Goal-setting

Short-term goals help map the way to your long-term career goals. They are the stepping stones to your success. Short-term goals may range from taking a seminar to achieving professional certification, from getting a promotion to landing a job at one of Golf Digest’s Top 100 courses, from attending chapter meetings regularly to volunteering for a GCSAA committee to work on an issue you strongly identify with, and so on.

• If you’re a veteran superintendent, do you need to gain more experience at a particular type of operation? If your ultimate goal is to own your own daily-fee course, you might learn more by working for a similar facility than for an exclusive private club.

• If you’re a recent graduate or newcomer to the field, what about developing a relationship with a mentor superintendent? Some master superintendents are especially well-known for grooming beginners for future success.

• How about becoming more involved in your professional association? Committee and board service take time and effort, but give back professional recognition, a clearer vision of the industry, a wealth of networking contacts and, often, public speaking experience.

• Have you thought about writing an article for publication in Golf Course Management, your association’s professional and technical journal? You can polish your writing skills, publicize a specific achievement, offer the wisdom of your experience to your peers, gain professional recognition, and compete for the annual Leo Feser Award.

• Do you need additional skills or more specialized training to be competitive in the job market today, or five or ten years from now? Many Certified Golf Course Superintendents find that their professional dedication is rewarded with increased respect as well as increased compensation. And with the ever-increasing regulatory pressures, certificates of specialization in GCSAA’s Environmental Management Program can demonstrate exceptional qualifications for positions at the growing number of golf operations that are being constructed as environmental models.

• If you’re interested in achieving a more executive-type position, do you need to take more advanced business management courses to supplement your technical knowledge and professional experience?

• The options for short-term goals are nearly infinite, just as for long-term goals. The key is to align the short-term goals to move you toward your long-term vision. Life is short, so why waste time pursuing what you don’t want?

• As you begin achieving short-term goals, you gain momentum toward your long-range aspirations. You also enhance the clarity and detail of your career map as your goals come into closer focus.

• Of course, it is possible that, as you reach some short-term goals, you may decide to adjust your long-term goals in a different direction. That’s OK, and perfectly natural. No matter how well-thought-out your career plan may be, it’s still just a map to guide you through an always-changing world. You are the driver.