times a year you can go one step further and hold a presidential press conference for the discussion of any and all issues that might be raised , accepting unscripted questions thrown out willy nilly by Mad Dogs and their packs . Just remember to muzzle the Truly Deranged Stealth Mad Dogs who may be sitting with you on the board !
Get the Board and Manager out and about . Combat Mad Dogs with the walk and talk . Let the membership and the Mad Dogs know that the Decision Makers are walking about , open to conversation , approachable , ready to respond , eager to listen , ready to communicate .
Make sure that the General Manager has frequent staff meetings both for the senior staff and for the entire general staff . Have the Manager address the issues raised by the Mad Dogs . Let people vent . Explain . Guide . Lead them beyond the Mad Dog ’ s infectious bite .
SEARCH AND DESTROY
The General Manager is the Board ’ s Hunter-Gatherer of facts , rumors , scandal and intrigue . The G . M . and their lieutenants should be out “ in the trenches ” searching out the Mad Dogs for the Board of Directors . They should communicate their observations immediately to the Board . The manager ’ s role is to prime the board with the personalities and the issues , then arm them with the knowledge weapons they need to both attack and to defend against Mad Dogs .
If you see them early enough you can limit their impact . If you confront them and their pack with the facts , you ’ ll control the amount of yapping and biting and infecting they will do .
And remember to tell Mad Dogs , Truly Deranged Mad Dogs and Truly Deranged Stealth Mad Dogs that Samuel Taylor Coleride had it right when he said :
“ Advice is like snow ; the softer it falls , the longer it dwells upon , and the deeper it sinks into the mind .”
THE EROSION OF TRUST :
Mad dogs do bad things to “ trust .” Trust is the belief that future decisions will be made in a way consistent with past decisions . There is “ good trust ” and “ bad trust .”
Good Trust is when members think that the good values used in the past will be used in the future- --they trust in your consistency . “ They conducted surveys before deciding on a clubhouse assessment in the past and they listened to the feedback received . They ’ ll do so in the future .”
Bad Trust is when members think that the bad values you used in the past will be used in the future- --they trust in your consistency . “ They conducted no surveys in the past before deciding on a clubhouse assessment---they simply told us what they had decided to do . They ’ ll do the same in the future .”
Losing trust is easy---all it takes is an inconsistent decision , a rumor , a stumbling explanation---and restoring lost trust is difficult .
Mad Dogs make members question the board ’ s motives and intents , boards to question the manager ’ s , managers to question their lieutenants ’ and on down the line to the lowest employee in the organization . They erode trust , they interfere with the maintenance of trust and they block its restoration once lost .
HOW DO “ MAD DOGS ” BITE ?
Mad Dogs eat away at trust . They create suspicion and discord between members and management , members and boards , boards and management . They make people question the “ Great Why ” of a decision . Ultimately governance--- including both the board as policy makers and the management as administrators--- is based on the governed trusting those who govern . Erode that trust and the governed become praetorians , enforcing dictates that the seething masses reject .
Mad Dogs get personal---they name names and cast aspersions . They capture center stage by talking less about policy than about people . They want to infect their listeners with distrust , a disease that creeps through the psyche and causes the blood to boil . “ The general manager , who ’ s known to lie , cheat and steal from orphans and widows , actually changed the Minutes to allow himself five months of paid vacation .” That ’ s the sort of thing that angers members , sows discord amongst the membership and loses managers their jobs .
Mad Dogs talk to different supervisors and sow rumors between them . They know certain staff well enough to “ talk honestly ” to them about people , or to “ ask the hard questions ” about peer performance . They know these contacts will speak to other staff , forward those rumors , undermining trust at every level . Then they ’ ll go to the next supervisor and use what they learned in the previous encounter to spin some tale that provokes
30 I GOLF MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA I WINTER EDITION 2017