Could you work day-in and day-out with your spouse or partner? Most people believe that working together is a sure-fire recipe for disaster, either at home, at the office, or both.
In this episode, Joe, Mikey D, Drew and their significant others share their story of starting, building and managing a Golf Management business for the past twenty years as a family.
Management:
At Palm Beach National, Mikey D and Nadia work side-by-side every day which provides plenty of opportunities for friction, but somehow they make it work and work very well. Palm Beach National is one of the most successful Paradigm Golf Group Golf Management clubs and it has an awful lot to do with the dynamic duo of Mikey and Nadia.
They’re complete opposites when it comes to management style. Mikey is a tornado and Nadia is FEMA. But they do have one very important thing in common, they are both extremely upbeat, friendly and optimistic people. If you’re going to trust your business to anyone, hire happy, friendly people.
Enjoy some hilarious stories of how Mikey creates chaos and nadia calms the seas. In the same way, Drew and Bailey (Joe’s daughter) manage Dobson Ranch in Arizona. Drew relies heavily on Bailey to keep him organized and to manage the food and beverage so that Drew can focus on growing the business. Joe is a visionary, always starting at the end and expecting everyone to meet him there. Amy starts at the beginning and meets him in the middle so that everyone around them can stay sane, stay on mission and grow the businesses.
One thing’s become abundantly clear though - it takes understanding one-another’s weaknesses and strengths and complimenting each other for a relationship to survive and thrive the challenges of working and living together.
Marketing.
The theme remains the same. You need a yin to the yang, a balance between the creative and crazy and the pragmatic and sane. Marketing takes a ton of creative brain power and a bit of zaniness as evidenced by the amazing videos, trick shots, contests and campaigns generated by the teams at Dobson Ranch Golf Course and Palm Beach National Golf Course. Even the Paradigm Golf Group Management Company operates on the far edge of the creativity spectrum.
But no marketing campaign can have any success without someone to implement, edit, write and manage those campaigns. Mikey can smash a lot of stuff on the range, but nothing makes it to the media without the support of his team, including his significant other, Nadia. Someone’s gotta make sure the T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted.
Myths
The biggest myth is that working with family just reeks of nepotism and can create nothing but jealousy among staff and discord. Nothing can be further from the truth. If managed correctly, spousal teams at the management level can make a very powerful machine. It’s because they care about each other’s success and want what’s best for each other and that translates to what’s best for the business.
Paradigm has been a family run business for over 20 years and their success is evidence of the viability and power behind couples managing and working together.
Morons
You’ll have to watch the podcast, but you can imagine what can go wrong when couples work together. The old saying is that familiarity breeds contempt, but it really breeds confidence, confidence that someone’s always got your back and, Mike, Drew and Joe offer plenty of opportunities for their significant others to rescue them from themselves.
Disaster or Dynamic Duo?
It can go either way, but at Paradigm Golf Group, we’ve been managing golf courses all over the country and we’ve always had family working together without any disasters. Family represents strength and loyalty which leads to amazingly fun and upbeat, successful golf courses.
