391: Mentorship and Prepping for Y2k w/ Kevin Daniel Lalumiere, CCM

Transcript

WEBVTT

00:00:00.461 --> 00:00:19.350
Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club Radio Show, where we give you the scoop on all things private golf and country clubs from mastering leadership and management, food and beverage excellence, member engagement secrets, board governance and everything in between, all while keeping it fun and light, whether you're a club veteran just getting your feet wet or somewhere in the middle.

00:00:19.350 --> 00:00:20.745
You are in the right place.

00:00:20.745 --> 00:00:22.484
I'm your host, denny Corby.

00:00:22.484 --> 00:00:23.949
Welcome to the show.

00:00:23.949 --> 00:00:30.516
The right place.

00:00:30.516 --> 00:00:31.259
I'm your host, denny Corby.

00:00:31.259 --> 00:00:31.699
Welcome to the show.

00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:47.636
Today I am chatting with Kevin Daniel Lelumiere, and he is the GM COO of the Country Club of New Canaan and he is about to start one of his club's employee appreciation events, and so that's what a lot of our talk ends up being about.

00:00:47.636 --> 00:00:56.188
Is the employee appreciation, leadership, talent acquisition, how to hire and bring on good people, when to fire and let go of people.

00:00:56.188 --> 00:01:05.546
Mentorship is a big topic in this episode as well, and one of the things I'm a big proponent of and a lot of people are that I bring on.

00:01:05.546 --> 00:01:08.432
The show is really highlighting the need for continuous learning.

00:01:08.432 --> 00:01:10.200
I want to apologize for the audio.

00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:11.703
My audio is wonky.

00:01:11.703 --> 00:01:14.528
I had the wrong mic as my input.

00:01:14.528 --> 00:01:18.003
It was my AirPods, or I think it could have even been my laptop.

00:01:18.003 --> 00:01:19.527
It does not sound great.

00:01:19.527 --> 00:01:27.704
I did my best to make it sound the best, so just fair warned, my sound does not sound great.

00:01:27.945 --> 00:01:28.828
Amateur hour over here.

00:01:28.828 --> 00:01:38.085
And before we start, a quick thank you to some of our show partners Kenneth's member, vetting Golf Life Navigators, concert golf partners and myself, denny Corby.

00:01:38.085 --> 00:01:44.682
You guys will hear more about those later, but for right now, private club radio listeners, let's welcome to the show.

00:01:44.682 --> 00:01:48.046
Gm COO of the country club of new Canaan.

00:01:48.046 --> 00:01:58.477
Kevin Daniel the Lumiere I hate saying it like that, but it's one of those names I feel like you have to give it that Oomph the Lumiere got a little French there.

00:01:58.477 --> 00:02:02.367
Oh, and, by the way, he starts off with a horrible joke.

00:02:02.367 --> 00:02:04.933
It was so bad that I left it in.

00:02:08.401 --> 00:02:15.127
Feel horrible about this, but I think I have to go and I'm sorry to you, daniel, all of your listeners, because, no, it's terrible.

00:02:15.127 --> 00:02:19.145
I thought when I was maybe reading too fast, I thought it said Pirate Club Radio.

00:02:19.145 --> 00:02:25.955
I got all excited because ever since I was a young boy in Massachusetts, I always wanted to be a pirate and I think you invited me.

00:02:25.955 --> 00:02:26.659
You were so gracious.

00:02:26.659 --> 00:02:28.240
But it says private club radio.

00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:29.485
I just said pirate club radio.

00:02:29.485 --> 00:02:34.893
So if I've got a bounce or you want to bounce me, I thought we were going to be talking about something entirely different.

00:02:34.893 --> 00:02:37.646
But, anyhow, happy to stick around for a few more minutes.

00:02:37.646 --> 00:02:39.831
You're smiling.

00:02:39.831 --> 00:02:42.429
That's a good sign from a guy in your line of work.

00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:47.602
That was a first pirate club radio.

00:02:47.602 --> 00:02:47.923
Pirate it's.

00:02:47.923 --> 00:02:51.671
You're moving too fast, we're reading too fast, and then quick softball for you, denny.

00:02:51.671 --> 00:02:51.912
What's?

00:02:51.912 --> 00:02:58.979
Um, you know the pirates favorite letter of the alphabet, r, r, it's an easy one, uh, anyway.

00:02:58.979 --> 00:03:00.324
So, yeah, that's gonna be super cool.

00:03:00.324 --> 00:03:03.842
We're gonna have that party today and again in december and just something that we can.

00:03:03.842 --> 00:03:06.676
We can reach out and it's know, it's really actually cool.

00:03:06.676 --> 00:03:22.812
As I'm thinking about it is, I think the part I enjoy most is meeting folks that I wouldn't get to meet Like we have, you know, kids running around here all the time, um, children of our employees, but um, nice to like sit down and have a beer with a spouse and, and you know, get to know them and what line of their work, because they're typically maybe not in clubs.

00:03:22.852 --> 00:03:28.177
So I always enjoy that part too, I think as a, as a, as a, as a strong leader as well.

00:03:28.177 --> 00:03:49.245
When you understand what makes people tick and when you can understand their I don't say home life, because you probably can't, but like when you can understand a little bit of other people's spouses, significant others just chat with I don't know I just feel like it creates that bond, it helps you about them, and when you can learn more what makes them tick and what's important to them, you can lead more effectively.

00:03:50.729 --> 00:03:51.008
Totally.

00:03:51.008 --> 00:03:56.591
Yep, I totally agree, and I've always, particularly for C-suite or upper level management, even mid-level management.

00:03:56.591 --> 00:04:14.664
I think that old adage of interviewing the spouse is critical, because a lot of times not a lot of times there have been times when you could just see sort of the blood drain out of the spouse's face like, oh my gosh, I'm about to pack up a move from oshkosh to new canada, connecticut, and you want to kind of suss that stuff out early, right, because it's gonna, it's gonna raise its head.

00:04:14.664 --> 00:04:17.632
You might as well, um, tap into it early.

00:04:17.632 --> 00:04:21.163
But yes, no, I totally agree, and I think it shows that you care as a leader too.

00:04:21.163 --> 00:04:27.593
It's's, it's always, you know, nice, when I can rattle off, you know children's names, and not just say, hey, how's your older one doing?

00:04:27.612 --> 00:04:31.964
Right, I think it just shows that How's the ugly one doing the one, that's the one that looks a little weird.

00:04:32.466 --> 00:04:47.281
No, I'm kidding, I can think, you can think that but now have you always, let's talk here at New Canaan.

00:04:47.302 --> 00:04:48.725
Have they always done that or is it something that you implemented?

00:04:48.725 --> 00:05:02.557
No, I think I'm not sure if we did it twice a year, back in the day or before my time, perhaps the club was run by a really competent GM.

00:05:02.557 --> 00:05:04.637
Then we just sort of went to two times.

00:05:04.637 --> 00:05:11.658
Because, it's funny, we're in such a seasonal area that our peak season number of employees is like 200, right.

00:05:11.658 --> 00:05:23.829
But when you get down to December and you don't have camp counselors and lifeguards and maybe your seasonal F&B staff has kind of dwindled a hair, the room is much smaller or the attendance is much leaner in December.

00:05:23.829 --> 00:05:29.629
But in August, if everybody hasn't gone back to school, or early September, we really get an awesome turnout.

00:05:29.629 --> 00:05:37.863
And so we I think that's, if I remember back in the day, part of the impetus for me to do, you know, a post labor day jump in the pool for a couple hours and and feed the staff.

00:05:37.863 --> 00:05:38.788
It's pretty cool, it's cool.

00:05:38.788 --> 00:05:47.562
What's the staff response?

00:05:47.562 --> 00:05:47.862
They, they love.

00:05:47.862 --> 00:05:48.283
You know, it's funny.

00:05:48.283 --> 00:05:49.187
I, I wish that it was 100 turnout.

00:05:49.187 --> 00:05:51.675
And for the life of me I can't understand well, I guess I can why why we don't get it.

00:05:51.675 --> 00:05:54.202
Our turnout's fine, but I, the overall.

00:05:54.202 --> 00:05:56.148
Uh, very, very positive.

00:05:56.148 --> 00:06:02.918
But I wish there was a way that could force every stinking employee to come, because it's just so much fun and uh and they're missing out.

00:06:02.978 --> 00:06:06.670
Having said that, it's funny, I I sit on the membership chapter.

00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:24.341
We deal with education chapter, connecticut Club Manager Association of America, and we talk about having educations on Mondays and Tuesdays and a real sort of common theme is like it kind of bums me out because my one day off, on a Monday or Tuesday, I don't want to drive two hours to talk about compliance or food costs or whatever I get it.

00:06:24.341 --> 00:06:28.747
And if you were to fire up a meeting on a Thursday or Friday, the attendance would be dismal because we're all working.

00:06:28.747 --> 00:06:35.569
So it's a battle or philosophical debate that we often have which is like when do you get the most bang for your buck?

00:06:35.569 --> 00:06:43.951
So, case in point, long-winded way to answer your question is there are employees who are like it's a Monday, I'm not working, I've got other things to do.

00:06:43.951 --> 00:06:47.656
As generous and as nice as it is for the club to do that for the employees, I totally get that.

00:06:47.656 --> 00:06:53.406
Someone's like you know what, I'm not going to drive 45 minutes to have a couple of tacos or whatever, but I wish that.

00:06:53.406 --> 00:06:57.365
I think we've got like 80% turnout, so there's nothing broken.

00:06:57.545 --> 00:06:58.327
That's still solid.

00:06:58.327 --> 00:06:59.302
That's still solid.

00:06:59.805 --> 00:07:12.204
Pretty good, yeah, and there's just some people who just don't want to come to work on their day off.

00:07:12.204 --> 00:07:15.274
Doesn't matter what you're giving, what you're giving out, they're like I just don't 100, 100, um, but I think you know it's funny.

00:07:15.274 --> 00:07:18.904
We've, we've done, um, we've tried our best to incorporate activity around it too.

00:07:18.904 --> 00:07:32.247
Right, instead of just standing there with a glass of wine in your hand and the gm gets up and gives a speech about how successful the season is, it's like being able to play pickleball or squash or golf or soccer on our soccer field.

00:07:32.247 --> 00:07:35.593
That attracts, I think, a handful more people, just to get creative that way.

00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:46.281
Do you have any issue with as we're talking about just employees and people and management there do you have any issues with, uh, finding good talent, labor shortage?

00:07:46.281 --> 00:07:57.403
I mean, granted, you are in connecticut, so and you're at a very nice club, which definitely helps, but, um, you know, there there's, you know, still I don't, I still I don't even know labor shortage like.

00:07:57.403 --> 00:07:58.125
Is that a thing?

00:07:58.125 --> 00:08:00.151
Is that something that you still you still challenge with?

00:08:00.211 --> 00:08:01.862
or are challenged with totally.

00:08:01.862 --> 00:08:03.968
Yeah, I do so, we do, I so we do.

00:08:03.968 --> 00:08:05.411
I should say it's funny.

00:08:05.411 --> 00:08:07.723
I would think of it as it's sort of cyclical.

00:08:07.723 --> 00:08:08.865
It's not constant.

00:08:08.865 --> 00:08:12.541
It's almost like an economic downturn or the economy itself.

00:08:12.541 --> 00:08:15.581
It's like, you know, you have some really good years and then you have two years where it's really really hard.

00:08:15.661 --> 00:08:59.760
You got to really you know, block and tackle and scrap with the competing clubs Because, as I said, me and I've chatted about this before here in New Canaan and I my staff's probably so tired of hearing me use this analogy or metaphor but you could swing a cat around and hit 15 really awesome clubs that are very historic and and um, it's sort of this area is kind of saturated, which we're, we're very fortunate for, uh, so we all sort of struggled together, um, at the moment, uh, for us, really, the only sort of really tough spot is culinary, like finding your like sort of mid-level line cook, stewards, dishwashers, you know that are that are true culinarians, and we kind of accept the fact that it's a pretty transient business and particularly food and beverage.

00:09:00.883 --> 00:09:06.546
People sometimes do that work as a temporary step towards what their real career, you know, will actually be like.

00:09:06.546 --> 00:09:11.365
I'm going to, you know, cook for two years while I save money to go to law school or whatever it is.

00:09:11.365 --> 00:09:18.451
So, in the culinary department, sometimes we find ourselves, you know, banging our heads against the wall to find, um, to find good staff.

00:09:18.451 --> 00:09:34.254
But, as I said, there are times when, like our golf maintenance staff, we struggle and we compete with, um landscaping uh companies or municipalities that are hiring somebody for just you know, $2 more an hour and sort of stealing our, our guys and gals away.

00:09:34.254 --> 00:09:36.523
Um, but yeah, very cyclical, not constant, and kind of ebbs and flows.

00:09:38.990 --> 00:09:46.772
Have you found anything that works to help kind of attract a little bit more or keep talent a little bit more maybe, than just the two bucks an hour?

00:09:46.772 --> 00:09:49.789
Have you found a way to slightly compete with that?

00:09:49.789 --> 00:09:54.806
Or is it just one of those you just kind of accept and you have a good person, you try just to harness and foster them?

00:09:56.441 --> 00:10:02.125
No, I look we spend a lot of time, um, highlighting how special our club is.

00:10:02.125 --> 00:10:02.868
I'll give you an example.

00:10:02.868 --> 00:10:20.301
So we, a couple of members, set up three or four years ago as foundation, essentially you know, your garden variety scholarship foundation, where employees that stay longer than a year are eligible to apply for scholarship and it could be primary employee themselves or employee's spouse or even employee's dependents.

00:10:20.301 --> 00:10:27.883
So we've got, you know, a handful of scholarships that go to send, you know, our employees, children to daycare, private school, whatever it might be.

00:10:27.883 --> 00:10:37.090
We've had guys on our golf maintenance crew that will go and take cooking lessons because, as a vocation, they want to switch and be a chef someday.

00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:46.056
All of the wonderful things that we do at new Canaan as an attraction, you know, mechanism or tool.

00:10:46.056 --> 00:10:59.909
We sort of pull out all the stops, um, and I think you're kind of lost if, if any GM or somebody in a mid-level, upper level management position isn't doing those things and is relying solely on just paying, throwing money at somebody, that's a, you know, that's a short-sighted.

00:10:59.909 --> 00:11:18.113
I think um fix so this, so things like the scholarship fund, being able to play golf and sports on Monday, even like today, as coincidental as it is, we throw two awesome ragers each year to celebrate our employees and thank them and their spouses.

00:11:18.113 --> 00:11:26.346
Having said all that, I think the person sitting across the table from me is really just looking at okay, what am I going to take home each and every week and what am I going to do to put food on the table?

00:11:26.346 --> 00:11:31.748
And if um, I think, if you ignore economics completely, you're you're being short-sighted as well.

00:11:33.010 --> 00:11:45.759
You've mentioned it in the in the beginning as well, um, mentorship being a being a big thing, and you know I've had some, some of your mentees, your mentees, on here, without, without knowing or realizing.

00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:51.602
But you know the, the the workforce is changing, people are changing, there's new generations coming in.

00:11:51.602 --> 00:11:56.774
You know the club world could be, you know, difficult GM burnout.

00:11:56.774 --> 00:12:00.980
There are ways and things that that's being changed as well.

00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:09.514
But are there any strategies that you use to mentor and develop the next generation of leaders and clubs and hospitality?

00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:25.142
So in terms of strategy, I would say, look, and again, it's an interesting segue because I think that too is another asset for someone thinking about working here, someone thinking about working here right.

00:12:25.142 --> 00:12:36.029
So if I can say we've got a legitimate internship program where we have a legitimate mentor mentee program, that might cause somebody to choose our club as their employer over another, because it's more than just a paycheck.

00:12:36.029 --> 00:12:40.048
So I would say it in a different way to say you know, someone works here for three years.

00:12:40.048 --> 00:12:50.634
Of course we're going to pay them for those three years, but if they can walk away and say, wow, I learned something from Kevin or the chef or golf course superintendent or CFO, there's value out there for sure.

00:12:50.740 --> 00:12:56.852
In terms of strategy, real life I tried to listen in equal parts to mentoring.

00:12:56.852 --> 00:12:57.193
It's funny.

00:12:57.193 --> 00:13:02.432
I've had a couple of really strong mentors in my career and I'm forever grateful.

00:13:02.432 --> 00:13:10.539
But there were times where I was kind of like you know, let me talk for a minute, like I get that you've done A, b and C and you're a champion of your industry.

00:13:10.539 --> 00:13:18.889
But I think any good mentor listens carefully 50% of the time, or 40% of the time, something like that.

00:13:18.889 --> 00:13:20.380
So that would be my strategy is.

00:13:21.001 --> 00:13:22.623
It's conversational, much like you and I chatting here.

00:13:22.623 --> 00:13:23.524
It's very conversational.

00:13:23.524 --> 00:13:26.426
Things pop up that you wouldn't anticipate.

00:13:26.426 --> 00:13:32.912
I could walk into a mentee session and say, okay, we're going to talk about insurance today, right, and then it ebbs and flows.

00:13:32.912 --> 00:13:36.214
We end up talking about five other different things, their personal life or their goals.

00:13:36.214 --> 00:13:49.085
So, yeah, I think 50-50 listening and talking like in any interview I find myself, as I am here to rent one on with you is that I was actually coached by one of my mentors who watched me interview out of Canada and they're like you talked way too much.

00:13:49.085 --> 00:13:50.248
You're supposed to let them talk.

00:13:50.248 --> 00:13:52.101
They're they're supposed to do the majority of the speaking.

00:13:53.085 --> 00:13:54.710
Um, but again back to your earlier point.

00:13:54.710 --> 00:13:58.482
If I'm trying to sell them on the club and tell them how wonderful it is to work here, that involves me.

00:13:58.482 --> 00:14:00.164
You know describing those things.

00:14:00.164 --> 00:14:01.905
But, yeah, feel really strongly about that.

00:14:01.905 --> 00:14:20.030
Look, I would tell you that as a GM now, as I get to be an old man 20 years in the industry I set as a smaller priority making sure that Mr and Mrs Hook and slice in the dining room, think I'm really cool, or or, you know, they've seen me five times a week.

00:14:20.030 --> 00:14:27.585
I think, like I would say to my board, my president, pull my department heads, heads in, ask them one by one, you know, is this person a leader?

00:14:27.585 --> 00:14:29.230
Can they make a concise decision?

00:14:29.230 --> 00:14:31.844
Do you feel like you know where you stand?

00:14:31.844 --> 00:14:33.648
Or the ethical, you know?

00:14:33.648 --> 00:14:34.809
Is the direction clear?

00:14:34.809 --> 00:14:37.302
Um, do you feel like he's got your back?

00:14:37.302 --> 00:14:39.025
Those are the things I would measure myself on.

00:14:39.066 --> 00:14:46.231
So, with mentorship, that's a big part of it for me can you go into your mentorship program like, how does that work?

00:14:46.231 --> 00:14:52.559
Like, and is it for this and this might be a dumb question is it for everybody who comes and applies?

00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.365
Is it for a certain certain age demographic?

00:14:55.365 --> 00:14:58.072
Is it, uh, like, what does that entail?

00:14:58.072 --> 00:15:00.166
Like, when is that brought into the conversation?

00:15:00.166 --> 00:15:01.210
Like, is that part of like?

00:15:01.210 --> 00:15:03.038
When they first are applying?

00:15:03.038 --> 00:15:04.500
It's like, hey, we have x, y and z.

00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:06.062
Is this part of like that I don first are applying?

00:15:06.062 --> 00:15:06.783
It's like hey, we have X, y and Z.

00:15:06.783 --> 00:15:07.384
Is this part of like that?

00:15:07.384 --> 00:15:12.028
I don't want to say that promo package, but what you put out to to the world is it once they kind of are interested.

00:15:12.028 --> 00:15:19.855
Then you start explaining what the whole process is and part of the, you know, part of the, the role.

00:15:19.855 --> 00:15:21.057
Like, what's, what does that?

00:15:21.057 --> 00:15:22.839
What does the mentor program entail?

00:15:22.839 --> 00:15:26.182
At Country Club in New Canaan, what does the mentor program entail at Country Club in New Canaan.

00:15:26.201 --> 00:15:35.530
Yeah, so I'm not going to lie to you, denny, it's not a super formalized thing and maybe shame on me for it not being like that.

00:15:35.530 --> 00:15:38.854
I would say I'm grateful and proud that we have that sort of program.

00:15:38.854 --> 00:15:45.001
I have two at the moment, mentees that I meet with regularly and then I encourage the hell out of my department heads to do the same thing.

00:15:45.001 --> 00:15:45.984
And part of that is selfish.

00:15:45.984 --> 00:15:56.870
Part of that is continuity and succession plan, meaning like if we don't have that and someone takes a bullet or gets hit by a bus, shame on me for not having groomed someone to sort of step up.

00:15:56.870 --> 00:16:02.827
And the other part of the question is it's a little bit of it takes two to tango.

00:16:02.827 --> 00:16:09.971
So I don't really just point at somebody and say, hey, you, we're going to meet every week for an hour and a half, whether you like it or not.

00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:16.423
I kind of look at an employee to kind of say to me hey, you know, I'm just thinking about furthering my career.

00:16:16.423 --> 00:16:17.927
Can I ask you your advice?

00:16:17.927 --> 00:16:26.898
And you know, most of the times I said not super formalized or structured and sometimes just happens like organically, you know, and it's such a great investment.

00:16:26.898 --> 00:16:30.139
It's like such a corny, like cliche line coming out of my mouth.

00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:35.346
It's such a great investment in time for the future of our industry and just future of this operation.

00:16:35.346 --> 00:16:42.104
It's like if you just treat everybody like a banger and you think that giving them a check every Friday is the end of your obligation.

00:16:42.104 --> 00:16:42.624
I think you're.

00:16:42.624 --> 00:16:43.205
I think you're.

00:16:43.205 --> 00:16:44.966
You're missing something.

00:16:45.227 --> 00:16:46.610
How often do you meet?

00:16:46.610 --> 00:16:58.354
Do you like to meet Like what's a good program look like and it's probably different with each person because there might be a different department, whatever but like, on average, like have you found like a meeting every two weeks?

00:16:58.354 --> 00:17:03.331
And like, have you found, like what, what tends to work for you and be successful for both parties?

00:17:03.331 --> 00:17:04.021
Like what?

00:17:04.201 --> 00:17:05.626
what tends to work for you and be successful for both parties.

00:17:05.626 --> 00:17:05.988
Cool, so funny.

00:17:05.988 --> 00:17:06.990
It's exactly two weeks.

00:17:06.990 --> 00:17:12.536
We do it every two weeks for, yeah, see you're, you're on your way, but for 90 minutes.

00:17:12.536 --> 00:17:16.548
You know, sometimes 90 minutes turns into two hours, sometimes 90 minutes can be 60.

00:17:16.548 --> 00:17:28.420
And I think it's like and you're a performer so you can appreciate this, I think you know when you like lose the room a little bit, you're like, you know the person sitting across from me is like, oh dear God, will he stop talking again or telling me the same story three times?

00:17:28.420 --> 00:17:33.625
So I think the duration of the meetings can can, can ebb and flow a little bit as well.

00:17:33.625 --> 00:17:36.291
But yeah, two weeks, 90 minutes, that's good.

00:17:36.291 --> 00:17:39.246
Yeah, and I think you know it's funny.

00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:47.954
I was listening to a podcast the other day and I'm like talking about generational differences in the workplace and how somebody mid forties like me is different than somebody mid twenties.

00:17:47.954 --> 00:17:48.863
And it's crazy.

00:17:48.863 --> 00:17:55.344
One of my you know newer employees, mid-level, um, you know was born like in 2002.

00:17:55.344 --> 00:17:58.192
And I'm like that can't be right, but it is, it's a hundred percent right.

00:17:58.192 --> 00:18:01.125
She's 23 years old or 22 years old, whatever the math works out to be.

00:18:01.125 --> 00:18:02.428
It's crazy.

00:18:02.428 --> 00:18:11.681
I think I remember like the millennium, like it was two weeks ago and like y2k, and me and my buddies being like, oh wow, you know, and now I'm the old guy.

00:18:11.721 --> 00:18:16.998
but what I would say I noticed right y2k when everything was going to shut down.

00:18:16.998 --> 00:18:18.321
I'm totally dating myself.

00:18:18.422 --> 00:18:23.122
Now you can edit that part out for sure y2k is going into the title like that's going to be a part of it.

00:18:23.122 --> 00:18:25.229
It's's like mentorship and handling Y2K.

00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:29.689
Mentorship and Kevin's ideas from 23 years ago.

00:18:29.689 --> 00:18:32.458
Thank you for that.

00:18:32.458 --> 00:18:33.000
I'm going to pause.

00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:45.273
What I would tell you is this I tell any students that I speak with, or mentees, friends, whatever that um, you gotta get the easy stuff right.

00:18:45.273 --> 00:19:10.708
And I'm not going to indict the younger generation now by saying they're not, but it's like one of the things that that I think about is when I say get the easy stuff right and my team hears me say this all the time you gotta look the part, you gotta be on time, you know you have to listen, you have to be uh, caring, uh caring, you know, um, and none of those cost any money at all and none of them really exert much effort.

00:19:10.708 --> 00:19:11.790
Easy, you know at all.

00:19:11.851 --> 00:19:17.451
But it's like if you show up and you're kind of looking shabby or you're 10 minutes late, like, those are such misses.

00:19:17.451 --> 00:19:25.684
For me, and as a guy who doesn't have a 200 iq and I don't thank god, club management isn't like handling uranium or splitting atoms, because I would fail miserably.

00:19:25.684 --> 00:19:34.608
Right, you know, the best 2.75 GPA in my class, um, thank God those easy things are, are, are readily available.

00:19:34.608 --> 00:19:41.509
Like look the part beyond time, do more listening than talking, um, and then the rest will sort of fall into place.

00:19:41.509 --> 00:19:49.990
You'll develop other skills by people teaching you or by you paying attention, but when someone shows up and just kind of like whiffs on the easy stuff, that's, you know.

00:19:50.270 --> 00:19:52.601
Noticeable to me, interviews in particular.

00:19:52.601 --> 00:20:00.555
My team knows that again, someone walks in an interview and there's been times I'm like, did you, you know, walk by a mirror and say I'm on my way to the interview?

00:20:00.555 --> 00:20:06.121
How's this going to go, you know?

00:20:06.121 --> 00:20:10.218
And I'm still, to this day, surprised when I'm like, wow, yeah, dude, what's going on with, you know, the shirt untucked or whatever.

00:20:10.218 --> 00:20:10.660
And again, I don't.

00:20:10.660 --> 00:20:12.203
It's not about apparel specifically.

00:20:12.203 --> 00:20:19.865
I'm not like some, you know, fashion plate myself, but it's like, dude, you gotta just take care of the easy stuff, low-hanging fruit I like that.

00:20:21.528 --> 00:20:26.435
Going back a little bit, you talked about strong mentors or being a strong mentor.

00:20:26.435 --> 00:20:36.002
What is a strong mentor and how can you tell a good mentor from a great mentor or a good mentor from a strong mentor?

00:20:36.002 --> 00:20:45.441
So for people who are out there listening, you know maybe they have a mentor, maybe they're looking for one, or you know how can they tell if they have maybe a time to look for somebody.

00:20:45.441 --> 00:20:54.721
A little bit, you know different, better I don't know if that's the right thing to say, for like a mentor, but like obviously you know everyone needs to, you know progress with it, but like what's what's different?

00:20:54.721 --> 00:20:56.384
What's there between a good mentor and a strong mentor?

00:20:58.609 --> 00:20:59.571
good and strong?

00:20:59.571 --> 00:21:01.721
That's a really tough, interesting question.

00:21:01.721 --> 00:21:10.612
Um, I would say, look, I it's like a relationship that you develop, you know with, with friends or loved ones.

00:21:10.612 --> 00:21:22.556
I really enjoy when someone has has like a self deprecating way about them, like I like when someone can poke fun at themselves or laugh at themselves or kind of trip over themselves and screw up and be really human.

00:21:22.556 --> 00:21:48.092
You know, I think I've had a couple of mentors that are just on the outside, bulletproof and and and don't fail frequently, um, and while that's probably pretty accurate and they're, they're awesome, I think it's nice to see someone that's like a little bit human and can can goof around or, or, um, you know, have faults and and sharing times when they've struggled with a, b or C.

00:21:48.092 --> 00:21:51.586
So I think a good mentor uh has those attributes.

00:21:51.586 --> 00:21:56.051
That sort of human, like I said, self-deprecating, I think is super attractive in terms of mentorship.

00:21:56.874 --> 00:22:14.692
A strong mentor, I think I would define strong, like any other part in our lives, which is like consistent and tenacious, and a strong mentor will take it seriously and not flake off and say, oh hey, I can't make it today, something popped up and while those things certainly can happen.

00:22:14.692 --> 00:22:17.511
Strong like committed, like show me the commitment.

00:22:17.511 --> 00:22:22.711
You know, if you want to get from point A to point B, you know it's like the 10,000 hours thing, right I gotta.

00:22:22.711 --> 00:22:26.034
If I want to play in the NBA, I gotta go shoot free throws for two hours every single day.

00:22:26.034 --> 00:22:33.484
I hate shooting free throws, you know it's got to be.

00:22:33.484 --> 00:22:36.247
If you're strong, I think as I'm just thinking off the cuff strong is like committed, consistent, tenacious.

00:22:36.247 --> 00:22:44.058
Like you, denny committed, strong, tenacious, clumsy that's not.

00:22:44.058 --> 00:22:46.128
You shouldn't laugh, but you're a little.

00:22:46.269 --> 00:22:50.287
Oh, I am when you were like, when you were talking about like, deprecating and like all that.

00:22:50.287 --> 00:23:02.641
I'm like, oh my goodness, but you seem to build strong teams, strong people, with things like burnout, high turnover rates, the struggles that every club has.

00:23:02.641 --> 00:23:14.556
Do you have and I think you could have answered this too, I just don't know if I'm just going off in my head Do you have any tried and true things that you use, that are in your tool kit to help you build a resilient team?

00:23:14.556 --> 00:23:26.538
Because, if I remember correctly, that's partly your thing is going in, building, doing well and then letting it go.

00:23:26.538 --> 00:23:31.497
So how do you build a resilient team and how do you know when it's ready?

00:23:34.589 --> 00:23:35.516
It's a really good question.

00:23:35.516 --> 00:23:39.253
I think again it goes back to sort of listening and checking in with people.

00:23:39.253 --> 00:23:43.594
Getting to know your team on a personal basis is really important to me.

00:23:43.594 --> 00:24:02.830
It's funny there was somebody very prominent in our industry who was speaking at conference and is in the executive search for a business and said they were really impressed with the general manager because the GM walked through the kitchen and said hello to everybody in the executive search for a business and said they were really impressed with the general manager because the GM walked through the kitchen and said hello to everybody in the morning dishwashers, cooks, chef, et cetera and this person again pillar of our industry was like gosh.

00:24:02.830 --> 00:24:07.673
I was so impressed with him because they did that and I remember thinking to myself like do people not do that?

00:24:07.673 --> 00:24:13.608
It's I mean again, if it's a giant club, you know, 1200 employees or whatever it is, then I guess that's a bit more of a challenge.

00:24:13.608 --> 00:24:24.396
But I was so thrown back by that, like accolades being thrown towards a leader of any type for walking through the kitchen in the morning and saying hello to everybody and calling them by their first name.

00:24:24.396 --> 00:24:28.619
I felt great because I do that all the time and so should everybody for that matter.

00:24:28.619 --> 00:24:32.061
But so I think little things like that are critical for building a team.

00:24:32.061 --> 00:24:39.152
As I said, listening as well, asking somebody what their goals are.

00:24:39.152 --> 00:24:41.201
Here you are today, where do you want to be in six months, where do you want to be in a year?

00:24:41.201 --> 00:24:45.113
If nothing else, it just shows them that you care enough to ask that type of question.

00:24:45.113 --> 00:25:05.015
On the flip side, I sort of live by the hire slow and fire fast mentality, right, and so that means you know, take your time hiring we talked about that earlier in this session to get to know someone and their spouse even perhaps, if it's possible.

00:25:05.015 --> 00:25:07.786
So higher slow and fire fast.

00:25:07.786 --> 00:25:08.788
Fire fast meaning it was.

00:25:08.827 --> 00:25:18.326
Jack Welch said something like you know, most CEOs or COOs or CFOs, you know, by the time they realize that someone's not a great cultural fit, it actually takes them.

00:25:18.326 --> 00:25:22.432
Oh, wow, there he is right, there, see, great mind.

00:25:22.432 --> 00:25:24.215
Good on you, that's quick.

00:25:24.215 --> 00:25:27.226
Yeah, I think he was.

00:25:27.226 --> 00:25:41.537
Like you know, some leaders will wake up and realize, ah, denny's not a right fit and and we're, you know, we have to make a change with Denny, and then six months on the average goes by before they actually make that change.

00:25:41.537 --> 00:25:43.261
So there's six months of of, um, you know, sort of lost time.

00:25:43.345 --> 00:25:51.406
So I think, while it sounds draconian, removing people from a culture is is equally as um, important.

00:25:51.406 --> 00:25:59.170
I think you know, just limp along thinking that someone's gonna, you know, cheat, is going to change his or her spots, like they are who they are, and I think you got to trust your gut.

00:25:59.170 --> 00:26:03.057
That's my only other thing too, I would say when I speak to others is like trust your gut.

00:26:03.057 --> 00:26:18.773
There's been a handful of times in my career where I just know something's not going to work out and I kind of don't do anything about it and then I find myself six months later realizing well, that didn't work out and wish I had saved myself that gray hair.

00:26:18.814 --> 00:26:19.596
You know, it's like what's that saying?

00:26:19.596 --> 00:26:26.196
If you get on the wrong train, just be sure to get off, because if you wait the cost to return trip, you know the cost of the return trip and the time is going to be more than you want to you want to stomach.

00:26:26.196 --> 00:26:42.347
So, in terms of building a good team to get back to your question go one by one and empower those who are strong and who are committed to the end goal, the mission statement, vision statement, uh, and remove the ones that that you just know, won't?

00:26:42.347 --> 00:26:42.989
You know?

00:26:42.989 --> 00:26:57.749
It's like again, there's a bell curve right and we sort of focus on, um, the left side of the bell curve being the underperformers and the right side of the bell curve being the over-performers, and everybody in the middle of the disorder just gets forgotten about.

00:26:57.749 --> 00:27:04.976
So you have to, you know, you have to sort of pay closer attention to, to everybody involved.

00:27:06.326 --> 00:27:09.053
You book reader, do you consume like how do you?

00:27:09.053 --> 00:27:12.269
How do you consume, I don't know content?

00:27:12.269 --> 00:27:16.057
What's your, what's your, what's your vice Audible?

00:27:16.305 --> 00:27:19.732
So you know it's more audible than reading.

00:27:19.732 --> 00:27:21.637
Yeah, it's funny.

00:27:21.637 --> 00:27:30.234
I almost read to fall asleep like crush a couple of pages and find myself, just, you know, floating off to to outer space and sleep land.

00:27:30.234 --> 00:27:30.946
I, you know it's funny.

00:27:30.946 --> 00:27:32.070
We were talking about mentorship earlier.

00:27:33.071 --> 00:27:41.301
The last session I had with one of my two mentees, we jotted down each of us two professional goals and two personal goals.

00:27:41.301 --> 00:27:46.373
We sealed them in an envelope, took a picture and sealed them in an envelope and said let's revisit them in four months.

00:27:46.373 --> 00:27:48.329
And now I'm going to blow my spot up.

00:27:48.329 --> 00:27:51.009
But one of my personal goals was to read more.

00:27:51.009 --> 00:27:56.837
You know, go from reading two books a month or one book a month to three, four, whatever it is, um.

00:27:56.837 --> 00:27:59.586
And so hopefully in four months we will both.

00:27:59.586 --> 00:28:01.874
And again, we didn't share them with each other.

00:28:01.874 --> 00:28:05.471
It's literally just you take mine, I'll take yours, seal them up and let's revisit um.

00:28:05.471 --> 00:28:14.096
It's almost like and I said to her at the time it's like once you, once you actually say the words out loud, you've released it into the to the, you know, outer space.

00:28:14.096 --> 00:28:16.279
Then it's like you're committed to doing, once I commit to something.

00:28:16.279 --> 00:28:17.007
Say, denny, you know what?

00:28:17.007 --> 00:28:18.210
I'm going to read two books this week.

00:28:18.210 --> 00:28:21.448
I'm the type of person that's like feel like such a loser.

00:28:21.488 --> 00:28:39.299
If you check in with me next week and you're like what two books did you read, my answer is you know, I'm still halfway through the first but what's nice about as you listen to it on audible, if you're if you're behind, you can just bump up the speed to like 1.5 1.75, it just flies totally love it.

00:28:39.721 --> 00:28:42.205
Yeah, and you know it's funny, I have a pretty sizable commute, you know.

00:28:42.205 --> 00:28:46.836
You know, for around here I guess traffic's a thing, uh, for all of us.

00:28:46.836 --> 00:28:52.058
Um, but yeah, I, you know, I've got a time in the car, so that's come in handy.

00:28:52.058 --> 00:28:52.760
What about you?

00:28:52.760 --> 00:28:53.924
Are you voracious?

00:28:55.105 --> 00:28:56.606
I do all types.

00:28:56.606 --> 00:28:59.349
I do like my books.

00:28:59.349 --> 00:29:08.938
I tend to be one of those I will read and listen, sometimes not at the same time, but often I'll get the audible and the hard copy.

00:29:08.938 --> 00:29:22.258
There's something about sometimes I enjoy like interacting with a book, meaning like I not destroy my books, but like I will write, I will engage, I will do stuff with it.

00:29:22.258 --> 00:29:29.037
So, um, I tend to like, let me see, uh, so like.

00:29:29.037 --> 00:29:38.869
Uh, there's just, like you know, highlights, there's bookmarks, there's, oh yeah, there's just constant, like I don't know.

00:29:38.869 --> 00:29:39.491
There's always.

00:29:39.551 --> 00:29:59.317
Oh, look at you, you're a busy guy yeah, to me, I, um, yeah, no, it's just, it's just, it's just neat because then, like, if I ever go back or like sometimes, like I won't even like reread a book, I'll just like pick it up and just start like flipping through and just looking at, like my notes and just like my quick little highlights, which you can do on Kindle and actually makes it easier, kindle and audible, cause they all just pop up at the same time.

00:29:59.317 --> 00:30:02.051
Um, but yeah, I tend to do both of those.

00:30:02.051 --> 00:30:16.161
And then once I really like somebody, I'll tend to like listen to interviews, um, you know, podcasts, youtube, whatever, just consume the content, cause, like me, it's always uh, anything I can just do to keep it in.

00:30:16.161 --> 00:30:24.746
And sometimes when I listen to music, I, if I know the song, like, so, if I'm like just like doing like odds and end stuff, I listen to music and like a song.

00:30:25.508 --> 00:30:40.169
If I don't like the song or if I, if I know too much it'll, I'll focus on that and wanting to switch and do other things, uh, so audibleudible and podcasts or whatever, it's just an ongoing conversation and because I have ADD and all that.

00:30:40.169 --> 00:30:44.769
So when I read and listen, sometimes I'm a little space cadet at times.

00:30:44.769 --> 00:30:51.705
So when I combine the both Audible and listen, sometimes I pick up on other things I may have skipped over while reading or listening.

00:30:51.705 --> 00:30:56.315
That I pick up then when I read or listen yep, totally makes sense.

00:30:56.736 --> 00:30:56.895
That's.

00:30:56.895 --> 00:31:01.336
That's that's interesting because I um, yeah, it's funny.

00:31:01.336 --> 00:31:12.590
I think we're a lot of like and I think the like reading a book proper is sort of like, you know, if you're a lover of music and you go buy vinyl and there's like a touch and a tactical and a smell of the vinyl.

00:31:12.590 --> 00:31:17.568
You open it up and it's like different than if you're just listening to it, like you know, on the road.

00:31:17.568 --> 00:31:23.686
It amazes me that every time I speak one-on-one with a hospitality student, it's less and less now.

00:31:23.686 --> 00:31:29.388
But you know, there used to be a time when hospitality students at universities would only hear about hotels.

00:31:29.388 --> 00:31:30.231
That was it.

00:31:30.231 --> 00:31:33.205
It was like hotels and resorts, you know, kind of jammed down their throat.

00:31:33.205 --> 00:31:42.669
And then they turn the corner and they realize that there's this whole other universe and private clubs are like, wow, this is actually pretty cool and they ended up not leaving for the duration of their career.

00:31:42.669 --> 00:31:54.949
And so you know, our chapter and others obviously are trying to to create student chapters, cma and and and make universities that have hospitality programs more and more aware and sort of banging the drum louder.

00:31:54.949 --> 00:32:01.690
You know about our industry because it's really fantastic and again, it's all hospitality.

00:32:01.690 --> 00:32:02.131
You know the day.

00:32:02.131 --> 00:32:04.737
We're not again breaking rocks, it's at the core.

00:32:04.737 --> 00:32:08.311
We're providing services and creating memories.

00:32:09.032 --> 00:32:27.556
The other cool little byproduct of COVID back in the day or post COVID, was that when all of the hotels were mothballed because COVID was, was you know, global pandemic, there were a whole bunch of hotel executives and managers that stumbled upon private clubs and were like holy smokes, I can you know they are.

00:32:27.556 --> 00:32:28.277
You know private clubs?

00:32:28.277 --> 00:32:29.678
I think it depends.

00:32:29.678 --> 00:32:34.020
But they're like wow, those club managers make what terms of compensation?

00:32:34.020 --> 00:32:39.944
And maybe not grinding 80 hours at a hotel every single week and it's way less transactional.

00:32:40.246 --> 00:32:52.137
So if someone's checking in, checking out of a hotel and Denny's behind the desk, they don't care about Denny, they're just going to do their thing, register their complaint be shitty maybe sometimes, and off they go to the next transaction.

00:32:52.137 --> 00:32:54.501
Complaint be shitty, maybe sometimes, and off they go to the next transaction.

00:32:54.501 --> 00:32:59.952
Whereas clubs, you're coming here three, four times a week and you're going to see Denny's smiling face and it becomes relational, it becomes part of the family.

00:32:59.952 --> 00:33:06.434
So I think a lot of really talented hotel folks are kind of stumbled upon clubs and being like wow, what's over here?

00:33:06.434 --> 00:33:14.155
Purely as a reaction to them losing their jobs or being cut out as a result of the pandemic.

00:33:15.176 --> 00:33:15.837
Thanks for being on.

00:33:15.837 --> 00:33:16.880
I really really appreciate it.

00:33:18.144 --> 00:33:18.767
Thanks for having me.

00:33:18.948 --> 00:33:20.391
Hope you all enjoyed that episode.

00:33:20.391 --> 00:33:22.977
If you did a like, share, subscribe.

00:33:22.977 --> 00:33:25.932
A five-star rating with a review means the absolute world.

00:33:25.932 --> 00:33:29.028
Share this episode with a friend or someone who you think might enjoy it.

00:33:29.028 --> 00:33:33.958
If you haven't done so already, sign up for for our newsletter and head on over to privateclubradiocom.

00:33:33.958 --> 00:33:35.320
That's this episode.

00:33:35.320 --> 00:33:38.207
Until next time, catch y'all on the flippity flip.