GBN University Podcast

If you’re a typical Golf Professional that takes on a number of different roles and responsibilities, even if you love to teach, finding time to fit in golf lessons can be a challenge.  Do you come in early? Stay late? Sacrifice time you set aside for other tasks and say yes to the lesson request? It’s a conundrum that we often fall into.

And for a lot of Golf Professionals, the opportunity to teach provides one of the few chances to significantly increase their income.  So we squeeze in lessons so we can make our members and customers happy, while telling ourselves “at least I’m making a few extra bucks”. 

Then there’s the question of whether or not we’re helping our students actually lower their scores.  Does the traditional range session truly develop a better golfer? Or should we be out on the golf course, practicing in the field of play, coaching our players to get the ball in the hole in fewer strokes?

Will Robins has the answers to these questions.

For years now, Will has been producing results for players by taking them on the golf course, often in groups and teams, to show them how to shoot lower scores, instead of starting with mechanical fixes and technical training on the range.  His patented “Scoring Method” provides a foundation for his players to grab what amounts to “the low hanging fruit” by tracking simple stats and bringing their opportunities to light.  The results he’s produced, speak for themselves.

Will is “Revolutionizing Golf Instruction” and it’s the mission behind his company RGX.  With RGX, Will guides golf coaches all over the world to discover their ability to produce impactful results for their players and their businesses.  Through RGX, there are Golf Professionals that have generated life changing improvements to their business, without standing on the lesson tee from sunup to sundown, day after day.  Will is producing solutions to two major issues for today’s Golf Professionals.  How do we help our players improve so that they play more golf and get value out of the time and money they spend at our facilities?  And personally, how do we make a positive impact on our income without committing to more time spent on the lesson tee?

Will’s backstory is unlike any other.  As an aspiring Professional, ready for life on tour, his life changed in an instant as the devastating Indonesian Tsunami swept up his new wife and him on their honeymoon in 2004.  While he and his wife were lucky to survive the disaster that claimed over 200,000 lives, due to injury, Will’s tour aspirations eventually disappeared.  He wasn’t able to play to the level he once did, and began to give lessons as a way to stay around the game. However as Will has said, he doesn’t view this as a negative.  Instead, it created the opportunity for him to uncover his true purpose.  The purpose of improving the games of golfers young and old, while bettering the lives of Golf Professionals all over the world. 

While Will’s personal story is inspiring, I hope that you find more motivation in this conversation.  It’s all about how to quickly and easily generate more income in 2020.  There’s the chance that this will be the start of the best season you’ve ever had in lesson income.  Just follow Will’s advice and I certainly think it can be.

You can find out more about RGX and Will at www.robinsgx.com and at www.thescoringmethod.com.  

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

It’s been said that you can’t grow personally or professionally without developing self awareness.  Knowing how you’re perceived by others, what your strengths and weaknesses are, how you handle stress, and how you impact those around you, are just some of the elements of self awareness, that can go a long way in helping all of us reach enjoy success at work, and also at home.

For Cameron Doan, the Head Professional at Preston Trail in Dallas, this pursuit of developing self awareness for himself and his staff members, has paid huge dividends.  For Cameron, he’s been able to lead each team member with a higher level of effectiveness, since he knows their individual needs and how they will respond in certain situations.  As he tells us, this has also allowed him to raise his level of self awareness and understand how his staff members perceive his actions.

As the 2018 National Bill Strausbaugh award winner and a recent inductee into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, Cameron has spent his career devoted to getting the most out of staff and helping them achieve their personal goals, no matter what those goals may be.  He's mentored countless PGA Professionals onto successful positions throughout the industry.  You’ll hear him describe the methods he uses to achieve this and plenty more valuable insight. 

You'll also hear Cameron's thoughts on the most critical skills for PGA Professionals, you'll learn the six types of motivation, and the four areas he focuses on, which he learned from a Hall of Fame basketball coach. 

This episode is a little longer than normal, but I thought it was too good to split up into two episodes.  This conversation is a wealth of knowledge from an expert in development and mentorship, and contains a lot of great lessons for all of us.  

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

In this episode, we dig into the ins and outs of the Head Professional interview process. This discussion is going to be a great resource for any of you listening that are either planning on interviewing for a Head Professional position or if you will be helping to coach an aspiring Head Professional through the interview process.  We brought back Patrick Seither (Episode 001 & 003), the President and CEO of the Golf Business Network, to pick his brain about his experience running the Executive Search side of GBN’s business.  

Patrick sees this process through from start to finish, working with both the candidate as well as the clubs, so his insight is really unique in this area.  We discuss what clubs are looking for today in their next Head Professional, how you can stand out from the pack in a competitive interview process, the nuts and bolts of the interview including reference letters and portfolios, and how to ask thoughtful questions that can impress a search committee.  

Hopefully this helps anyone out there that will be going through this process.  And if you are...good luck!

Links:
www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com
www.golfbusinessnetwork.com
www.golfgenius.com

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

In Part II of our interview with the President of the PGA of America, Suzy Whaley discusses what’s going to help attract young people to our business and the PGA’s recruiting efforts, while addressing the need for manager’s today to evaluate the hours and days that they require from their staff during the season.  She continues with a discussion about the changes to the PGA education system and whether being able to select a specific career track will funnel too many young professionals toward “Teaching and Coaching” and away from traditional roles.  Suzy finishes with what she hopes she, the Board members and the Association can accomplish by the end of her Presidency.

This is another entertaining and insightful conversation with one of the most influential individuals in our game today.  If you missed Part I, go back and hear Suzy talk about how she handles the challenges of managing all of her commitments on a daily basis and what methods she’s used to stay organized while building an incredibly successful career.

This episode is sponsored by Golf Genius Golf Shop.  Find out more at www.golfgenius.com

Links:
www.golfbusinessnetwork.com
www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

In this episode Clay Scroggins, author of "How to Lead When You're Not in Charge", walks us through the four behaviors that he’s pinpointed to be able to cultivate influence when you don’t have the title, while preparing you to succeed when the time comes and that title is yours.  

This truly is one of the most important episodes we’ve done, because this information isn’t really taught in our business, but it can really help aspiring leaders in our industry to improve and make an impact.  Clay’s four behaviors are an outline on how to truly become an “A” player at your club and someone that stands out from the pack.  Follow them, and you'll be on the path to success.  And for those listening that are in a position where we often coach and mentor younger professionals in this business, Clay’s information provides a great framework to help guide us through that process.

You can find out more about Clay at www.clayscroggins.com and pick up his book “How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge” on his site or on Amazon.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

In many ways Suzy Whaley is just another Golf Professional.  She struggles with many of the same challenges that PGA Professionals face every day.  Parts of her story sound the same as many, many others.  But on the other hand….Suzy is the head of the largest organization in sports, and not to mention, the first woman to ever do that.  She holds one of the most powerful and influential positions in the game of golf.  She’s a trail blazer.  Not only has she played in LPGA tour events, but she played in a PGA Tour event. She’s probably done more media interviews than any PGA Professional in history.  

In part one of our conversation, we tackle a couple of age old issues with PGA Professionals.  Time management and work-life balance.  If you’ve been following along, you’ve heard about these topics on this podcast before.  Partly because these issues are nearly universal in our business.  And because they’re probably not addressed with practical solutions often enough.  So what do you do if you get 600 emails a day?  How do you handle the stresses of raising a family and succeeding in this industry?  Suzy shares her methods and what’s helped her over the course of her career along with plenty of other great insights.  

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

When times are toughest, we feel like work is controlling our lives. We feel it’s the only thing we have time for (and sometimes don’t even have enough time for) while everything else (family, friends, health, finances) sits on the back-burner until things “slow down”.

It’s why most PGA Professionals will tell you either directly or indirectly that finding “balance” in this industry is elusive, if not impossible, but something they wish they had.

If you've ever struggled with the challenges of this business and feeling like you're being pulled in too many directions, this episode will help.  Based on data from experts, you'll learn where you can place your attention to help reduce the stress of being a busy Golf Professional and how success doesn't have to come at the expense of living a happy and fulfilled life.

You can learn more by reading "The Balance Series" at www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com.

To learn more about the Golf Business Network, head to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

One of the most beneficial aspects of the Getting Better Now podcast has been the ability to hear unique insights from leaders both inside and outside of the industry.  

In this episode, we highlight some of our most popular guests and their advice for Golf Professionals as it pertains to furthering their careers.  We learn from Jim Smith of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, Tony Pancake from Crooked Stick, Sports Performance Psychologist Bhrett McCabe, Cary Cozby of Southern Hills, and Kevin Muldoon from Jupiter Hills.  

If you haven't already, go back and listen to the full episode to hear everything these guests taught us during their appearances on the show.  

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

Jay LeDuc is a PGA Professional who’s spent over two decades in the golf industry and held positions running the gamut from Outside Services to Head Golf Professional.  Now from his spot outside the industry running strategy and innovation for a luxury travel club, he’s giving back to his fellow PGA Professionals through his podcast, the PGA Jay Show, and wealth of content on multiple social media channels.  

Through this work, Jay’s been helping promote the usage of social media for Golf Professionals, showing how when used properly, social media can help you add value to your facility and advance your career.  

In this episode, we get specific with his experience and share some tactics you can use right away to improve the results you get from social media.  Whether you’re an everyday user or you try to avoid social media like the plague, there’s something for you in this episode.  

Follow Jay on Instagram @pgajay and subscribe to his podcast “The PGA Jay Show” on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

In this episode, we’re back with part two of our conversation with the GM/COO at Medinah Country Club, Robert Sereci.  Robert has profiled his “Top 10 Lessons They Didn’t Teach You in School” and in part one we covered 1-5.  In lessons 6-10, we continue to discuss these critical success skills that can make or break your career.

We get into the difference between coaching and mentoring, and why you need to stop just being a coach, as well as how putting the success of others first will put you on the path to success.  

If you haven’t done it yet, follow Robert on LinkedIn where he’s taken the time to write many pieces and articles that will benefit anyone working in the club industry, whether you’re on the golf side or food and beverage.

"The 10 Lessons They Didn’t Teach You in School" by Robert Sereci

1. The difference between passion and purpose.
2. You don’t know what you don’t know
3. Understand that your success is determined by others.
4. How to manage and lead in a world of grey
5. Understand how your club keeps score
6. Understand that your success is determined by others
7. Your technical skills will become less important as you climb the ladder
8. Stop Coaching and start mentoring
9. Your club governance model is more important then you realize
10. It’s not about you. It never was.

Episode 019 is brought to you by Golf Genius Software and their new product "Golf Shop".  To learn more, go to www.golfgenius.com.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.