Bill Cook no longer General Manager

Hello FYI,

One of the things that I feel will be a draw to anyone of superb talent and qualifications will be the draw to be involved with a community such as Sun City. People of high moral value should be thrilled to be offered an opportunity to be involved with us here. This may sound strange but ethical people have high standards for their quality of work. These type of people find great value in their ability to be a part of something larger than their ego's. I have had the great honor of having met and worked with these types of people in the past. It wasn't the money or fame that drew them to the position but rather the intrinsic value of what they were going to receive in personal satisfaction for a job well done.

Yes, they still want to be paid, but money isnt their primary incentive, it is how they are valued within the organization, what kind of gratification can be found in working with like minded people and will there be support from within the organization for their ideas and ideals. No, I am not drunk. These people do exist. The quality of their work and how they can contribute means more to them a bottom line. Their bottom line is about personal growth within the scope of their job and their value to the organization. Trust me, these people are out there, we just have to sift through to and ask the right questions to find them

 

I hope you're right but I suspect people with those characteristics are even harder to find in this day and age.

Money is a prime motivator. I have found throughout my career that many people will tolerate staying at a bad workplace environment only because of their high salary.

Time will tell and I hope you're right. We don't need to keep on repeating this current situation. Most of us are living on borrowed time!

 

A starting point:
Current (dated November 9, 2020)
RCSC Board Policy Resolution 32
General Manager (PDF) HERE
WHEREAS Article V, Section 6.3 of the Corporate Bylaws empowers the Board of Directors (“Board” or “Directors”) of the Recreation Centers of Sun City, Inc. (“RCSC” or “Corporation”) to adopt Policies (“BP” or “Policies”) not in conflict with the Restated Articles of Incorporation (“Articles”) or the Corporate Bylaws (“Bylaws”).

WHEREAS the Articles and Bylaws shall take precedence over Board Policies and the definitions in the Bylaws shall apply. The following Board Policy shall provide instruction, direction and guidelines regarding the General Manager and shall remain in effect until such time it is amended or removed by the Board.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Corporation shall adhere to the following policy regarding the General Manager:

Any successful candidate for General Manager must be approved by the majority of the Board of Directors. The General Manager cannot be terminated without a majority approval of the Board of Directors.

General Manager’s key duties and responsibilities are as follows: Read here

 

I agree with Carol's thinking; although salary isn't always the first consideration, it must be commensurate with the expectations and skills necessary to manage an organization as large and complex as RCSC; a self-governed community has its own complications that aren't common in what many think of as a GM or CEO of a traditional non-profit organization. It takes business management principles, but it is so much more. A well qualified candidate will have a well rounded background and will ultimately surround himself or herself with qualified staff.

But the basic characteristics that Carol describes are inherent in a successful NPO leader. They are typically motivated by service, not ego; they are planners, that can see the "big picture," and think strategically; they aren't afraid to seek the advice and counsel of others and encourage the same from their team members; they see their role with the Board as a partner, and the GM also has a responsibility to help ensure the Board's success (that's another discussion); they are fully committed to the organization's mission, and that translates to doing whatever it takes to get the job done - whenever or however.

Nonprofit leadership is not for everyone, but it can be incredibly rewarding profession. At the end of the day when you see (or feel) that you have been part of helping improve the quality of life in a community, either by providing opportunities for personal growth or by helping improve the health of residents, or by building relationships with other organizations that contribute to a better community, or maybe just knowing that the efforts of your employees made life better for people that day, it's a good way to end the day. Every Nonprofit leader that I know felt that way...it's why we got up every day. These things don't come from a classroom.

I strongly encourage the Board to seek professional assistance with this selection. This will be the biggest decision this year, among many conflicting priorities. This one is worth the time and money.

 

Agree, Linda. That’s why it’s important our board reviews Policy Resolution 32 General Manager taking action as needed prior to commencing the job search.
“The following Board Policy shall provide instruction, direction and guidelines regarding the General Manager and shall remain in effect until such time it is amended or removed by the Board.”

 

I would like to suggest revisions to the GM key duties and responsibilities as written.

Remove the wording referring to the members as "cardholders". We are members chand should be expected to be referred to ask such

Removal of all omnipotent powers and reflect the answerability to the board.

Remove all language the references the management team as being not answerable to anyone except the GM. The verbiage needs massaged



Develop and administer, along with management, statistical indicators to evaluate ongoing services, facilities and personnel and direct new services as appropriate. Needs revised
Direct marketing for Sun City AZ and RCSC along with management. Needs removed
The General Manager is authorized to resolve RCSC Cardholder and Sun City property owner issues, including but not limited to; annual property assessments, preservation and improvement fees, transfer fees, late fees, lien fees, and interest charges Needs revised

All items in colored text appear to need revisions. Just my idea, as this was written with a polarizing singularity in mind.

Mere suggestions

 

Lots of really good stuff here, but sometimes we can get caught up in trying to ask the board to do too much (with the community involvement). Hiring a GM will be an interesting process and one that should be the board's responsibility. If they are so inclined and feel they need a couple of members with some significant background in identifying and hiring qualified people so be it. I just think this is one of those times where more people make it more difficult.

Running Sun City isn't a job for the masses. There's limited numbers of qualified candidates and there's even less who would want to take a pay cut to take the position. Money isn't everything as someone said, but in this case, it is a limiting factor. Someone in the prime of their career isn't in all likelihood going to be interested. That leaves someone at the start who is young, hungry and looking to build a resume. Or, someone at the end of their career who isn't looking for a high stress position but is highly qualified and wants the challenge of running one of the most unique communities in the country. In either case that works, because we don't want someone who plans to stay forever.

In my humble opinion, that's the attraction we should be selling/promoting. Sun City is world-wide renown and offers both visibility and potential to rekindle the flames of our glorious history. The other attractive selling point is, we aren't expecting them to slip into the superman/woman cape to do it. Our collective success really is entwined in our ability to tap into the community at large and grow the circle of involvement and ownership.

I write often of Meeker and DEVCO. They had the luxury of hiring the best. Money was no object, it will be for us. If there has been one overriding factor i've been disappointed in over the years by management, it's been their inability to let employees have more freedom in doing their jobs well. The former GM was fixated on loyalty (and it went both ways) rather than letting really good employees set the tone and pace for their departments. People simply were comfortable doing what they were doing. It's kind of the mark of non-profits if no one is pushing them to do better.

2023 will prove to me the most single important year in our history. I know i talk about 1999 and passing PIF, but that was a single action event. This year we have a cataclysmic change in direction with enormous opportunities to set up ourselves for years to come. It won't be easy, but it clearly will be doable. It's why i keep harping on board members to start looking and acting like they know what they are doing rather than showing up at board meetings looking like stumble bums arguing over minutia. They are collectively far better than that,

 

We are talking about the individual who will fill the top executive leadership post for our community at a time when the community and board are undertaking a critical shift in direction. I can understand why prime candidates would not want to take a pay cut to come to Sun City as GM but why should anyone have to? Why would Sun City not offer competitive compensation to attract a high quality manager in the prime of his life? Why do we want someone who lacks years of experience or someone who is looking forward to retirement? And far more important in my book than non-profit experience, is experience in leading a large community HOA or medium sized government. I want to see a GM with certifications in city management or HOA management as well as record of bonafide success. I applaud our Board for seeking professional help to identify and hire what I hope will be an outstanding candidate.

 

Hey EarlA welcome. You know non-profits are historically non-competitive when compared to the world of for profit corporations. As i wrote in another thread, we need to get past thinking in terms of cheap and start looking at the bigger picture. Sun City has an amazing past, it should have an even more amazing future. Hell, that was our mantra during the 50th anniversary celebration in 2010. Sadly, we ran from out history into the arms of trying to be like all the others...only cheaper.

I know some folks get nuts when i talk about our history, but it truly is our path forward. Building a sense of community on the values of ownership, responsibility and accountability should never go out of vogue. Getting back there will take time, effort, money and most importantly a cohesive strategic plan the membership can and will rally around. That won't happen by focusing on cheap.

 

Which is why I wrote what I did in regards to seeking a qualified professional with experience in the nonprofit sector. Those of us who have had the opportunity to have worked in both the nonprofit sector as well as the private for profit business and government entities are extremely passionate about what we feel is a very distinct need for the next gm. Strong community experience in the nonprofit arena. While having the practical expertise in government matters, the focus should not be to have the gm with this as their primary expertise. I feel that puts the community right back where it was, with a gm feeling the need to govern rather than grow Sun City into what it can become.

 

Well said Carole.