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Page 12 Volume 11 Issue 4
The following three PRINCIPLES
will make your job both satisfying
and enjoyable:
HIRE EFFECTIVELY:
DELEGATE & TRAIN
Every Director knows that having
an excellent staff is critical to their
success. Before hiring anyone, a
very clear job description and
expectations should be carefully
created; only applicants that meet
them should be considered. If you
need a pro to teach on weekends,
make sure that he/she understands
that this is a requirement – not an
option.
Spend time with your staff (weekly)
training them to understand the
high standards that you expect of
them and then continue to meet
them.
Delegate specific responsibilities to
the employees – but make sure you
evaluate their performance and
make corrections when needed.
Over time they will improve and
you will be able to trust them with
additional assignments. Over ten
of my former assistant pros are currently
Directors of Tennis at clubs
around the USA – and I am proud
of that fact.
FAILURE IS WHEN YOU
STOP TRYING
I tried a handicap event for the
ladies at my club once, and they
hated it. If you’re smart, you learn
from your mistakes, make some
corrections, or try something else.
I guarantee you that if you try
enough things, some of them won’t
be winners, but some of them will.
Just keep trying. Over time your
program will get better and better –
and you’ll know what goes, and
what doesn’t.
TAKE SOME CHANCES:
THE REWARDS ARE GREAT
When I was a kid learning tennis,
everyone learned to serve-and-volley.
The risk-taking aspect of that
style of play is one of the reasons
that I was so attracted to this great
game. About twenty years ago I
decided to take a big risk with my
membership. I organized a group
trip to The Casa de Campo – a fivestar
golf, tennis and beach resort in
the Dominican Republic. Over 28
members signed up for this trip and
I realized the awesome responsibility
that I had; everything had to be
planned out in detail and there
could be no “screw-ups.” I realized
much was at stake.
That trip was a grand success.
Taking member trips to fantastic
places became a part of my job
description – and as I reflect back
I remember:
• Playing tennis with twenty-four
members on the red clay at the
famous Monte Carlo Tennis Club
• Taking a bath in the hot-springs
with 40 members at the base of a
volcano in Costa Rica
• Seeing a Brutus Whale (2nd
largest) off the Pacific Coast in the
Baja Peninsula
• Watching Pete Sampras lose to
Mark Philippoussis at the French
Open
The list could go on and on. Over
the last twenty years I organized
over 15 trips for between 26 - 40
members to all kinds of fantastic
places, places neither I nor my wife
would have ever had the opportuni-
ty to visit – unless I took a risk and
organized it. And it didn’t cost me
penny!
MAKE EVERYTHING A
“BIG DEAL”
I made a big mistake once when
I said to a parent, “Don’t worry, this
isn’t Wimbledon.” That kid left my
program and signed on with another
program where, in a few years he
became one of the best players in
the state. I was the one who didn’t
realize IT WAS WIMBLEDON to
that family!
For a period of time I would run a
Saturday afternoon play-day and I’d
simply take the sign-up list and
make up matches on the spot.
Then one day I decided to break up
the kids into small groups of 3 – 5
players per group and run little
round robins. I spent a few minutes
setting up formal round robin draw
sheets with court assignments – and
it appeared to the kids that this was
a BIG DEAL! The interest and success
of the Saturday afternoon playday
increased dramatically after
that. It was a really easy thing to
do – and it had a big impact.