Just finished an interview with a local woman golf professional. She’s wonderful – I hope we can make it work out.

A staff is too often underrated and undervalued. The system is only as good as its people. Too often leaders believe that people are only cogs in their machine. They love to say “Everyone is replaceable”.

I couldn’t disagree more. A leader needs to have a vision. And the leader needs to get the right people to carry out that vision. That takes an ability to read people and to communicate the vision.

The system obsession is based on the idea that people are a blank-slate and can be “trained” to do any role. Then running the business is more about “management” than leadership. Thus micro-management and constant quantification.

I find that this business model leads to a pretty funny contradiction. Most of the guys who love this systematic model of business consider themselves Conservatives and Anti-Communists. But the fundamental premise of their systematic idea of business is Marxist. Marxism is based on the idea that there is no such thing as human nature and that all people are the same. They believe that the differences in people are all environmental and that a successful society can be programmed. Thus the constant training and quantification.

On the same vein – the ideal of the perfect robotic golf swing is Marxist and anti-individualistic. Ironically, I thought golf was the ultimate game of individualism.

Well, that’s where the history of Deer Run GC comes in. Since 1991 we’ve tried to develop a golf club based on the needs of the individual and not on the needs of the group. Basically, that means respect for each individual golfer at DRGC.

Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? But to put it into practice isn’t that easy. Our American culture has been taken over by Marxist thinking. One night – many years ago – after a round of golf at Deer Run, our foursome got into worldly discussions. One guy stated that he thought the most important thing in America was public education. I replied that I thought it was freedom. He went crazy and ran out of the clubhouse. Wow – what happened to admiration for “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”?

Every step of the way to building a culture of respect and individuality was attacked by ideas of consensus, conformity, and ruthlessness (practicality).

That type of mob thinking leads to blame, fear, mediocrity, and especially lack of risk-taking and creativity.

The woman who I just interviewed talked about how much she loved our atmosphere and how unusual it is. Not everyone loves our culture and atmosphere. But, I sure want staff that loves our uniqueness … they are the ones who make it what it is. Our culture is not for everyone – but we aren’t the only golf course the area – they have other options.

As I said, I think respect for the individual is at the heart of our unique culture. But that’s a two-way street. Respect for the customer and the staff. The people we’ve had trouble with don’t have respect for people – they only respect power … that’s a very different mind set.

How about the ridiculous saying “The customer is always right”? Isn’t Right – Right? So they’re saying that money makes something Wrong all of a sudden Right? Isn’t that the opposite of morality? Really – Might makes Right?

And people wonder why our country has such serious problems. If we’ve lost respect for the individual, and believe that Might makes Right, and that the system is more important than the person … what do you think will happen?

I can tell you what will happen at a golf course. The staff won’t treat each other or the customer with warmth and respect. And the customer will be demanding and obnoxious. And the business will start to lose money, and the managers will decide to start cutting quality and service. Does that sound healthy?

Is it fixable? Yes … for the business and the country. It’s not rocket science. It’s just going back to actually walking the talk. It means putting the emphasis on individual people and expecting respect and responsibility. It means doing the right things for the right reasons. It means quality – not cutting corners. It means living the Golden Rule.