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Give yourself a break
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Burnout. It’s not a good place to visit, but in the golf course management profession with its high demands, those approaching its borders have lots of company. A definite sign you’ve reached burnout is when you know you’re facing a crisis and you don’t really care how it comes out.
Let’s back up a few steps from that realization. How did you get to burnout? Even better, how might you avoid going there at all?
Prevention is possible for those who understand their capabilities and limitations. First, stake out a career path that excites you and set reasonable goals for getting there. Then focus on the journey, learn about yourself and find balance and enjoyment along the way. Pay attention to red flag warnings and respond to others’ needs. Find a team to travel with, a support network to keep you on course.
When the symptoms begin, Jon Jennings, CGCS at Chicago Golf Club, suggests doing “something completely different that you need to focus on 100 percent, so that you’re not thinking about what is happening at the golf course.”
What are the characteristics of a trip to burnout, to know if you’re heading down that road? Check the following list against your current
location:
• Chronic fatigue — exhaustion, feeling physically rundown
• Anger at those making demands
• Self-criticism for putting up with the
demands
• Cynicism, negativity, irritability
• A sense of being besieged
• Exploding easily at seemingly inconsequential things
• Frequent headaches and gastrointestinal disturbances
• Weight loss or gain
• Sleeplessness, depression
• Shortness of breath
• Suspiciousness
• Feelings of helplessness
• Increased degree of risk taking
There are cures for getting out of burnout, if you find yourself knee-deep in it. Education, whether formal classes or informal learning through a mentor, will allow you to develop into a better leader, a better communicator and a better businessperson, more able to focus on the success of your golf facility.
“Any job can become redundant,” says Jennings, a 24-year GCSAA member. “Apply newly-learned information and approach it from a different angle. Reinvent yourself through reading or conferences. Find ways to do the job more effectively, even if the end result is the same. Challenge yourself through attainable goals to remain passionate and excited about your job.”
Finally, try to get away and give yourself a break. If it’s the wrong time of year for a vacation, take a little daily time to plan one in the off-season and enjoy the anticipation of time with your family away from the golf facility.
In the end, burnout is not an inevitable stop on your route to career success. The detour requires regular self-evaluation, dealing with red flags that pop up along the way and finding a way to enjoy the journey to reach your goals.
Thomas Schlick, CGCS, CPAg, has joined The Davey Tree Expert Co.’s golf maintenance division as southeast division manager. With more than 25 years of golf course and grounds maintenance experience, Schlick will focus on developing golf course and large grounds maintenance projects affiliated with golf developments throughout Florida and the southern U.S. His experience includes grounds operations on Marriott International and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. golf properties worldwide for more than 17 years. |
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