Our forefathers were no one-trick ponies. Are you?

June 28, 2012
Categories: Club Management

I love the Fourth of July. Along with Thanksgiving and Leif Erikson Day (oh, it’s real, October 9th which by the way is our Creative Director’s birthday and he was even born in Sweden! But I digress…), it is one of my favorite holidays. And the Fourth is a great time to reflect on our forefathers. And do you know what you, me, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin have in common (don’t get me started on John Hancock)? We are all entrepreneurs. Granted what they did and what we do are on an entirely different scale, but let’s focus on what makes them great, and what makes us great, and what it takes to run a great facility!

So what makes a great entrepreneur? I actually coined a term (you are free to use it)… “a one trick pony never won the triple crown”. So what does that mean, and what does that have to do with the founding fathers? It means great people who want to accomplish great things need to be great at many things.

Our forefathers lived this: Aside from being first President, George Washington was a decorated soldier, a successful farmer, and a pretty decent President. In fact in most surveys of scholars, he is always in the Top 3 (that last stat courtesy of Wikipedia)!

And if you want to be a great operator, you can’t be a one trick pony. Think about the great operators in our industry…they were great at lots of things. They know finance, operations, and marketing. And they understood all of them enough to set up shop and get things in motion. Sure, when they got bigger they hired people and delegated their responsibilities. (After all, even if you know everything, it’s sometimes impossible to actually do everything.) But when you first get started you have to dip your toe into all areas of operations, and do them well. Part of that process can be painful; there is a learning curve. Eventually, not only do you own your facility, but you own the processes and functions too. With ownership comes great reward as well as great responsibility.

So, back to our forefathers. They labored hard to create a new country; an independent and free country. There was pain (War of Independence), pain and a learning curve (Valley Forge), and then the reward of the birth of our country – Fourth of July! Next week when we sit down to hot dogs & hamburgers, fireworks, and family think about how the Original Entrepreneurs – our forefathers – created a country of entrepreneurs – us! – and how we celebrate this entrepreneurial spirit every day through the operations of our facilities.

Happy Fourth of July!
(Please celebrate responsibly. Don’t drink & drive.)