No matter what group you’re in, you don’t see what’s going on. We all get too insular, whether it’s our business, our church or our golf group. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the values of our efforts.
It was interesting to be at last month’s
He’s also a good golfer but somehow his busy life left out attending a JAGA meeting. Certainly, that’s something an AD should do but it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the number of sports-related meetings that are available.
Anyway, he was there, and it was easy to tell that he was impressed.
It was one of those meetings where everything went right. Being at Marsh Landing gets you off to a great start, but also having 70 or so people, most of them in a white JAGA director’s shirt. The introductions were appropriate for a business session and the orders of business were properly handled.
Minutes were approved, the treasurer’s report was detailed. There was a report of successful tournaments and plans of tournaments to come. There was a report of the association’s plans for the 2009 year.
The scholarship chairman spoke of the upcoming school year and said he expected JAGA to have 31 students receiving $1,500 a semester. He read a letter from a scholarship recipient, telling how honored she was to be a JAGA scholar. She sent a brochure about her school’s golf program and the chairman held it up:
Verlander was obviously — and “obviously” may not be strong enough — impressed with what he was hearing. He was in a room full of people who were attentive to the proceedings, and who certainly understood what was taking place.
The scholarship chairman asked if there were any donations and the parade started. One club had a check for $2,150, another for $1,000, another for $175 ... several more proudly telling the story of their club, and how they raised money to help the fund. The final donation topped them all: $9,695 from Sawgrass, and the guy with the check almost apologized that it wasn’t quite as much as last year.
Through it all, Verlander watched and his expression told you what was going through his mind: who are these people and why didn’t I know about them?
When it came his time to speak, he diverted from his main topic (JU) to talk about his newfound topic (JAGA.)
“I’m embarrassed to stand here and say that I didn’t know all that you do,” he said. “You have a great story to tell. What I've heard this morning tells me that you’re doing everything you can to change the world.
“I use that phrase ‘change the world’ a lot, and people think, ‘Change the world? How can I change the world?’ Well, you can. You may not be able to change the globe, but what you’re doing is help change the world around you. You have some control of this area, and you’re doing what you can.”
He went on, speaking about a person’s “circle of influence” and the fact that one meaning of giving back is “that you learn a lot about yourself.”
It was more than the scholarship money.
“The quality of the people in this room and the work you’re doing tells me that you’re serving the community,” he said. “So many people here play golf, and you’re helping make their lives better by promoting the game the way that you’re promoting it.”
It was an eloquent speech and it turned the place around: instead of Verlander being impressed with the organization, suddenly the organization saw something about itself. An outsider had come into the box and, speaking from the heart, related the effects and the success of their mission.
Wouldn’t it be great if we all got a shot of confidence like that? Wouldn’t it help your business, or club, or church, or your neighborhood to hear a prominent person tell you about your success?
I know it would. All you had to see were the faces of the people in that room. Someone had just told them that their labor of love was a mission of importance.
We all need a pep talk like that.
— Jim Bailey is president of Bailey Publishing & Communications Inc. and publisher of the Golf News. He can be reached at jbailey@baileypub.com.
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