Leadership Lounge

This is the second part of our two part celebration of 20 years of RCS. To read part one, click here. 2020 brings extra celebration and reflection as this year marks the 20th anniversary of RCS! Last week, we introduced you to a few ways the world, and in turn, RCS has changed in the past twenty years and we’re back for more! Twenty years ago, it was all just a dream….. RCS’ mission and vision has always been to be forward thinkers and evolve with the hospitality industry. At

We are eager to bring you Part 2 of Intern, Ben Granish’s 3-part webinar series "The Rise of Women-Only Private Clubs,” next Wednesday July 17th at 2pm EST. For a sneak peek into what clubs can learn about inclusiveness and diversity, read on, and click below to register for the webinar. REGISTER HERE “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” – Katharine Hepburn In 1868, journalist, Jane Cunningham Croly, was denied admittance to an event at the New York Press Club.

As the new year is upon us and many look to make resolutions for the coming year, I recommend instituting, or improving a Department Head Retreat. RCS Hospitality Group recently hosted a webinar on the importance and value associated with creating a strong governance culture with the correct use of board and committee orientations. In that webinar, I touched briefly on a similar orientation for senior leaders/department heads--Let's dig a little deeper into this exercise, If

It seems the hot topic for the past few years is how to attract Millennials to the private club. I contend this is a smoke screen to a much deeper, more pressing issue that is threatening many member equity clubs – poorly run clubs due to member interference in the daily operations. There is no reason to attract Millennials to your club if it is run poorly. They have lofty expectations and if those are left undelivered, the Millennials will not stay at the club, leaving you w

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein “Disruptive innovation” has been a buzz phrase in several industries: hotels (AirBnB), transportation (Uber), food service (Blue Apron), retail (Amazon Prime), Technology (Waze), Entertainment (Netflix), office space (WeWork) and even airlines (Wheels Up)…to name a few. In the golf industry, there are also disruptors like TopGolf. Yet, when we think about our club members we

This article originally appeared in BoardRoom Magazine, July/August 2017. If you didn't receive your copy, you can subscribe here. When you want to bake a cake, do you follow a recipe? The answer is likely “yes” unless you are an experienced chef or baker. Recipes help us put together the right combination of ingredients in the right order, and give us an idea of cooking time. In other words, when will your masterpiece be done? However when we want to retain (or attract membe

Here’s a familiar sight at every golf club: Long-time members arrive, eager for a relaxing day on the course. Their tee time comes up, and after stopping in the golf shop for their cart reservation, they go out to the first tee to begin their round. They’re cheerfully greeted (by name!) by the staff, led to their cart, which is clean and charged and ready to go, and a great day of golfing begins. It’s precisely this seamless scenario that led them to join this club in the fir

The past two weeks I have been writing about the need to involve operations in the operational planning stage of a renovation, in Part 1 and Part 2 of the "The Importance of Strategic Architectural Design in Club Operations" series. If you haven't given those a read yet, I encourage you to do so! Today I'd like to take a quick look at what involving operations in the planning stage of a renovation means for your numbers, so you can really understand what poor design could be

Happy Friday! Welcome to Part 2 of my piece on intelligent club design, which is a continuation of Part 1 that was posted last week. If you missed that, make sure to check it out here. In that article, I opened with: STRATEGY MUST INVOLVE OPERATIONS. I spoke about the fact that so often the actual design of a club, a kitchen, a bar, a hostess stand, the location of equipment or storage areas or even the offices can have a detrimental effect on long term operating costs and se

STRATEGY MUST INVOLVE OPERATIONS. I wish I could poll chefs, servers, bartenders, and managers working in facilities that weren’t designed with daily operations in mind. Or controllers and finance committee members who fret about the labor cost of their club every time there is an outdoor event or large influx of members in for dinner. Or a strategic planning or house committee who is trying to understand why the members continue to talk about dissatisfaction with speed of se