Leadership in Hospitality Series XI: Career Care is the Fuel That Keeps the Team Moving

As we approach the time of year when budgets and staffing plans are being finalized and gaining the approval of owners and Boards of Directors, it’s time to focus on business plans and engagement calendars. This season presents both significant change and potential instability, especially for managers assembling teams for the upcoming season. From here, business plans and engagement calendars can now be developed to execute results that will be born out in the coming years, budget and P&L statements.

Managers of facilities, department heads in golf operations, teaching and coaching, membership and others are starting to put together plans to recruit, hire and train new talent for the coming season who will be key in executing the business plans charged to deliver on said budgets.

Based on that premise, I thought it would be fun to continue looking at Marcus Buckingham’s theories on how “Great Managers” as he defines them, approach leading their teams, backfilling open positions and train them to a consistent service standard while maintaining a team culture they’ve worked so hard to cultivate and build.

First off, let’s consider this quote from Marcus Buckingham: “In the minds of great managers, consistent poor performance is not primarily a matter of weakness, stupidity, disobedience, or disrespect. It is a matter of miscasting.”

That sounds a little like Jim Collins’ perspective in the classic but still very relevant Good to Great. In the book, Collins created a phrase many now consider a “leadership gospel” of sorts. It is, “get them in the right seats on the bus” and it refers to hiring the right people (with the right attributes, character and energy) “on the bus,” while concurrently moving those who aren’t the right people (aka the wrong people) off the bus. Leaders should then make sure those individuals are in the right roles (“right seats”) to create more alignment and more effectiveness (because an employee who is “in the right” is much more likely to succeed). Further, this practice can enhance a strong team culture that is notable for consistency, stability and results that drive value for the bottom line.

Back to Buckingham’s quote, especially the part that reads, “… poor performance is not primarily a matter of weakness, stupidity, disobedience, or disrespect. It is a matter of miscasting.” Miscasting sounds an awful lot like the wrong seat on the bus, doesn’t it? So, if “miscasting” is the real issue, how do we as managers and leaders avoid this key mistake that magnifies negatives and leads to results we don’t want?

Let’s consider another gold token of wisdom from Buckingham where he shares his Four Keys of Great Managers. He states the following about Great Managers’ key behaviors and let’s use this section as a way to tie back several of the worthwhile perspectives we’ve already considered and tried to apply from Buckingham in this article series.

1. “When selecting someone, they select for talent … not simply experience, intelligence or determination.”

• Someone who is talented in the right way, who is in the right seat (role) can get more out of said talent.
• Using one’s talent is most often correlated with what someone loves in their job. Considering the importance of finding “just 20%” of activities they love in a job (see October 2025 article to learn more) in building resilience and engagement, Buckingham’s perspective makes more sense. It’s the “20%” that outperforms experience, intelligence and determination when the job’s demands are at their heaviest in terms of pressure and challenge.

2. “When setting expectations, they define the right outcomes … not the right steps.”

• Expectations are outcomes, and the standard is not what is in the operating manual, but what we (the leader) accept.
• Define and highlight what is going right, what is being done well, done efficiently and with a servant’s heart. Spend less time highlighting what is broken (at least in a public way) and instead focus on Finding What is Right. In this article, we looked at the discipline of a strong leader including:
  • Discipline yourself to find what’s right. Discipline yourself to find what’s working.
  • Avoid – Your natural reaction is to go to what every single person is struggling with.
  • Avoid – Your natural “deficit mindset, a fix-it mindset.”
  • Be the person that shines a spotlight on what works.
  • If you want to get more excellence you’ve got to understand and point out where excellence currently is.
  • You’ve got to understand how it works so you can do it again.
  • Always take a positive, strength-based focus on the way that you understand your world and your team.
  • Look for what is right with people, look for what’s right with situations. That way, you’ll get more of it.
  • (If you want to learn more about each of these concepts, click the article link above.)

3. “When motivating someone, they focus on strengths … not on weaknesses.”

• Talents are also synonymous with strengths, or one’s innate abilities. Again, let’s go back to a past article that highlighted Buckingham’s perspective on how leaders help their team members with Getting More Value from Their Strengths with Discipline.
• Wanna be a great leader/manager? Hire talented people and design work they can love (at least 20% of every working day.) Interested in learning more about this concept? Read this article on Designing Work That Your Team Loves.

4. “When developing someone, they help him find the right fit … not simply the next rung on the ladder.”

• A great leader or manager places willing, capable, committed/engaged team members in places where they can succeed authentically as themselves. They also, especially in our business, should create learning opportunities and pathways for them to succeed and grow incrementally so they can grow in their current role and eventually grow out of it…maybe growing enough to get their dream role.
• The managers I admire most develop their teams so they can eventually outgrow them, and likely move on. Not all great golf professionals are the greatest leaders, and I must admit that at certain times in my career I was one of those. I believe I was great at my job, but I wasn’t great at helping others be good enough at their job that they could outgrow it and move on to a better opportunity. I’ve seen those who do it, and it’s a bittersweet joy for them, but it is a powerful one that they want to repeat and one that helps them draw more talent as it becomes part of their brand.
• One more article reference: No Excuses for Not Being a Good Leader. This one seems to apply well here, and it’s about the best ritual for a leader. Buckingham is direct when he says this: “…check in with each of your people for 15 minutes every week and ask two questions: 1) What did you love about last week? 2) What are you working on this week?” This directive surely sounds like someone who is committed to helping a team member (every one of them) with their search for the right fit, and not just another rung on the ladder.

In this 11th installment of our deeper dive into the perspective of Marcus Buckingham, I want to encourage you whether you’re already a manager/leader or you’re on your way to becoming one to consider what you can apply to your professional style, your set of disciplines as you approach the next season of your career. This time of year, I am generally busier because many of our members are less busy. Though I’m busier, I still welcome your outreach via email or phone to connect about the context of your situation and how we can work together to help you apply these principles in your career in a win-win way at your facility. Check out my calendar booking link below to find a time that works for you.