Dear GreatLIFE Members, Team Members & Support Team,
It is hard to believe that we are on the tail end of Summer and school starts in less than two weeks! Outside of some extreme hot weather, it has been a pretty good Summer with many GreatLIFE clinics, events and golf; so thanks for all your participation and support!
This past weekend I attended a leadership event in Colorado Springs focused on community, K12 education and business that was upbeat and positive. My focus has been primarily on K12 education, especially the middle schools. In the last two years we have done 35+ classes per semester with 7+ public schools and added O’Gorman this past year through their Youth Entrepreneur program which not only gets students excited and engaged, but also the teachers! We are exploring several of their other programs:
- Sal Khan’s Schoolhouse.world that provides world class tutoring to any student, anywhere for free.
- Outschool.org provides students with live academic and enrichment courses from a marketplace of thousands of teachers, again for free.
- ActonAcademy.org is a global network of small schools whose goal is to have every child discover their unique talents and to use them in the real world.
- Velaedfund.org provides quick access to capital up for innovative and start up educational programs.
As we discussed and examined some of the most successful educational programs in the country, one common thread evolved and that was a consistent culture of caring, engaged educators and administrators. As we looked at these successful programs, it reminded me of the importance of culture in any successful business, charitable and civic organizations. The key is to have a clear mission and goals that your team can buy into and actively support. When I look back on our +40 years with our Burger King franchise, our mission was “Develop People & Community Leadership” and our goals were “1. Quality Dinning Experience. 2. Leader in Profitability. 3. Positive, Fun Environment”. Pretty simple, understandable and easy to buy into.
At GreatLIFE, our mission is “To enrich the lives of families and individuals through golf, fitness and health lifestyles”. Our key goal is to “Be the best in Member satisfaction, value and convenience for golf and fitness”. With these shared values, we focus on building our culture with a servant leader’s attitude of respect and appreciation along with leading by example.
About a week and a half ago, we lost a dear, good GreatLIFE Leader Rod “Grizz” Garrison. This past Thursday we held a Celebration of Life for Rod where several of his family and friends gathered. There were several speakers and videos. Tom Jansa, Executive Director for the SD Golf Association presented his family with Rod’s induction into the SD Golf Hall of Fame plaque. We then presented a collage of Rod’s accomplishments and values to his family. My final remarks to Rod’s family were that Rod really led a very successful life by my definition of success which is “Success: when the ones closest to you, love and respect you the most”. Lastly, I encouraged everyone to tell and show the ones you care for and love, how you really feel about them because no one is promised tomorrow. Advice each of us needs to follow up on.
Thanks for being a GreatLIFE Member and enjoy the rest of your Summer!
Tom