How do you want your J.L. Swanson prepared?

Before I get a backlash, we all know I went with this picture to add a little sex appeal to this blog... HEY! I gotta try to find a way to get people to actually want to care about the stuff I write. But as usual I digress... To the MEAT of this post...

Anyway... How do you package yourself to prospective employers... This is the biggest challenge in the professional world today. At any given point we could be competing with anywhere from a 100 to 1000's of people applying for the same position. Personally I like my odds in a "Thunderdome" style elimination process. But sadly that doesn't count in this situation. I recently read a blog post on Turfnet about 8 things to consider when preparing a resume. Now the thing that really stuck with me about it, was the suggestion to shorten your resume to a condensed for forgoing most bullets and achievement, but to rely more on the job title, place worked, and years served... What sucks about this is any company name, or in the turf world circumstance, course name, can really have an affect on the consideration of employment. Fair? Not always, but real, yes... To have the ability to stick a Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass, Bethpage, Augusta, Baltustrol, etc etc, can really hold sway over the process of narrowing down applicants... So, now the question is, how does J.L. Swanson take his less than notable course resume, and package it for success? Well, I believe that the next factor would have to be based on variety and experience. I got that if I can elaborate a bit on my resume. Leader of men, motivator, persistent, a problem-solver, solution oriented, accountable, but we've seen these things and more a thousand times. But in defense of the blog piece, maybe elaborating is a negative? If the employers reading resumes, they'll probably read the same crap on every resume. Can't you see a committee, or individual reading the first few sentences, rolling their eyes, opening up the document seeing the name Augusta and moving to the "Good" pile, doing the same to the next, seeing Blah Golf Course and whipping it to the recycle bin. Yup... You know it. So what then? If I shorten it up, I lose the bulk of my presentation. If I over saturate it I lose my flavor. They're task to find the perfect fit has them rifling through a mountain of resumes... I would have to say from talking to some (I emphasize some) assistants at top courses, they are just waiting for their turn to be on the plate, a little arrogant, seen it done at the top, and thinking that they have a lock on how it needs to be done. But the little guy, the guy in the wake of all this, he's hungry. He thinks outside the box, reinvents himself to accommodate the needs of those variables around himself. He's seen the mistakes, the pressure of having to make a monetary decision based on limited funds, seen the least expensive route to achieve an ultimate goal, implemented an IPM program to scout for demons in the shadows, and held a crews morale together in the heat of disarray. When you drag yourself through the mud, and assume the mantle of leadership in a less privileged arena, the blood tastes more metallic, the sweat is saltier, and the muscle is leaner. Victory tastes sweeter and faltering is more bitter. The job becomes an earned blessing, not an expected result. This is the difference between me and most other wannabe superintendents. I have been lucky enough to have two men in the agronomy business whom have mentored me with honesty and nurtured my talents, while communicating my areas of growth.. Will I always succeed on a daily basis? No and to say I would represents true arrogance. Instead I will face each day with a mantra I share with each and every person I know. "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, work with a thirst, and love hard today but harder the next." We exist on this plain to ensure the success of our legacy. Everything I do, I do thinking of my grandchildren... Don't have any yet (thank god), and I'll never be ready, but to think you can set an expectation on variables you have no control over is a falsehood. Stop... Close your eyes... Breathe deep...  and smile, your still breathing... The path to true success and happiness can only be carved by you. Never back track... Allow yourself to fall every now and again, but get up... If you need to rest, do it for only a moment, maintain momentum, you'll need it to push forward... I have faith in myself to dredge though the mire... If I have to bring a few of you with me, than so be it... Just hold on tight, because I try to never look back for too long... OH and go ahead and take a bite... I usually grill up perfect to your order... ;)

I love you all, my friends.... Work hard, Play hard, Love hard...

Ahoj a sbohem.... Seasons come and go...

    Hey my friends... It's been a minute since my last post... Pretty sure nobody is curled up in the shower awaiting my next installment, but for the sake that one of you is, I'm sorry.
    Interesting  past few months as the season has been winding down. All the hot Czech girls are back in Prague, I grew my beard, hosted an awesome Tourney,

That's my Double

 both my Czech boys and Bulgarian beast went home, lost one friend to Turf School (GOOD LUCK BRO!), and gained a pretty clutch year round filler. I will say one thing, the dynamic of the work environment changes exponentially when you start to lose personality types, sometimes good, sometimes bad. How a team feeds off one another is an amazing thing, but the metamorphosis is delicate. For example, and most have heard or seen this before, when a leader or respected individual of the whole, or clique inside the whole, is let go for unexplained or seemingly unfair conditions, you often lose a larger chunk of the group than anticipated. Loyalty is a very strong emotion. Loyalty has a distinct "ripple effect", and an immediate response to threat can be detrimental to one's life. Every so often this can be rewarded, but all to often it leads down a slippery slope. Now before I get backlash, certain jobs carry the absolute need for reactionary loyalty (i.e. military forces, police, firefighters, etc).

http://www.army.mil/aps/05/training.html

I am a HEAVY believer in loyalty to my employers and subordinates, but my loyalty is more proactive than reactive and I would never react in a manner that will put my personal life in jeopardy of collateral damage. It becomes even more relevant when a wife and children are involved. I have had many guys in life say "if you go, I go" and I love these guys, with all my essence, but I would never dream of a person feeling I would think any less of them if they didn't follow. The greatest part about being me (sounds egotistical) is that I never will ask for sacrifice, but I will sacrifice myself, in duty, to carry everyone. I try to absorb all the stresses, because my constitution allows me to. I focus negative and generate positive. This doesn't make me Captain Sunshine & Rainbows, no no no, I'm still a a bit sarcastic at time, what it actually does is gives me the ability to troubleshoot issues without panic, call audibles and changes tactics mid execution. This is why I can see a persons issues and often offer logical and compassionate advice, even though I can't relate. I take personal investment in everything. When you take ownership, failure isn't an option.  We are all puzzles, but most people don't like seeing old pieces of the puzzle being replaced by new and different pieces... I was told by a very wise instructor at Rutgers University OCPE that the paradigms we create are not easily changed... My paradigm is change... I love new... and this is going to be hard to follow, but I like making old feel new again. I don't always want to be moving, but I will. I don't always want to retrain new employees, but I will. Making old, feel new, revitalizes. Whether it's new faces or a well seasoned, solution oriented colleagues, fresh beginnings inspire alternate avenues of thought, and provoke changes to the landscape of the work environment... at times in major ways. Evolution of any industry cannot occur if the processes, by which a segment of production functions, reaches a level of monotony. Fresh minds and fresh ideas will always lead to the eventual "reinvention" of your organization, whether it be on a minimal level or an exponential one, depending on the willingness to let these changes occur. Change isn't always necessary, wanted, or accepted. I can say that having a stable core of employees, with the proper passion and loyalty, is good as gold, but finding such a nucleus isn't easy to come by. The beginning of each season, the golf industry brings with the reuniting of old and the coming of new friends and colleagues, and at times, the gaping holes from those that have moved on. Here's to always looking to the next sunrise and the opportunity is carries with it... but... also having the awareness, to every once in a while, stop to enjoy the sunset right in-front of you.

Marconi Beach Cape Cod

Thank you my friends.. I love you all...

First Encounter Beach Cape Cod

It rubs the lotion on it's skin**...

I just want to start this one by explaining a excerpt from my first installment. I had made the comment that to be successful in Hospitality, you need to be an verbal artist. Not that this statement isn't true, its just flawed. To clear up the vaigeness of this statement, I wish to put depth to it. "Personal Investment". I been bringing my kids to work with me on occasion, since my Hannah was a little bean, and recently she has described my interaction with patrons and coworkers as GENUINE. She puts it that I seem truly happy to interact with everyone, and take interest in their personal lives. This is true. I tend to make it a point to learn names and at least 2 things about that person. I feel it connects me on a deeper level and allows me to better serve. Which is a good spring board into the true "meat" of this post... Motivation.

How do you properly motivate and inspire those around you to do the things you need from them. I have found, as I'm sure most have, that there is no clear cut answer. Torture? Favoritism? Apathy? Unreal expectation? Putting them in the bottom of a well? 

What time is it?

Punch in... Punch out... Don't go over 40... Mandatory OT... Things I've never worried about in the 16+ years I've been in the work force. My day more so revolves around, is the job done or at an acceptable stopping point? Even when I was an hourly employee, 40 hour work weeks never constrained my productivity. "Just clock me out at 40, whatever hours I put in beyond, we can work out in the future." That was me. 1, 2, 3 more hours is all I need. "Greens are starting to turn, I'm gonna go cool 'em down. Just two more sets of tees to aerify, I'm gonna stay to finish. If I get these breaks glued up today, we can open the isolation valve tomorrow and get that area watered." You know, that kind of crap... Not saying every single day is a 16 hour day, but if it has to be, I'm not shy... Plus I married a great woman, who knows I'm married to my job, so I hold little stress when I'm not spending quality family time.

Turf is the easy part...

     When the average person hears about the golf course maintenance professional, I'm pretty sure they mainly think of Bill Murray from Caddyshack ( top 10 best movie all-time)...

     Unfair? Not really. You have to be a little twisted in the head to do this job. But what most people should know about the serious turf professional, is that we are basically personal trainers for grass. I'd like to say doctor, but you'd have to delve deep into the pathology arena of the scientific world to latch on to that label. Though educated in the physical and chemical needs of turf, we are there to keep the plant healthy, vibrant, and growing. But growing grass is the easy part.