Chris Hayman is looking at his crew in a new way, thanks to what he learned at the Syngenta Business Institute in December last year. As the superintendent at the Rancho Bernardo Inn golf course in San Diego, Calif., he has to keep tight control on the turf, and of the team members helping him do so.
But managing a team isn’t the same as taking care of his Poa greens, he’s discovered. “The agronomy, you’ll find, is the easy part,” he said. “It’s the people management that is difficult.”
His Syngenta rep suggested he apply to be a part of the Syngenta Business Institute, and he applied, looking for business training that he could bring back to his staff and the San Diego Golf Course Superintendents Association.
“I wanted to get some information I could bring back and share in my industry, and hopefully take something away for myself as well,” he said. “The program touches on all the important things that are non-agronomic that we deal with as superintendents.”
Among those was a focus on leadership skills, negotiations and the generation gap, as well as others. He brought back tips about financial management, which “is a hard teach, but you can never be good enough at financial management, especially in today’s golf economy,” he said.
Working on negotiations opened Hayman’s eyes to how much of that he does on a daily basis, between managing his crew and getting supplies.
“I realized how much of my work week is put into negotiations. I’ve never noticed it before. I really took away a lot from that course, because negotiating hasn’t been one of my strong suits in the past,” he said. “It’s the kind of education where you can use what you’ve learned and really apply it.”
With an irrigation renovation underway at the course, Hayman was able to put those newfound skills to use, negotiating some help with the potable water system in exchange for lunches at the course’s cafeteria. The move also got some greater efficiency out of the workers, since they didn’t have to go offsite to get lunch, he said.
“Even if you don’t apply it right away, it forces you to take a look at your management style,” he said. “You’ll take an introspective look at yourself when you’re in a room with your peers.”