Hiring a Director of Racquet Sports? Ensure Success! - with Len Simard (part 1)
Welcome
Episode Narration:to Racquet Fuel, where we launch into great conversations and share powerful tools to help you become a stronger Racquet's leader. Your hosts are Kim Bastable, a former all American tennis player and now director of tennis management at the University of Florida, and Simon Gale, the USTA National Campus Director of Racquet Sports. Today on Racquet Fuel, we'll start a two part conversation with Len Simard, search and consulting executive with Copland, Keebler, and Wallace, a firm that annually manages the searches for hundreds of leadership positions in clubs around The US. Len specializes in directors of racquet sports searches, so he knows what it takes to succeed in the role. Here are Kim and Simon with part one of that discussion.
Kim Bastable:Welcome to Racquet Fuel. I'm Kim Bastable, and I'm here with my cohost, Simon Gale. How are you today, Simon?
Simon Gale:Fantastic, Kim. I'm looking forward to chatting with Len today. I think it's gonna be very informative for our listeners.
Kim Bastable:Len has an extensive background of search right now in the country club area, but he's also an expert in the Racquet Club area where he's been in management for several years. So, Len, we are super glad to hear from you. We know you're gonna have a lot to offer our listeners. Welcome.
Len Simard:Thanks, Kim. Thanks, Simon. Happy to be here for sure.
Simon Gale:So Lynn, we know you've got extensive experience working in the industry and more recently have specialized in the search aspect of the industry. And one of the things I'm really interested to hear from you is, I've been in this country twenty five years or so now and probably ten years ago, a search firm being used to find a director or even a teaching pro was fairly rare if I recall. And it's really shot to prevalence in the last five years or so. And I'm interested to hear how that's evolved in your mind and why it's become more prevalent. But also just explain a little bit about what you do.
Len Simard:Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Well, I'm searching consulting with Koplan, Keebler and Wallace, so we're the largest search and consulting firm in the industry. We probably do the vast majority of searches from general managers to Racquet Sports, golf, superintendents, executive chefs, membership c c CFOs, and and the likes.
Len Simard:So anything to do really with senior level management in the hospitality world, but most mostly geared towards member equity private clubs. But we do some non you know, we do some commercials clubs as well and resorts, but that that's primarily what what our area is. And you're right. It has changed so much. And, again, I'll I'll preference that prior to I've been with Koplin, Keebler, and Waller six years.
Len Simard:I've done over a 120 searches for them now in in the six years. But prior to that, I I had my own search firm just for the rackets industry for over ten years called Simard Search. So I was very fortunate to know Kirk Keebler at the Isleworth Golf and Country Club. He got me going in this industry now sixteen years ago. So and and back then, you're right.
Len Simard:There there wasn't too many clubs that that really knew that it existed, that they could hire a search firm, a professional search firm to actually help them with their process and and get the right person. And, you know, there's a cost involved. And and and sometimes, you know, it's it's if you think about it too, you know, when's the last time your club needed a pro or or or if you yourself were hiring for somebody, you know, all you hear is so many people in your right ear saying, hey. I know somebody. I know somebody.
Len Simard:This person coaches my daughter who's five years old and he's fantastic. So there there there was a lot of I we know who the right person is. And now it's gotten a lot more, which I'm sure we'll start to converse about why the complexity of these positions now have changed so much that it's unlikely that a club can actually be successful doing it on their own. Because they're they have a search committee who's now been brought on board to to help with it. And they know their own areas very well.
Len Simard:They're very successful people, but they don't really know how and what a director of Racquet's is supposed to be doing in today's world. And the culture is very different, what it is. So we we help them so much from and I think that's another reason why a lot of clubs are are using search firms now. It's not just identifying and vetting the candidate, but it's also setting their entire department up for success. Everything from compensation to job descriptions to bonus structures to how their department financially should be set up.
Len Simard:What is the industry averages for what a Racquet's department should be funding themselves with? A lot of data that club benchmarking helps us with with also, who's a partner of ours. And so we're able to bring a very comprehensive look to the entire department and making sure the search committee, the tennis and rackets committee, and the management of of the club understand what this role is. And and therefore, how do we identify he or she in in this role? So they get over the initial cost of what it be for long term success.
Len Simard:And the best clubs in America are using search firms. They are because they know that they don't have the time, the energy, or the expertise to do it in house. We know how tough it is to hire right now, and that's only really just magnified everything with the whole search process. So so that's really, I think, the main things that have changed is time, expertise, and general organizational structure that that has led to Search for him being so well received now in the industry.
Kim Bastable:Well, you know, it's it's interesting to to think that your role really starts to become less about I mean, it is about search, but really about consulting and helping the club understand what they need because, you know, the search is a time where cultures might need to be changed or a business is going poorly and you really need someone who's going to change the direction. And I would think a search committee of people who are maybe doctors or lawyers or not particularly knowing knowledgeable about Racquet's really needs advice. So how much of your time is spent consulting?
Len Simard:Yeah. That that's a that's a great point, Kim. That and that's how we try to make sure they're they're aware of it. So 30% of our time is is spent on on helping the the club in its structure and it's in guiding them to how their program should be run. And that includes culture building.
Len Simard:Like, for another example is, you know, we after we've placed a candidate in the role, we'll go back to that club and actually do a committee retreat, a Racquet committee retreat with them to make sure that the the success is guaranteed for the department. Meaning, is the director of Racquet's doing and and his or her staff doing what they're supposed to be doing and not being overly micromanaged by a Racquet's committee or even a GM. And so we'll go in back to the club and explain what the committee's role should be and through best practices after being now at more than a 100 clubs and making sure they're doing what they should do, the staff is doing what they should do, and management is doing what they are supposed to do. And when you get that working together in unison, that culture is is undeniably sensational. And that's when you see the highest functioning clubs in America working, when those three work well together.
Kim Bastable:And then a little bit about like what do clubs value? So you're probably helping them identify what they might value in a future director of racket sports. But let's speak a little bit to, what do you know from your research? What does a country club typically look for? What types of skills or character?
Kim Bastable:And maybe what, through your Racquet Club experience, what do Racquet Clubs typically look for in this role?
Len Simard:So so, yeah, there are differences for for what clubs are looking for between a nonprofit and a for profit club. And it's very different. Certainly things have changed over the past ten years just with that one issue with pickleball, for example. That didn't that was not in anybody's vocabulary as far as one of the major traits that they're looking for in a in a director or a top person within the Racquet's department. So there's a lot of things that have changed.
Len Simard:But I'll I'll tackle, first of all, member equity or nonprofit clubs. And it's all about the the member experience clearly. And we we found three things that probably weren't around ten years ago. Know, number one thing is visibility. You know, visibility and availability to members and the staff.
Len Simard:That's usually number one. Now if you think back ten years ago, it's how well did they instruct in tennis on the court. And so there's one thing that that's changed obviously immediately. So they clubs now want somebody there. They want to see somebody.
Len Simard:They want to be catered to. They want to have their questions answered. They want to feel like they know you not just in an instructional level, but also who you are and vice versa. They want you to know who they are as club members and their family, what their needs are. So visibility, you know, and again this is either visibility is either one, two, or three or three, two, and one.
Len Simard:But another one is the the, you know, the obvious, the the ability to grow engagement and usage of the Racquet's facility, the entire Racquet's facility. And that's what's changed, of course, over the last many years is now there's there's multiple sports, and it's not just tennis anymore. So it's it's it's pickleball, it's padal, and it's platform tennis. So you have to have the ability to grow these amenities and not just one of them, but all of them, whatever that they have, and then to bring new ideas to the committee and to management about the other sports or or amenities that they don't have. And try and convince them that they do need to be on top of this because it's changing, and we need to make sure we continue to grow in our department.
Len Simard:You don't wanna get left behind. And then third, and again, whether this is first, second, or third, but always in the top three, is to to provide leadership and direction to the Racquet's committee. You know, that's something that is obviously only in the member equity world. But again, this is why we found so important that we go back and do a committee retreat because they're not sure what they're supposed to be doing. So unless you have a very astute manager who's got the right culture set up and the committees are being involved in the right manner, then then it is difficult for them to understand what the role is.
Len Simard:But also leadership and direction for the staff, including hiring and training expertise. Director's only as good as their staff. If the culture is that the visibility that we just discussed is there, then you know old school contracts, which are still out there by the way. They're still out there. Where the director of Racquet's is teaching twenty, thirty, or even in some cases forty hours a week, you lose those requirements that the committee and the club wants.
Len Simard:Again, visibility. You can't be visible at all if you're teaching if you're out on the court the whole time. So if you have hired correctly, trained correctly your staff, they should be doing the majority of that teaching and learning the business at the same time. Learning how to be a director, managing club events, and doing those types of things. So that's kind of where and there's many other things.
Len Simard:Communication is extremely important, how you deal with How you run the events and things like that. But those are really the top things. If you can portray to a search committee or a manager that you possess those traits, you stand a very good chance of of of being successful at that club. In in a Racquet scenario or for profit scenario, you know, there's far more emphasis on financial acumen. I mean, you have to know the numbers inside and out.
Len Simard:You you need to know how to control costs as well as how to forecast gross revenue. And and you you almost have to have a little bit of a CFO type mentality when you're being hired in in the Racquet's industry as as a director. And and it almost can be said, is is it a director or is it a manager slash director? Is it a COO type role versus a, DOR? So there's a lot of emphasis on that side.
Len Simard:And it's about creating new instructional programs. So instead of just gaining usage of the entire facility, it's really how are you going to be innovative and creative in instructional programming so that you can take an average rental hour that might just so let's say it's $50 an hour. And instead of being satisfied with that, you're gonna try and do at least double that through instructional programming. So you wanna be creating at least double what your your hourly rental is. So how creative are you?
Len Simard:And that requires everything from marketing, discussing with your staff, creating the best programming, and then marketing it to the patrons, because they're not members now, they're patrons in most cases, and and how to make sure they sign up, and then how how to get them back to returning to other programs. So those are really important aspects in the Racquet world where again, it's just not as much about the member experience unless you're referring to instructional member experience.
Simon Gale:So Lynn, as I listened to your summary there and I think think back to when when I was a director of tennis or a director at a country club as well, I think the job description and the skill set that today's directors require has changed dramatically. It was about instruction, how good a player you were and you were visible but visible on the court thirty to forty hours a week. And I think that's changed. The type of person you need to find is much more evolved than probably a director twenty or thirty years ago, would you say?
Len Simard:Well, that's exactly right. You're spot on in every respect there. So it's it's just a different mindset now because clubs that once needed members or searching for somebody, they the easiest way to try and to try and say, hey. We can get more members in by giving great instruction. Well, you can to a certain extent, but you have to have the complete circuit closed.
Len Simard:The events have to be there. The social aspect has to be there. The correct culture, the the right pro shops, the right events for for all constituencies. There's there's so much more than just being a good player and a good teacher. And now pretty much if you're a four five player, even at a fantastic top 20 club in America, that's good enough.
Len Simard:You don't have to have top d one playing experience or professional ATP or WTA experience anymore. That's something that went away fifteen, twenty years ago.
Simon Gale:Sure.
Len Simard:You have to be able to play. You got to be able to demonstrate and play with some of your better members. But it's just not as important.
Simon Gale:And so if I'm a prospective candidate and I want to be preparing and be successful in the interview process, which you were just talking about some of those characteristics, I've heard you talk in the past about the preparation phase. So can you explain what that means and and kind of what goes into it?
Len Simard:Well, I'll try. For for the private member equity world, you know, preparing yourself for that job, you know, it can be done in a number of ways. But the first thing is you have to commit to an understanding where you want to be. It it's it's a vision and mission statement that you're making for yourself. And if you want to be a director of Racquet's at a private member equity club, you have to make that decision.
Len Simard:That's first. It's wrong if you don't want to be. It's just whatever your aspirations are. So some people are are fantastic perennial associate professionals and just love to teach and want to teach their whole life. And that's there's we need those.
Len Simard:We need that mentality for some as well. But if you do decide to be a DOR, there are steps that you can take. Obviously, the director the DORS, director of racket sports from UF's offering is a phenomenal option, especially if you don't have the the ability to learn and mentor under someone who's an established director of Racquet's. And I think that we're getting we're we're taking great strides in that area where directors of Racquet's now are starting to understand they need to develop their staff because we're running out of really well educated and talented directors of Racquet's. And they are starting to take a little more attention to their staff where ten years ago they were not.
Len Simard:So I think that's improving. Now with the DRS from UF, that's a fantastic way of understanding and learning our industry. So getting the first thing is, Simon, trying to get the education that you need. There's no secondly, there's there's no substitute for for having that genuine desire to be around people and having a genuine interest in people because this is still a hospitality. And I and I we use this line tongue in cheek a lot.
Len Simard:But when we're in interviews and someone is very, very sound and savvy when it comes to education and and running events and things like that, but they still have to have that x factor. And we say, do they have the hang factors? Is this somebody that you would want to go out with after hours and and be around and find them interesting? So there is that certain amount of entertainment factor too because it still is hospitality. So your personality still has to be there as well.
Len Simard:And then of course, you know, all the technical savvy that you're gonna need to to run and satisfy some of those things that we've discussed. Do you have hiring capabilities? Do you have yourself a good methodology for hiring assistants and head pros and desk staff and maintenance staff and things like that? Is your process good? Do you feel like you're going to be allow the committee or the hiring committee or manager to feel confident that you'll bring in a great staff and train them and onboard them correctly?
Len Simard:So again, sitting down with your I get asked this a lot. How do I get the skill set to be a director and today's director? And I said, you know, are you getting any from from your superior? From your DOR? And some will say no.
Len Simard:And I and I'll and I'll say, well, have you asked them to have a sit down every week? Well, no, I haven't done that. I said, well please do because everybody loves to mentor. I don't care who you are, if you're asked to do something that's going to help your own your own staff and your own membership, then you're likely to to do it. So first of all, say here's where I want to be.
Len Simard:I've got a five year window or four or five year window. How can you help me? And and what's the program? You know, I can suggest some things, but allow them to suggest some things too. And learning about budgeting and forecasting and and and and controlling your numbers at at at any type of club.
Len Simard:Also, pro shops, hiring and staffing as we just talked about, event planning, how to execute a phenomenal event. That's a lost art right now I think too. Maybe you all can can speak to that too. But I mean, you know, I I always say, look at golf's events and then look at Racquet's events. Now I'm not saying that we're gonna charge the same amount.
Len Simard:We're not gonna have a two or three or four day event. But in retrospect, should we not have something really well done? I'm not saying everything, but your signature events have to be golf like events. They have to be phenomenal. Great awards, great food and beverage, great service, a fantastic format, programs, photographs, great write ups, you know, at the end, making the the the customer feely feel exceptionally fantastic about the event.
Len Simard:It'll spread to other events, and and and now you've got a full social calendar.
Kim Bastable:Well, then I've heard you talk that's a pretty impressive list of of things to get ready to do. And I do think we could talk to we can instruct people to talk to their mentor, but my comment from that has been my mentor, my boss, my director is too busy to even find an hour to sit down with me regularly. So it's a struggle. And some of those things are just not available to a head pro, might not be, or someone who wants to transition might not have had experiences to hire. So how do they know a hiring methodology?
Kim Bastable:How does this transition take place? Just I guess, at some point, a club is taking a chance on someone with very little experience, or how do you anticipate help someone go through the steps?
Len Simard:So I think your question is, you know, how does an assistant pro or head pro make the the move to a director of Racquet's? And I think they need to take ownership of of how they answer the questions and how they present themselves. So instead of saying that my director would do it this way or that way, they they speak in in the first sense, you know, the the first person. And this is how we do it. So I agree with you that most directors don't have a ton of time, but they still hire.
Len Simard:And if you ask somebody, look, I'd like to be involved in the hiring process. I'd like to see how you do it and go through it, assuming it's a pretty good process. It can be helpful. And then obviously, any any form of online education that you can get, you you need to do it. But yes, there is there is a a leap of faith on the club's part just like there is on on a candidate's part that that we go forward together.
Len Simard:And and I think when one of my favorite questions to a candidate in the interview room, what I'm asking is I say, what are you going to need to see from your boss, general manager, and your committees, the Racquet's committees, in order to be long tenured and successful. So you you're gonna have to think about that answer, and and that's that's something that, you know, you have to answer very honestly, whether it's communications or support or like mind thinking or or whatever it is, meetings or or whatever that you think is important to you in order to have that. That's that's gonna be a question that comes out. So what is it that you need from the club? And and I think when you think of it that way, you also can work backwards too in finding out because it's gonna come.
Len Simard:What do you you know, that that it's gonna be reversed. You know, they're looking for somebody who's the right fit for them. So what are you looking for as as a right fit for you? And that needs to to be brought out in that conversation because it has to be a mutually rewarding experience. So does that help, Kim, in in answering the question?
Kim Bastable:Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. I mean, it's a it's it is. I think that's what I wanna get across to the listeners.
Kim Bastable:There's a leap of faith on both sides, and that doesn't mean you don't try. That doesn't mean you say, I can't do it or I'm not qualified. At some point, everyone enters a job that they have not been in before. And so I just feel like there tends to be some hesitancy and lack of confidence. And I I prefer to build the confidence through the education we have at UF, and then they take on some of the responsibility of learning more through their experiences.
Kim Bastable:And then, yes, they enter a search and and go for it and communicate well and work hard. So I'm encouraging people as you are to to do that.
Len Simard:Yeah. I think in just in review of that, you have to have enough education and basic experience on your resume and cover letter in order to get an interview. But once you get in the interview, all the other stuff kind of gets thrown away. I hate to make it too simplistic, but it goes a long way when you get in front of that committee and they can see your enthusiasm, your personality, your need. I always tell a committee when there's an assistant going for a director of Racquet's position, I go, look, this is make or break for them.
Len Simard:They don't want to come into a DOR role and fail. They're going to do everything they can to succeed, so feel free to trust in them to do well. And so I agree with you, Kim. We need more people applying and you don't have to be a director of Racquet's and have whatever number of years experience in order to get a shot. And that's another conversation too we could have about women applying too, but we probably that's another conversation.
Len Simard:But we think a lot of women too do not apply because they think they're not ready or or something along those lines. We think they're they're making big errors. We have to recruit a lot of women because they typically don't do it on their own. And they're so great for this profession. They are truly a great fit for this profession.
Simon Gale:Well, Len, you summarized a little bit and you've done a really nice job of separating say a country club or private equity club versus say a public facility or for profit facility. How would you or what would you talk to a pro or someone in a leadership role who's maybe looking to transition from a for profit facility to a country club? Based on some of those differences, how would you recommend them approaching developing some of those skills, for example, so they have a chance of being successful?
Len Simard:Yeah. And that's exactly it, right? So it's got to be on their resume enough to to get into that live interview, and then anything can happen in a live interview. It really is. You can win that live interview over without some checking off all the boxes for what they're looking for on it from a technical viewpoint.
Len Simard:So when you are trying to get build your resume in essence, you know, the first thing I always say is there isn't one resume for all jobs, including directors of Racquet. You need to alter your your resume, and I'm not saying fabricate it, I'm just saying alter it, to meet what the position profile is that the club's looking for. So again, you can emphasize and talk a little bit more about if they are I'm just picking something. If they really need a high performance junior program because their members are leaving when they hit 12 years old to a local academy. Well, you know, you can talk about and emphasize about how you've built junior programs from the ground up at a commercial club.
Len Simard:And you can really talk about that. So focus a little bit more on pay attention what they are looking for, and then try and emphasize that in your resume, which everybody has even at a commercial club. So when it comes to instruction, there should be no issues with meeting or checking off the boxes that they wish. So let's take a look then at what are the other things. You know, again, budgeting, potentially pro shop.
Len Simard:You know, you can talk to a pro shop manager or or your director, whoever owns the shop, and say, spend a little time with me on this. Or do a little research on your own and find out what cost of sales is. You know, one of the old there's a great question, for example, that that differentiates between profit and nonprofit. You know, you might get asked the question if you're a DOR overseeing the pro shop at a at a commercial facility, what does cost of sales mean and how is it calculated? Where that would never happen in a member equity interview.
Len Simard:Obviously understanding numbers and pro shops and things like that is important for profit clubs. Social programming is another one. So has this person potentially said, hey, Saturday nights are slow at our indoor facility or commercial facility or public facility. Can I offer to run some social events and I'll make it I'll differentiate and vary the social event once a month and we'll have 12 new events? And now you are become an expert at running some social events.
Len Simard:And you can take a picture of the flyer for it and you can talk about how you instituted it and ran it successfully. So you've now checked off more boxes in a commercial environment to get to what a private member equity club is looking for at least on paper. And then again, are you visible? Training we talked about already so I won't go through there again. But if you could sit on a few of those, that'd be great.
Simon Gale:I agree a 100%. I think it comes back to what you said earlier about if this is your vision or mission for yourself and you are looking to move into that space, the private equity, there are ways no matter where you are at without the private equity experience to gain these experiences and knowledge and skills to be able to present yourself in a way that will still get you potentially in the door, maybe not at the premier facility, but at a smaller country club to get yourself started. So I agree a 100% on these opportunities, you just have to look for them if this is where you want to go next.
Len Simard:Right. Most people have friends too. Correct? I mean, I know this isn't an official, you know, answer to to your question, but we we know others and have associations and friendships with others in our in our world. Right?
Len Simard:And some of them might be directors of Racquet's at a member equity club. Like you said, maybe it's a tier two club or tier three club. But they they understand. They hang out together. They talk, communicate together.
Len Simard:And and that helps them to understand too some of the expectations of of some of these private clubs.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. That's that's excellent. So I I put together some bullet point here that I think is a summary of kinda what you've said. You can tell me if I've caught it right. But some of the things I think the directors, the candidates, or potential candidates for this role, they should educate themselves just in a lot of ways.
Kim Bastable:Obviously, not just assume experience is everything. I think they need to work on I like your idea of the hang factor. They need to realize that that's an important part of this. You know, the visibility and the people wanna be with you, so personality, emotional intelligence are important. Make sure the role matches up with, you know, the who you are as a person, your mission and vision as a person.
Kim Bastable:Make sure that role matches up. Make sure that you love being around people. Ultimately, it's a hospitality role. You really are in the hospitality business. And then that playing skills are not as valued, as high as they used to be.
Kim Bastable:So now it's more the people skills and the business skills that are really more valued in this role. And then the last one, I think is what you just said is there are transferable skills really between all kinds of positions. Yep. And you need to identify them. And as you gave the example of the event management at a Racquet Club and take that into event management at a country club, the looks of those events might be slightly different, but there's a lot of skills that are similar.
Len Simard:Yep. That's an excellent summary. And and I I would say just off the top of my head, the only thing maybe I didn't or we didn't discuss is is certification. And, you know, they whether either types of club, all types of clubs are looking for that expertise and being an enthusiastic supporter and leader of all of those new, what's termed Racquet Sports. Right?
Len Simard:So PTR calls it a triple threat if you if you have it, but there's there's there's even more now with Padal coming out. So so you can be certified in whatever you choose to be certified in. I mean, that can only help you. So that's another area too.
Kim Bastable:Excellent. That's good. Well, thank you. This has been a great start to our conversation. We are gonna do a second podcast recording with Len because we know there's a lot more to talk about in this area.
Kim Bastable:We just thank you for being here on this episode of Racquet Fuel. We'll talk to you soon.
Len Simard:Thank you both, Simon. Thank you. Kim, a pleasure.
Simon Gale:Cheers, Len.
Episode Narration:That's all for today, but we're not out of fuel. You can find more information and resources in our show notes and by visiting racketfuelpodcast.com. If you like what you just heard, please subscribe. And also, leave a review, which helps other people join the mission to become stronger Racquet's leaders.
Conclusion:This podcast is a production of Athlete Plus, the people, stories, and science behind elite athletes and teams. Athlete Plus is the official podcast network of the Institute for Coaching Excellence, a research, education, and outreach center in the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida. The Institute for Coaching Excellence offers various online certificate programs and degrees in partnership with the Department of Sport Management. Learn more today at coaching.hhp.ufl.edu.
