Private Club Radio Show

380: Leading Like a Coach w/ Audra Lucas, CCM

• Denny Corby

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Meet Audra Lucas, the general manager of Shelter Harbor Golf Club, whose unique career was inspired by her grandfather, a long-standing PGA member. Audra shares her compelling journey, from her initial passion for baking to becoming a key leader in the private club industry. She delves into her leadership style, influenced by her family's legacy, emphasizing coaching, mentoring, and creating a performance-driven culture. Audra's experiences offer invaluable insights for anyone interested in the intricacies of private club management, employment culture, and capital improvement trends.

Learn how she has navigated the dynamic environments of both historic and young clubs, tackling everything from innovative member programming to large-scale events. Audra sheds light on the importance of maintaining strong professional relationships and the full-circle moments that define a career in hospitality. 

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Speaker 1:

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Private Club Radio Show podcast, the industry's choice for news, trends, updates and conversations all in the world of private golf and country clubs. We are glad you're here. If you've not done so yet, sign up for our newsletter. Head on over to privateclubradiocom pops right up, can't miss it. But in this episode I get to chat with Audra Lucas who is the general manager of Shelter Harbor Golf Club in Rhode Island Very nice club and she's going to share with us her journey through the club industry and her style as a leader. And it comes down to coaching and mentorship and that's been a common theme here in our episodes as well. So really excited to dive into that more. Audra and I talk about trends we're seeing in the club space to that more. Audra and I talk about trends we're seeing in the club space major capital improvement plans and a big focus on employment culture Very, very big, very important. And what's great is that Audra's story really showcases the dedication and passion required to succeed in the private club industry.

Speaker 1:

I just want to give a quick thank you to some of our show partners Kenneth's Member Vetting If you're looking to upgrade your current member vetting process, head on over to membervettingcom. Golf Life Navigators. Zillow meets eHarmony for golf enthusiasts. If you want to be on a platform part of a platform where people who are interested in moving to their dream golf communities marketing without marketing, advertising without advertising, go check them out, golflifenavigatorscom, as well as Concert Golf Partners, boutique owner-operators of private golf and country clubs nationwide. If your club is looking for some recapitalization, head on over to concertgolfpartnerscom and myself, denny Corby. If you're looking for one of the most fun member event nights you or your club is going to have, head over to dendycorbycom. Private club radio listeners. Let's welcome to the show. General manager, shelter harbor golf club. Audrey lucas now, um, you have such. I love people's stories, uh, and just how people get into the club space and you were like. You were in it deep from way, beginning in the way your, your grandfather was like one of the OG PGA members.

Speaker 2:

He was uh back in Connecticut.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and he was, he was, he lived to be 101. Like what a fantastic run, um. And then at one, he was like it was what him and two other people were like, the the oldest ones, um.

Speaker 2:

and then at one, he was like it was what him and two other people were like the the oldest ones, yeah. So he was honored, um, as one of the longest standing PGA members, um, and they presented him with a award and we were all able to kind of be a part of it. So it was a really special time for our family and um the Connecticut PGA.

Speaker 1:

So you've been brought up in clubs and hospitality in golf. When you were a kid, did you know you were going to get into it, or did it just kind of happen?

Speaker 2:

It just kind of happened. I remember spending summers on the range and learning how to play the game of golf and how my grandfather really was instrumental in teaching myself, my brother and my sister kind of the camaraderie that it made and the history of what golf was for the sport in general. And when I was looking at colleges I was very interested in hospitality. I started out with a big passion for baking and pastry arts and through my time at Johnson Wales I kind of blended my ability to play the game and my interest in getting involved in hospitality and I kind of put it all together and the career just took off. And I've never looked back and I've never imagined myself doing anything different.

Speaker 1:

Do you remember or are there any? I don't know if the word is like lessons or advice or just nuggets that you know your family or your grandpa, or you just remember learning, or maybe something that they just instilled in you long ago that's still with you today, that you use in your career in clubs.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. You know, I think the philosophy of coaching the team that you have and I think when we say that as leaders in the industry, it can mean so many different things. It can mean coaching the team that you have working for you, it can mean coaching your board, it can mean coaching your members and for me, my grandfather was the first coach that I ever had and it was really important for me to kind of carry that on. My mom was my coach all through high school and I feel like when you look back at our family, he kind of created this family of coaches. And that's how I look at my management style and you know, my philosophy is that I really kind of take a coaching stance on leading the teams that I have and now, with me being a general manager, leading the boards, through that coaching mentality.

Speaker 1:

What is the coaching mentality and and does it differ from, like a mentor mentality and frame, so to speak? Because I know we were going to touch on mentors later, but then you just threw this curveball at me, no pun intended, with the coaching word now. So to me I'm like, so are it to me? Or asking you are they the same, are they different and what is? Because, just to say, a coaching leadership is a very specific style. So what does that mean to you? To start, okay, yeah, so, yeah, let's, let's start with this is what is, if you can go a little bit deeper into your coaching style, coaching leadership. What does that mean? And maybe, what does that word mean?

Speaker 2:

I think for me, coaching comes from playing athletics in college and I think that learning the structure, learning expectations, learning how to win quote unquote, right, that's really the overall goal is to win when you're playing sports. I think that for me, coaching means that you have that mindset of always wanting to perform at the highest level, always wanting to be passionate when you're going into a game or when you're going into work, every single day. And I think that when I look at myself as a coach and I look at myself as someone who my team looks to for guidance or inspiration or motivation in a really tough day, I think that it's very important the way that we communicate to our teams to inspire them. I think that that has a lot to do with how we actually coach and how we actually are communicating. I think inspiration in this business continues motivation and it kind of fuels that drive to be competitive. I think that that comes out in my leadership style.

Speaker 2:

I think that always having that competitive mindset kind of is an influence in in my leadership. I think of how I can inspire my team to be better than they were yesterday or, um, how can I inspire myself to be better than I was yesterday. I think that for me, that's what coaching is. I think it's always in the moment little tips to improve yourself. I think that it has a lot to do with sharing feedback. It's a big part of learning and growing and getting better every single day. So for me, that's what coaching means.

Speaker 1:

Is there a difference between a coach and a mentor needs. Is there a difference between a coach and a mentor?

Speaker 2:

That's an interesting question.

Speaker 2:

I think that the mentors that I think of when I've progressed and grown through my career are more of a listening ear and a helpful guidance.

Speaker 2:

I think that coach for me gives off a very intense persona. I think that they're there more regularly than a mentor, who, to me, is someone that you can pick up the phone if you're going through something, whether it's in life or whether it's in your career, and you can always call them for guidance, whereas for me, a coach is more regular feedback, more regular encouragement, very specific examples of things that you can focus on. I have an executive coach for me and that person is very different than a mentor to me. That person gives me real items for me to focus on and kind of gives me homework for me to take in the next two weeks before I have my next session with her, weeks before I have my next session with her. So I think that they're they're very similar, but I think for me, a mentor is more of a guiding light than someone who's giving you, in the moment, real feedback, homework to work on.

Speaker 1:

Because you've you've had the ability and the and the opportunity to be at so many different clubs and positions and from a young age, you know, a very young age got into it and then, you know, worked your way in all these different positions and your leadership style have you found I don't know if it's the word strategies, but like things that you've used to foster and kind of maintain strong teams?

Speaker 2:

I think that's a great question and for me, I look back at my experience. Everything that I bring to the teams that I'm working with, I'm building, I'm growing, I'm working with it comes from the things that I learned from the people who influenced my career trajectory, and I think that when we even talk about some of the memberships that I've been involved with, it's things that I learned throughout my career. Some are, yes, I want to bring this to my team. This is how I want to show up. Some have been. This is an equality that I want to bring this to my team. This is how I want to show up. Some have been. This isn't a quality that I want to have in my future. And all are equally as important for me. I think that when you talk about the strategy, it really is identifying who is working for you. It's getting to know the people on your team and understand what fuels them and what drives them and kind of making sure that you're touching that for your employees when they come into work every day. I think that it's a little bit different when we talk about managing boards and club governance, but I think that for me, when I look at what strategy am I going to bring to Shelter Harbor Golf Club. As you know, the first general manager position I now hold.

Speaker 2:

I look back at some of the most influential leaders that I've had the opportunity to work for and I try to bring that to the team as the best version of myself.

Speaker 2:

I think that one of the important items as you grow through your career as a young leader and I consider myself still a young leader is getting to know yourself the best and self-awareness and understanding how you can be the best version of yourself when you come to work every day, because if you're not nailing that, the people that are relying on you to do your job and be a really great leader, they're going to be disappointed because you haven't taken the time to get to know yourself.

Speaker 2:

It because you haven't taken the time to get to know yourself. And I think that when you look at my career, one of the things that you know, I think that makes me really unique is that it hasn't been a straight line to the top and I think that for me that brings a certain level of diversity to how I look at situations. It's really kind of allowed me to be relatable and you know, I've learned to be transparent in certain situations of, hey, this is what I went through, here's what I can recommend, and that's really kind of my strategy in leadership and in coaching in general.

Speaker 1:

Can you go into a little bit how? What do you mean you're? It wasn't a straight line to the top, Like I know, like you know, success is always different for so many different people, and the word success is as well. Can you go into that a little bit, Because I do know you've? You've moved what eight times in the past 10 years.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I actually did. I actually did the math this morning and if we go back to 2008,.

Speaker 2:

Um physically moved you know I'm talking like packing boxes and finding a new address um eight, eight times in the past 16 years, um and some of them have been um, you know, my husband and I we bought our first house and when you do get a new, a new job, typically you usually rent first and then you look into purchasing and that's kind of how we added a couple moves that you know weren't a job attached to them. But you know, it's both. It's both positive and some learning experiences that are on my resume and I think that as you grow through your career, it's it's very difficult to kind of explain two years, two years, two years, two years. And it reminds me of a podcast that I listened to with Tom Brady and he was, you know, talking about this monumental career that he's had and how everybody likes to talk to him about the wins. And I remember when you first got on the podcast you know, interview, let's get to know each other.

Speaker 2:

You were so impressed with the pedigree of clubs that I had on my resume and it is I'm very proud to have had the opportunities to work at every single property on my resume, but some were learning experiences for me that I have learned the absolute best lessons of my career and I think that it has really allowed me to get to know myself as a young female leader in the industry and get to know the memberships that I want to be a part of, the people that I want to work corner, and I think that it's all part of growth right?

Speaker 2:

The wins, like Tom Brady explained, are great to talk about and they're fun and they get you the limelight, but the losses are really where you learn your life lessons and you know. For me, I have absolutely no regrets. I think that the relationships that I have built throughout my career are still there. I can pick up the phone and call every single person that I've ever worked for and ask them a question about how to handle a certain situation with my president or how to handle a dynamic with an executive chef.

Speaker 2:

I think that as you go through your career, if you make a mistake or if you don't show up as the best version of yourself, we're taught in our career to kind of be ashamed of that and and not have that be one of your proudest moments. And it might not feel like it in the moment, but as time goes by, those lessons that you learn are so important to your growth and and having you get the opportunity to be vulnerable with your teams and kind of be human. No one is perfect, right? We're all adults. We all make mistakes in business. We all make mistakes in this amazing road called life. And for me, I think that I'm so proud of everything that I've accomplished in my career and the relationships that I've built and some that you know haven't really worked out that I thought were going to and it's it's kind of all put together in this beautiful little up and down path tackled in by a lot of moving boxes. Clearly.

Speaker 2:

Too many, too many too many, I'm not going to pack a box. My husband has told me I'm not going to pack a box for the next five to seven years. So I am in Charlestown for quite some time.

Speaker 1:

And that's right around where you grew up, right.

Speaker 2:

It is. I was born in Connecticut and I grew up in New England. I went to college in Providence, so this is really a very sweet homecoming for me.

Speaker 1:

I remember when we first talked, I was just you know, we were talking and you were just telling about, you know, your family and work and everything, and you know. I asked you know, how do you do all of that? I forget the exact phrase, but you know I was like you know, or what was it? Your management style. I forget the exact word or however I phrased it, but it was you, you I just remember writing it down. But you said, you know, it's about blending culture, honor and history, um into a, into a beautiful career, um, or hospitality and food and beverage into a beautiful career. But that, that, that was at least what I took a, took away from it, and then you shared with me a really cool moment by um, isn't there members that you first started off with at your first club and then they're now at your current club?

Speaker 2:

Yes, so my first assistant clubhouse manager position was straight out of college. I, I, um. I graduated from Johnson Wales in May of 2008. And I started at Roundhill in September of 2008. And I was there for about three, three and a half years and kind of moved around. After that went down to Florida and when I started at Shelter Harbor, our first kickoff event of the season was opening cocktail party, they call it. And in walks these two members and I recognized their faces 16 years later and I shook their hand and they said Audra, do you recognize us? And I said I absolutely do Remind of your name. And they said when we got the email saying you are coming on board, we were so touched and look at that.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's so cool.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

It all comes full, full circle. That has to be such a such a unique moment.

Speaker 2:

It is and I think that you know it does bring you back right. It kind of gives you that rewind of so many amazing memories and it really is a full circle story because when, when I was down in Florida, um, I didn't, you know, there there's just so many amazing clubs in that, in that industry, and so many amazing mentors that you have access to and education and the Florida Club Managers chapter and I didn't really see this happening, pass it up, because that really was for me the epitome of tradition, history, game of golf, club championships, majors that they've hosted, the emphasis on Bobby Jones. So for me it kind of took me to Atlanta and now back in New England and it's been a very, very special experience and a great life decision for me.

Speaker 1:

Was it Atlanta where you were the first female manager?

Speaker 2:

Yes, so Atlanta Athletic I was the first female club manager that was ever hired. So you know it was a very special time for me and I think that blending you know my kind of style me being a female I think it was very well received. I had a ton of support from David Shepard, my general manager, and he was very, very proud of me, very proud to have hired the first email club manager and it was definitely a talking point for some of the major meetings that we had.

Speaker 1:

I would definitely assume. So what trends have you been seeing? I was trying to say trends without trends, but what are you seeing that you like or don't like in the club space?

Speaker 2:

I think one of the exciting things that we're all seeing right now is major, major capital improvement plans. Shelter Harbor is going through one right now. From a leadership standpoint, I think one of the things that we're seeing is a huge emphasis on culture and employment culture and looking into ways on how clubs and leaders can make their organizations the destination of choice, because I think that competition is a real thing, depending on where you are, depending on how seasonal you are. I think that it's an exciting time to be a leader in this industry, because I think that the usage for golf, country clubs, country clubs, camaraderie skyrocketed, obviously after the pandemic, and I think it's definitely a unique time to be involved in this niche of the hospitality industry, because this is, you know, a big kind of booming industry right now, and I think it's tying into why memberships are looking into improvements because they they want to get better, they want to be better than the club down the street.

Speaker 2:

Oh, the club down the street is doing, you know, a master plan. We need to do one too, because we want to stay up with the current trends. Um, so I think that for us, it's kind of thinking forward. What is the vision of where we see ourselves going in the future. We're a fairly young club. I went from Atlanta Athletic that just celebrated their 125th anniversary, before I left, now managing an organization who is a baby. You know we celebrated our 20th anniversary this year, so I think that it's yes.

Speaker 1:

What's that been like, going from one extreme to another, like you like Benjamin Button, like this is Benjamin Button Like this is I don't know, it wasn't even that funny, but but that's got to be interesting, just in terms of the membership, just everything. Everything must be, and you've done so many other clubs as well, so probably you've experienced so much that helped you adapt quicker. But that's got to be quite the change, going from a 120-year-old club to a 20-year-old club.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I think that there are pros and cons. There are pros and cons to every. Every club is so unique in the way it's governed, in the way it's structured, and I think that, for me, working in a club with so much history was crucial for me because it allowed me to see that structure, see how club governance was really established and you know there were sequencing to the way decisions were made and I think it was a very healthy experience for me to be a part of and learn. You know these are standard industry practices and be able to bring them here because with young clubs you go through a growth phase. With one, your membership right. I mean 20 years ago who were the people that were joining this club and you know who are the people that we're going to be attracting now. Very, very different and I think that, yes, it is a different experience, but but for me it was the perfect opportunity to get involved with as my first general manager position and it's it's been amazing.

Speaker 1:

Maybe not so much, maybe for for shelter point, or it could be, or you know just any of your clubs are there. Uh, were there any? Were there? Are there? Is there any initiatives or just implementations or things that you brought to light or started doing and saw to fruition and that you're just really proud of?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. So. I think that when, when you look at some of the clubs that I've been involved with, the member programming and the social events have been just top notch. You know these are the best, the best of the best, the creative ideas that come to the table. Um, things that I think about were really cool events. Um, you know, the member guests at Atlanta athletic and the East lake cup that I had the opportunity to kind of get involved with at Atlanta Athletic.

Speaker 2:

When you have a bunch of college teams coming on property and competing for this really special cup and kind of the magnitude of the volume that you do and you understand how to strategize through, understand how to strategize through, you know. I think that when you're tasked with running a food and beverage operation on such a large volume that we were doing in Atlanta, it really changes your mindset on forward thinking and how important that is. I think at Sailfish Point every event was really special. We're right on the ocean down there. It was just a dream to go to work every day and you didn't feel like you were working because you felt like you were on vacation, driving into the club. And I think when you look at the Polo Club. Again back to volume. It's just how you have that mindset of going into holiday week doing 1800 covers and waking up and doing it again the next day.

Speaker 1:

Wait 1800 covers on a daily basis.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so Polo is probably the biggest organization that you know. I had the the great pleasure of being a part of and that those were our numbers. During holiday week we had I forget it was five bars, seven restaurants plus banquets it was. It was a, a cruise ship, really land yacht. Um, that is that. How, how do you? That is 1800 a night. That's no day a day 1800 a day.

Speaker 1:

So you know, collectively through all of our yeah, yeah, that's huge. Wow. So many personalities, so many moving parts, so many, so many everything. I mean I, in our pre-chat I was saying I remember being at the at a Sunday brunch buffet at Polo Club and just the sights and sounds of everything and anything there was amazing because it was just a fantastic spread. Besides the obvious things that might pop up, were there any? What's difficult about trying to serve 1800 people a day that people might not?

Speaker 2:

realize Focus, exhaustion, motivation for your team. I mean, you have this group of people who are coming into work every day and they are responsible for delivering the member experience. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't me, it wasn't the beverage manager that daily grind. I think that for me it was trying to keep the energy high, trying to keep that team dynamic, positive, and I think that's really what gets you through the day. You know, there's something to be said about someone who is meant to be in hospitality when you get a feeling of adrenaline going into holiday week in South Florida and there's no other place that you'd rather be.

Speaker 2:

At the time in my career, that's exactly where I wanted to be and I would leave work feeling so fulfilled exhausted, but so fulfilled because it was almost like playing in a championship every day and again tying back to my days in athletics. It was training and if you look back, that really changed my career trajectory. I knew that at that point food and beverage was going to be a big focus in my career, a big focus in my development, and I would not have had that, had not working with the amazing group of leaders that I had the amazing opportunity to work for when I was at the Polo Club of Boca Raton, it was going into work every day and making sure that my team was focused and ready to take on those 1800 members that were challenging.

Speaker 1:

That is wild. That is wild. How do you even get the?

Speaker 2:

team ready for 1800?

Speaker 1:

Like that is wild, that is what, how. How do you even get the team ready for 1800? Like that is like beyond black friday, like that is beyond, like how? How do you get a team ready for 1800 covers?

Speaker 2:

well, it's funny you ask, because buckle up like yeah, and the the most important times were our pre-shift and lineup meetings, when you know I would be talking to a group of 40 to 50 team members in that specific area and talking about strategy, how are we going to get through this? What are our reservations? And I loved those sessions because I felt like I was in a huddle. I felt like it was, you know, the GM calling a timeout and the coach had to kind of get in and here's our plan and here are the plays that we're going to run and here's the way we're going to get through this together. And you know we would all give us a cheer and say high fives and get in and get focused.

Speaker 2:

And after I left Polo, I remember getting a text message from one of the internationals from South Africa that worked for me, and it was around Christmas time and he reached out and he said Audra, I need one of your lineups, I need to have one of those motivational speeches that you used to give us, and I don't know what it was. I know I wasn't the warmest and the fuzziest at the times, but it worked for that group.

Speaker 1:

So what was your advice to him?

Speaker 2:

I think I hopped on a phone call and, you know, gave him some kind of quote to live by. But you know it's knowing your people, it's just making sure that you're making that authentic connection with them so that they know you're in it with them.

Speaker 1:

Audra, thank you so much for coming on, spending some knowledge telling us about you and your family. What a great story. Thank you so, so, so much for coming out, spending some knowledge telling us about you and your family. What a great story. Thank you so, so, so much for coming out.

Speaker 2:

Denny, thank you for having me. It's been so nice chatting with you. I love these sessions.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much, Audra. Thank you all for listening. That's this episode. If you enjoyed it, like, share, subscribe. Anything you can do to help move the content and channel forward means the absolute world Five-star ratings with reviews. Share them with friends and colleagues. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We're pretty heavy over on LinkedIn, but that's this episode. Until next time, catch y'all on the flippity-flip.

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