Where to Focus Yourself to Be Most Effective
Monte Koch, PGA of America Employment Consultant
While it seems our world is crazy right now (and it is), it is also very easy to slip into a downward spiral of anxiety, stressful “what now/what next” questions and general helplessness. If that is you, don’t worry, we all deal with this at times. While I’m not fully qualified to provide counseling on areas of your life that are outside of work, I am here to help you with how to focus yourself to be most effective in your efforts.
For your reference, please check out the PGA Member Assistance Program resources provided by the PGA of America:
Focusing on Your “Locus of Control”
To provide a good definition of what locus of control is, let me quote mindtools.com. They state that “Locus of control describes the degree to which individuals perceive that outcomes result from their own behaviors, or from forces that are external to themselves. This produces a continuum with external control at one end and internal control at the other, as shown in figure 1, below:
Locus of Control. People who develop an internal locus of control believe that they are responsible for their own success. Those with an external locus of control believe that external forces, like luck, determine their outcomes.” With that in mind, let’s see if we can apply locus of control to something we all care about.
Your Locus of Control for Your Compensation
Would you like to be paid more? (I know it is yes.) If you’re going to get a raise, how will that happen? Will it be because of luck, or because of consistent delivery of excellence (or close to it) in the key areas “that matter” to the decision and negotiation and that you can actually control (or have influence over)?
For the compensation question, here are the areas YOU can have influence over including:
- Complete the Compensation Profile
- At least once a year, and anytime after your compensation package “situation” has changed. It takes 20% of the time the old Compensation Survey took to complete too!
- The more unique your career path is, the more it matters.
- The more rural your facility is, the more it matters (because we have less facilities to compare yours with).
- The opposite is also true, the more metropolitan (due to costs of housing, commuting time costs, and much more).
- The more unique your facility is, the more it matters.
- The more unique your career goals are, the more it matters.
- Work with me to create a comp report YOU CAN USE. Thanks to some collaboration and suggestions by longtime Section professionals and leaders, I have been able to create an effective compensation report that fully considers the bullet points above regarding compensation. These bullets and a few others are really the questions that define a particular facility and/or their golf professional’s “neighborhood.”
- My comp report seeks to collaborate with the lead professional(s) at the facility on accurately defining that neighborhood based on tangible and intangible factors. And, with greater participation in the Compensation Profile, I have access to reporting that allows me to build better, more relevant comp reports based on the right “neighborhood” for the given facility/golf professional.
- If you’re interested in getting a comp report of this nature from me, here’s what I’ll be looking for:
- Are you the highest ranking PGA at your facility? (If not, how can we work with that person to help everyone at your facility?)
- Have you (and your staff, if applicable,) completed your comp profile?
- Which position to study first?
- What is the “right neighborhood” for you?
- What is the due date? More time is better!
- Be as valuable as YOU CAN BE. This goes back to some of the other conversations and education I’ve shared over the past few years. Being as “valuable as you can be” is measured in results, (like sales, more member dues, more participation in events, etc.) and these objective results when they’re “wins for the employer” create value that can become leverage in a negotiation. Just think of the value that Steph Curry produces for the Golden State Warriors and you see it is not hard to understand his new contract to play for the Warriors. Some key highlights to consider in your value and leverage conversation include the following:
- Someone Is Always Watching so you’re “Always Interviewing.” Learn more about The Always Interviewing Principle (Part 5 of 9 in my Building Blocks of Your Career Series)
- Seek to Understand What Your Employer Values Most: Work with your supervisor to better understand their priorities and their “key performance indicators” to deliver more of what they value so you can gain leverage for your negotiation. If you need help, contact me to learn more.
- Get (Even) Better at Customer or Member Engagement (and track it). Learn more about this by reading these articles in succession:
- If you’re interested in getting a comp report of this nature from me, here’s what I’ll be looking for:
Lovemarks Leadership 1: Creating Loyalty Beyond Reason
Lovemarks Leadership 2: Engagement Through Emotional Connections
Lovemarks Leadership 3: Your Resolution for [Insert Year] Should Be…
In each of the concepts above, I hope you better understand that when it comes to your compensation, your locus of control doesn’t have to be solely based on outside factors or luck. You have some influence over how your compensation story moves ahead from here based on your commitment to focus on what you can control and the “things that matter” in your unique compensation equation. I welcome the chance to assist you with this and more in the coming months if you trust me with the opportunity.
Hope to see you around the Section sometime soon,
Monte Koch, PGA Certified Professional/Player Development | Career Consultant
PGA Career Services | PGA of America
Serving PGA professionals, employers in the Pacific NW & Rocky Mountain PGA Sections
Email: Mkoch@pgahq.com Cell: 206/335-5260
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Online Professional Development
Bryan Tunstill from Columbia Edgewater Country Club has selected Lucas Post, a junior at Grant High School, to be the club’s FREDDY Intern. Lucas is focusing upon studies in AP Calculus and Japanese. His 6’ 4” frame comes in handy on the basketball court, where he plays basketball for the Generals. In his spare time, he enjoys swimming with friends at High Rocks Park on the Clackamas River and visiting with friends and family in Japan. He also volunteers through Leisure Hour Golf Club, a non-profit group that supports African American Golfers playing in the Pacific Northwest, by assisting with golf lessons for elementary school aged children at Colwood Golf Course. At CECC, Lucas has been gaining experience in outside services, pro shop operations, turf team, pool and lifeguard, clubhouse maintenance, and membership and marketing. We are excited for Lucas to experience our industry as he continues to learn more about it.
At Eugene Country Club, Bill Morach has found Tannica Porter, a collegiate golfer at Dixie State University to join our FREDDY Intern program. Tannica studies undergrad communications at Dixie State and plans to achieve her master’s degree in communication with a focus in non-profit and corporate communication. Her journey in golf began when she was only three years old, taking trips to the driving range with her dad. Tannica’s golf career jump started as she began competing in junior events and eventually making her way to collegiate golf. We hope this internship will help continue her passion for golf and offer new networking opportunities for her.
From Bellingham Golf and Country Club, Matt Fredrickson and Cameron Fife chose intern Grady Burkett from Lynden, Washington for our FREDDY Initiative. Grady just graduated from Meridian High School earlier this year and will be headed to Whitworth University this fall and join the golf team. His plan is to study education and pursue a future in golf. His interest in the game grew over quarantine, playing golf with his dad and brother. Grady says he has been “addicted ever since then.” We hope Grady continues his passion for golf and has a great experience at Bellingham Golf and Country Club.