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PRESIDENT's message |
Consider the committee path
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My GCSAA leadership journey started about 12 years ago with my first committee assignment. I had for some time been serving on my chapter board, all the way through the chairs to the office of president. My chapter was Hawaii, and during the late 1980s and early ’90s GCSAA had an aggressive Pan-Pacific program.
The association had a Golf Asia conference, and for a time even maintained an office in Singapore. It seemed that every year I would meet with a GCSAA president or staff member on their way to the Asia conference. It was a great opportunity to educate the leadership about our particular concerns in Hawaii.
In 1994, Randy Nichols convened the first chapter delegates meeting, and I had my first trip to Lawrence, Kan. The board at that time decided to create several committees and use the committee system to formulate policy and manage certain aspects of programs. The next year I was asked to serve on the Certification Committee. This was a big year for the Certification Committee, and we had to commit to some real deadlines. It was the year that the sliding scale was created to determine entry to the certification program.
Four members of that committee went on to serve as directors of GCSAA. I had to travel from Hawaii to Lawrence three times that year, twice for certification and once for the delegates meeting. I was not selected for a committee the next year, but continued to volunteer and eventually was selected for other committees. I found the experience extremely stimulating. My perspective on GCSAA matured and developed, and the committee service has served me well as a director and officer of GCSAA.
Every year I encourage chapter leaders to consider volunteering to serve on a GCSAA committee. It seems like this gives the leader a better perspective on the national association, and it certainly gives GCSAA a better relationship with its chapters. This link has served us well in developing our future leadership.
Because of my own experience, I also recommend volunteering more than once. I was not selected for several years, but received an opportunity to serve when I had some special expertise in a particular area.
Some of the hardest choices we make as GCSAA directors are choosing the members of committees, and those choices are especially difficult because this association has so many committed members.
It’s tough to be unable to select some experienced members, because we get to know them so well over the years. Yet it is our responsibility to develop new leaders, and at some point we all must step aside to give others a chance to lead.
So the moral of the story here is simple: Get involved in your chapter first. Then consider volunteering for a GCSAA committee, and do not be disappointed if you don’t get selected the first time, or even the second time.
If you are not selected for a committee, there are many great ways to be involved. Write for your newsletter or GCM or offer to work in your community. And as always, feel free to contact the members of GCSAA’s board of directors with suggestions and opinions.
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