world, and through a heart and soul that is truly dedicated to the growth and betterment of her club and to the industry she so proudly serves.

Thank you Linda, and guide us well through 2007. BR

Rick Coyne is president, Club Mark Corporation and a regular contributor to The BoardRoom. He can be reached at 1-972-788-4848, ext. 4 or via e-mail: rcoyne@clubmark.com