SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/460594
www.stma.org March 2015 | SportsTurf 7 Allen Johnson, CSFM. johnsona@packers.com Direct Mail List Sales MeritDirect, Jim Scova Phone: (914) 368-1012 jscova@MeritDirect.com Subscription Services Phone: (847) 763-9565 Fax: (847) 763-9569 Reprints Robin Cooper rcooper@specialtyim.com Group Publisher David Voll dvoll@epgmediallc.com Account Representatives: Chris Pelikan Senior Account Manager - East Phone: (954) 964-8676 cpelikan@epgmediallc.com Peggy Tupper Senior Account Manager - Mid-West Phone: (763) 383-4429 ptupper@epgmediallc.com Leslie Palmer Senior Account Manager - West Phone: (248) 731-7596 lpalmer@specialtyim.com Publisher's Notice: We Assume No Responsibility For The Validity Of Claims In Connection With Items Appearing In Sportsturf. Reader Service Numbers Are Given To Facilitate Further Inquiry. Mention Of A Commercial Product Does Not Imply Endorsement By Sportsturf Or EPG Media & Specialty Information, Or Preference Over Similar Products Not Mentioned. I t's March. I'm not sure what that means for many of my peers who live in the warmer parts of the world and what you are doing, but in Green Bay, Wisconsin we are still hibernating. Perhaps we peek outside here and there and begin to think about outside work, but mostly in my world we are still spending the time plan- ning for the upcoming year, performing annual equipment maintenance, reviewing budgets, and doing employee reviews. Yes, reviews. We all get them in some sort of fashion, whether formally or infor- mally. We are all being judged all the time by everyone. Sounds scary, doesn't it? It's the truth. Why does this matter to the Sports Turf Manager? It's important to know because we want to be viewed as true professionals in our industry. So what does it mean to be viewed as a professional? It's a much talked about theme within our association. You can see it in big bold letters: PROFESSIONALISM. One dictionary definition defines it as "the skill, good judgment, and polite behav- ior that is expected from a person who is trained to do a job well." I think for our purposes it means more or at least it should. If we want to truly be viewed differently, we must make the defi- nition of professionalism, for our purposes, go further. It must go deeper than improv- ing one's self image by wearing dress slacks in the appropriate setting. Not to minimize first impressions and the importance of presenting ones self in a classy manner, but it needs to mean to go beyond what is expected, to anticipate the unexpected and have a plan for it, to have researched pos- sible solutions and scenarios for unexpected events, to not act surprised when your boss comes to you with a "situation," to be proactive. It should mean that you will remain positive and work cooperatively with other departments that sometimes have a natural competing conflict with your goals. I think it means that we should listen to George Toma and give the "and then some" effort, especially when we don't feel like it or it would be convenient not to. It should mean that when you see something that needs to be done you do it without being asked. It should mean that you are knowl- edgeable about new technologies in our industry and that you can articulate the pros and cons to your management team. When should we do these things? We should do them all the time because we are being judged all the time. If we truly want to be viewed as more than the people who just sit on lawn mowers we need to do more. We need to expand the definition of professionalism. I challenge every member of the STMA to expand their own defini- tion of professionalism and to hold yourself accountable to that definition throughout the year. By doing so, you will offer more value to your employer and you will gain more respect. We will achieve our goals. ■ ST PRESIDENT'S MESSagE PRofeSSIoNALISM IS MoRe ThAN DReSSING weLL