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PARTING SHOTS
MILLENNIAL ME
Pat Jones is editorial director and publisher of
Golf Course Industry. He can be reached at
pjones@gie.net or 216-393-0253.
P roducing a brand-spanking-new issue of GCI every month (and cranking
out a million words of online stuff in between editions) is obviously a
team effort. I tend to get a lot of the credit but I actually do the least
amount of work.
Mike Zawacki, Guy Cipriano, our awesome stable of columnists
and a gaggle of expert freelancers do the heavy lifting on content, and then the
fabulous Jim Blayney designs it all up into a beautiful package. Basically all I
do is write a 700-word column, offer some opinions about story ideas and, of
course, review the cover.
The cover of any magazine is essen-
tially an advertisement for what’s inside.
Create an
It needs to demand the reader’s atten-
environment that
tion and, in a handful of well-chosen
tells them WHY
words, give them a compelling reason to
you’re doing things but
open it up and devour the whole thing.
make it clear that the
The cover has to answer the WIIFM
desired outcome is not
question: What’s In It For Me to read
optional even if they don’t
this? buy into the WHY. ”
You may not be able to judge a book
by its cover but you sure as hell can
judge a magazine by one. I’m proud of
the way we do covers because they don’t just help “tell and sell” the big story,
they reflect our brand: edgy, fun and candid.
When I saw the early version of this month’s “Millennials” cover, I thought
it was pretty cool. We went back and forth a little about what picture to use
and what the blurb would say, but I didn’t see the final version with the “word
cloud” that describes perceptions about millennials until the last minute. As I
scanned it and read words like tech obsessed, cynical, immature, lazy and, of
course, selfies, I came to a stunning realization:
I’m a 53-year-old millennial.
It actually explains a lot. For example, I have a relatively demanding job yet
I’m constantly on social media. I tend to question everything anyone tries to tell
me. Sarcasm is nearly always my first instinct (with narcissism coming in a close
second). My iPhone, iPad and selfie stick are never out of reach. I have a chronic
case of FOMO (fear of missing out) and I’m always on the lookout for the next
trend. I also still dress like I’m 25 and continue to wear a ‘70s porn ‘stache
despite the fact that it looks goofy as hell. I’m a horrible procrastinator who will
find any reason to avoid actual labor. Last, but not least, I carry around a stupid
58 NOVEMBER 2015 golfcourseindustry.com
e-cigarette/vaporizer thing despite the
fact it makes me look like an aging
hipster. It’s textbook Millennial stuff.
So, I feel qualified to offer you a
little advice on how to manage millen-
nials like me…
• Don’t think of us as lazy, think of
us as “yet to be properly motivated.”
• Remember that to us, being at
work on time is merely a suggestion.
We’ll try but sometimes finishing
binge-watching “Game of Thrones” is
clearly more important than punching
the clock.
• All that time we spend on Snap-
chat will actually benefit you because
it improves the hand/eye coordination
we need to cut cups.
• It’s not that we don’t like to work
hard it’s just that…wait, we actually
don’t like to work hard.
• Sure, we tend to give up and quit
but we still get a participation trophy,
right? But seriously folks…the bottom
line is that millennials need rules and
consequences. Create an environ-
ment that tells them WHY you’re
doing things but make it clear that the
desired outcome is not optional even
if they don’t buy into the WHY. Coach
them around the edges and offer posi-
tive feedback constantly. That said, be
quick and firm when you need to deal
with problems. Give them a sense
of ongoing achievement by charting
what they accomplish (even if you
can’t increase their compensation)
and rewarding them with attaboys.
Finally, figure out their strengths and
play to them. If you’ve got someone
who can’t handle running a crew, try
moving them inside to set up your
new software system.
We millennials are unquestion-
ably a sharp pain in the caboose to
manage. But, given the white-hot
competition for good employees, we
might be all you get. So deal with
it, old dude, or you’ll be doing it all
yourself.