Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Building World-Class Culture: Alfredo Hildebrandt's Micro-Moments Leadership Philosophy

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Building World-Class Culture: Alfredo Hildebrandt's Micro-Moments Leadership Philosophy · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:15
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:18
today's guest is Alfredo Hildebrand, General Manager and
0:22
COO of Lakewood Country Club, one of Ohio's most distinguished
0:27
private clubs. Founded in 1921, Lakewood blends
0:32
a century of tradition with a modern approach to member
0:35
experience, offering everything from a championship golf course
0:40
to exceptional dining and recreational facilities.
0:44
Now, Alfredo is driven by a passion for empowering others to
0:47
excel. With a track record of
0:49
leadership at well respected private clubs, he has
0:53
consistently helped organizations enhance the member
0:56
experience while honoring tradition and embracing
0:59
innovation. His commitment to fostering a
1:03
culture of growth, accountability, and
1:05
collaboration has left a lasting impact on the communities and
1:09
teams that he served. Now before we get into all that
1:13
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1:56
All right, back to our guest today, the General Manager and
1:59
COO of Lakewood Country Club. Alfredo, I appreciate you making
2:03
the time to Share your story today.
2:05
Thank you for having me excited to be here.
2:08
So, Alfredo, I understand you were born and mostly raised in
2:12
Peru. What was it that led to you
2:15
coming to the States? What brought me here to United
2:19
States was I'll call it chasing the American dream.
2:22
My, you know, IA young age, I live my mom, she passed away.
2:26
My grandparents took over my custody.
2:28
And at that point when I was 1514 with a lot of energy and
2:33
needed some discipline and just some aspirations.
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And that's why my my uncle Marshallow decided to take over
2:40
my custody and give me the opportunity to become the person
2:44
I am today. And it's a decision that I
2:46
don't, I never took it lightly. It took me a little bit.
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But when I, I step in, I, I make the best, the best out of it.
2:54
And I'm here now in the United States.
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I call living the American dream.
2:58
So losing your mother when you were 12, is that right?
3:02
Correct. Must have been a really
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difficult experience. How did you get through that
3:06
time? I am blessed to have a awesome
3:09
community behind me and and that's the side of my mom and my
3:12
brother too. Definitely grew up quick when
3:16
that happened. I had to be the father and also
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the big product for my little brother.
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But I think that shows my character why I'm today and the
3:26
way I, I conduct myself and I behave and, and, and, and also
3:30
the aspirations that I have. It was really difficult.
3:34
But having the family behind me and show me the love and support
3:38
we got me to the tough times and you know, going back to it, like
3:43
I said, it taught me a lot of good, great lessons.
3:45
Unfortunately, Jonah Hardaway. Yeah.
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Did you speak any English before you came here?
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I underst I understood a lot, but it was really hard to
3:55
communicate and you know, my personality, I'm a bubbly
3:57
personal I I want to interact with people, talk.
4:00
And my first couple of years moving to United States was
4:02
really rough because he wasn't my I wasn't myself.
4:05
I wasn't able to communicate the way I wanted was expressed
4:07
myself. I was shy, which he wasn't
4:10
really the person that I wanted to be in.
4:12
And and like I said, he put me in my discomfort.
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He put me in discomfort where I needed to feel comfortable with
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discomfort. And that's also part of the of a
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growing period where I do believe I gained a lot of
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resilience and grit. And so you understood some
4:27
English before you came here, but you weren't able to speak it
4:30
very well. You weren't able to communicate.
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How did you learn? How did you pick up language
4:35
skills once you got here? When I got here, it just at one
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point I needed to flip the switch and said, you know what,
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I was going to be myself. If they don't understand what
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I'm saying, I have to repeat myself and just be myself and
4:49
just get out of my comfort zone. Really helped me out.
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Once we're talking to people, interact and hang out with
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friends. And you know, one thing that
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really helped me out for me was college.
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College was for me. What the point when I just
5:01
exploited when I was like, you know what, I am myself now.
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I can tell that I'm afraid of Hildebrand now, but just getting
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out of the comfort zone. It you mentioned that several
5:11
times, and that's, I think such a key lesson we've talked about
5:14
on this show before. I've got two young boys, 9:00
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and 11:00. It's something I try to coach
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them on, as well as the idea of getting comfortable with being
5:22
uncomfortable, because growth really happens at those
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uncomfortable edges of life, right?
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When we put ourselves in these situations that are completely
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unfamiliar, we don't really know what we're doing.
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That's the opportunity to learn new skills, to let ourselves
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grow and kind of surprise ourselves on what we're going to
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do. Yeah, and that made me feel
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comfortable with with my own skin, with my own self just
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coming out of there, my comfort zone.
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You know, my dad is an immigrant as well.
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He came to this country from Italy when he was 8 years old,
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and he didn't speak any English. And the way that they learn now,
6:00
this was decades ago, was American television.
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Watching American television was a big way.
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He would pick up keywords and phrases and even tells the
6:12
story. One time he got lost and he
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remembered a scene from a television show.
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And he was able to use a couple of phrases to talk to a police
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officer and, you know, help him kind of get to a payphone and
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find his way home. Where, I don't know it obviously
6:27
much different times. But did you just sort of like
6:30
engross yourself and what was going on around you in high
6:33
school? Did you find some help from
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YouTube or television shows yourself?
6:37
At at that time, YouTube wasn't a thing for me right 12 years
6:40
ago, but the television and the school was really nice to me and
6:44
and the kids out there too. You can remember I came in when
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I was 16 years old, right where, you know, insecurities are
6:50
building up, right in high school and private school,
6:54
different environment, no, no friends, right from zero.
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Playing sports really helped me out.
7:00
I played tennis, soccer. So building between the
7:03
communities and the school really helped me out to kind of
7:05
just come out on my shelf. And then they were really kind
7:08
and the school was world class for me.
7:11
What school was that? Saint Benen St.
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Mary High School right in Akron, OH.
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Oh, I've heard of it before. Yeah, LeBron James, we went to
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my high school. That's what it is.
7:22
LeBron James went to your high school.
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I love that. OK, so Alfredo, you've been
7:25
working at golf courses and country clubs for years.
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How did you first get drawn into this space?
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It's, you know, I never thought I would be working at clubs.
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My idea with hospitality was interacting with people,
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building community and I was wanting to work in hotels and
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travel all over the world. I did my first internship
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working at Work for the Big Mouths in Orlando for the Disney
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World and I really just fell in love with with with that
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setting. No big fan of Disney itself, but
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like the way they conduct themselves.
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I was running the business huge. That was my first experience.
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Then start bartending my local college bar, Kansas University
8:03
and one of my fraternity brothers just mentioning that
8:06
the club that he was working bartending was looking for an
8:09
intern and I apply and since then I never came.
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I just fell in love with clubs. One thing that I love about
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clubs is the community between the clubs and it's something
8:19
bigger than than yourself and and the community is just, the
8:22
membership is just incredible and and that's how I feel in
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love with clubs. And during this time, as you
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fell in love with clubs and you kind of moved around in some
8:33
different roles, you had the opportunity to lead some pretty
8:36
significant transformations at notable clubs prior to Lakewood.
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Was there a defining moment in one of your previous roles that
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really shaped how you lead and innovate here at Lakewood?
8:50
Yes, I will say my previous club, Sycamore Hills Golf Club,
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we face out there a complete turn around situation.
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The morale was low, standard has slipped.
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The culture needed rebuilding and we knew that before we could
9:04
raise expectations and improve performance, we had to invest in
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our people. Through consistent
9:10
communication, clarity and care, we build trust and create a
9:15
culture of belief. Brian accountability.
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The follow was nothing short of of transformational.
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We begin going toe to toe with some of the top clubs in the
9:25
country, despite being in a smaller market.
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And it we started setting trends and not just following them.
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And that experience really shaped how I lead today.
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And it's something that was scary with me is you take care
9:38
of people, they'll take care of your business.
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Did you have a good mentor in that role that kind of showed
9:44
you the way, or was this sort of figuring it out on your own?
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I, I will say I probably have the best mentor in the industry.
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His name is Chris Hampton. I worked for him for close to 11
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years. He's my mentor, a really great
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friend, one of my best friends as well.
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He's my my son's got father and got mother, but I had the
10:04
pillage to work with him. And he always drilled my brain
10:08
that you take care of your people and they'll take care of
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you and your business. And, you know, I wore his
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sidekick for 10 years and we just accomplished incredible
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things. But the things that we were the
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most proud of is the way we affected people's life.
10:21
Possibly take care of. People.
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And they'll take care of you, yeah.
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Yeah. I like that.
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And so how did the opportunity to join Lakewood Country Club
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come about? It was a calling.
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Lakewood was going through some a huge golf course renovation
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and they needed somebody is going to help him take him to
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the next era. We had at the at that point some
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of the key step members. I previously worked with them.
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I consider them great friends and mentors and when the
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opportunity came along, it was a call and he was like coming back
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home. I knew the membership.
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I deeply care about the community.
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Cleveland from his home. And on top of that, I knew that
11:00
leadership team that I felt like they will set me up for for
11:04
success. And when I got the call, it was
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a it was a dream coming through, coming back home and leading the
11:10
Renaissance of what we are going right now.
11:13
Renaissance explain that more. What do you mean by that?
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What I mean with the Renaissance it I would say that probably
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that we have one of the best teams here at the club in the
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club industry in the Cleveland area.
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But we're just getting started. The golf course was just the
11:26
first stone to what we're building here Lakewood Country
11:30
Club. But the golf course is going to
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set up for the next 100 years and want to keep building upon
11:35
what we have turn around the club.
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You know, it's a vibrant community and we close to sell
11:41
out membership. The members are highly involved
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and and you can feel the culture that we creating here and that's
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when I saw when I tell about the Renaissance.
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We're just getting started for what is the next future for
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Lakewood Country Club. So for somebody who's never been
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to Lakewood before, can you explain what the guest
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experience is like? Absolutely.
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What I like to call it here, Lakewood is like when you walk
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to these doors, you want to you want to feel seen, value and
12:11
love. For me, hospitality is not just
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great food and great, great drinks and then great golf
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course is the way we make you feel, the memories we create
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together. And, and that's my number one
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goal is when you come here, you feel seen, love and I appreciate
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it and thank for your business. And that's something that is, is
12:30
something you can you you can measure with metrics.
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It's just how we make people feel.
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You know, they want to come in here with a smile and I want
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them to live with a smile. And so for somebody who comes to
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Lakewood that they've been to other nice clubs before, what do
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you think they're going to see is a difference?
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What sets you guys apart? Is how will make people feel.
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Like I said before, they could be a club with a nice building.
12:56
It's just a club. It's a clubhouse, a club with a
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nice culture, great hospitality is a club and you know, we, we
13:03
have a beautiful club where you can feel culture, you can feel
13:06
the love and you can feel that it feels different.
13:09
You're walking here. Where is this a big family?
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Can you say more about the culture piece?
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How do you build that? How do you establish that?
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How do you grow it? How do you get it to be what you
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want it to be? It's got to be more than just
13:24
sort of putting placards on the wall and, you know, repeating
13:27
slogans like what? What are some of the practical
13:30
steps that you've used to to foster that culture?
13:34
For me, first was building trust.
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Once you build trust, you have a clear communication, you clarity
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and accountability. For me, those are the the 4th
13:44
key thing for great culture. But once you build trust, then
13:48
you can say, communicate in your vision, share your, your
13:51
inspired vision. And then from there you that's
13:53
when you start moving from point A to point B to Point C and in,
13:56
in the mean in in the meantime, you also have to hold people
13:58
kind of right. Accountability is key.
14:01
Sometimes showing some type of love, but type of love is good.
14:05
That's where people grow the most.
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If maybe you can share a, a share a personal story that kind
14:11
of illustrates your leadership philosophy that emphasizes, you
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know, energy, empathy, empowerment, maybe a personal
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specific example that, you know, kind of shows how that kind of
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shows up in, in the day-to-day there.
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You know, for me, it's like I, I talk to every single staff
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member that I have here. I always allocate, you know,
14:34
like culture. People think that for culture,
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you have to, to spend money. You don't, you have to spend 5
14:41
seconds per person seven days. Little things like how you
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doing, how's your mom doing? How's your vacation?
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How's your kids doing? Those simple interactions.
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That's what you start building trust.
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I, I spend probably 2 to 3 hours a day just talking to members or
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employees and you say, well, that's, that's probably a waste
15:01
of time. It's not, it's not because when
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they walk in, they're excited to talk to me.
15:05
They're excited to tell me about their vacation.
15:07
And if the big she is the CEO cares about their life, their
15:10
personal life, that means like that's really that's pretty
15:14
powerful. It's a little thing like the
15:15
dishwasher. Hey, thank you for staying
15:17
later. I see you doing a great job.
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I appreciate you for the cook a great a great dinner service.
15:22
Hey, great job. Everything came out, the food
15:24
came out sexy. Thank you very much.
15:26
That means something. You know, they always remember
15:28
that they always remember those little simple interactions.
15:31
And I always remind my managers, my entry levels and mid level
15:34
managers that micro interactions create micro impacts.
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It's just little interactions that make a big thing from, for
15:42
example, a young family coming with the kids and I straight up
15:45
gives a little kid a fist bump. Guess what?
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That kid is so excited to come to the club because the big boss
15:50
give me the fist bump. So for me, those micro moments
15:53
make micro moments and is key is key.
15:57
And that's what a micro. Moments made macro moments.
16:00
Yeah, and you don't have to invest money to create culture.
16:04
It's just, it's just be a genuine true leader and be a
16:08
world class human. So Alfredo, your culinary
16:12
offerings have gotten a lot of attention for their bold,
16:15
seasonal flavors. What's your approach to pushing
16:19
creative boundaries while also ensuring that consistency and
16:23
quality that people expect? Yeah, I have incredible chef.
16:27
He's actually, when I first started here at the club, he was
16:29
a sous chef and now he's executive chef.
16:31
I was the food and beverage manager, growth to clubhouse
16:34
manager, now general manager. But him and I, we have a great
16:38
relationship and collaboration helps social media, seeing
16:42
what's out there, pushing, pushing the envelope.
16:46
You know, I'm always constantly challenge him.
16:48
Yeah. OK.
16:49
You did a great wine dinner. What else can we do better?
16:51
What else can we start? You know, steal the idea from
16:54
different places and bring it back here.
16:55
I encourage him to go out outside the box.
16:58
It's a great relationship between the back and the front
17:01
of the house, right? Like the plate can look good,
17:03
but the way we presented and sell the plate is also part of
17:06
the experience. So that communication between
17:09
both front and back of the house are key.
17:12
And also offering plates the members feel comfortable with
17:15
with a more in touch, right? We sell our chicken piccata.
17:19
That's the signature dish here at the club is such an old dish,
17:22
but chef does his little spinning the chicken piccata to
17:24
bring it to the more nice style, right?
17:27
And there's, there's times where I let them go crazy and there's
17:30
times that, hey, we got to go back to the basics where members
17:32
feel comfortable eating because at the end, we're not a Michelin
17:36
restaurant, right? You come here 3 * 4 times a day
17:39
and you can't imagine members can get really tired with your
17:42
food real quick. And my goal is for these guys to
17:44
come in as often as they can. So we're constantly challenging
17:48
A challenging my culinary team to be creative with flavors and
17:51
colors, presentations and and a variety of dishes that we offer.
17:57
Excuse me, you, we're talking about Alfredo, how you spend a
18:02
lot of time just being present and talking with your employees.
18:06
Quick little interactions, probably some of them are a
18:09
little bit lengthier, you know, where you get an opportunity to
18:12
coach or mentor them. Can you think of a particular
18:17
instance where you're coaching, you're mentoring really helped
18:21
the team member at Lakewood and kind of seeing the the long term
18:26
impact that it had on their growth as well as the club's
18:30
success? You know, I, like I said, of
18:34
everything I have accomplished, you know, top 7 culinary
18:36
programs, best wine list, increasing the bottom line.
18:41
The thing that I'm the most proud is the way I impact my my
18:44
team's life on a positive way and the last impact I can make
18:49
through my 10 years of leadership.
18:50
I had a lot of coaching. I, I, I like to say that I'm
18:54
part time life, part time CEO life, full time life coach for
19:00
my employees. You know, unfortunately three
19:03
years ago, I have an employee that was living with, with
19:07
depression, highly abusing drugs, depression, great kid.
19:13
I saw the potential that he had him.
19:16
I spent a lot of time with him, even though sometimes I
19:19
questioned why I kept him that long.
19:20
But I spent a lot of time with that person.
19:23
And now seeing him, how he's driving now on the other side,
19:26
making an impact on the club that he's working is probably
19:29
one of the biggest rewards that I have on my career because
19:32
changing people's life is, is what gets me excited.
19:34
You know, like I said, all these accolades and everything that I
19:37
do in the club, anybody can do it.
19:39
But the way I leave a place, a better place, my people, my
19:43
team, I think that's something that people will always remember
19:46
is the job manager that takes the time to talk to me, takes
19:49
the time to listen to me. And if I'm a bad day, I can go
19:52
and, and just, you know, blue steam with him and just feel
19:56
better. But I think that's the thing
19:58
that I love the most about my job is like every day I have a
20:01
chance. To make somebody's life better
20:03
from a member to a kid to employee.
20:06
And that's what I love about my job.
20:08
If you tell, if you ask my wife, he's like, she goes, this is you
20:12
like you don't you love your job on my I do because I come to
20:16
work and I talk to people all the time and I have an
20:18
opportunity to make the difference somebody's life from
20:21
doing this special celebration on their anniversary to a
20:24
wedding to to celebrate little things, wings.
20:26
And then the same thing goes to the old side.
20:29
I think you use the phrase the ability to change someones life.
20:34
In this particular example, it sounds like you may have had a
20:37
role in saving his life. I I did, I did, you know, and
20:42
when he was, I don't want to share too much of his story, but
20:47
it was it, it, it was a yeah, we did.
20:50
And we have a constant communication all the time.
20:53
And I'm happy he's doing great, you know, and, and it just keeps
20:57
going on. But like, I have so many of
20:59
those moments with college kids that come here.
21:01
And then I became their mentors. And now I see him in the
21:03
professional world being doctors, nurses, lawyers,
21:06
architects in the financial world.
21:09
And and that's my legacies, the memories I was able to create
21:12
with them and help him take the next step.
21:16
That's awesome. What was the job that you had
21:21
where you increased food and beverage revenue by over
21:24
$750,000 and and how did you do that?
21:29
Dallas and my previous club, Sycamore Hills Golf Club, you
21:31
know, we had a, we have a team of killers.
21:34
We pray. At that point we were really
21:36
young. We had this ship on the
21:37
shoulders where we're a small club, but we're going to show
21:40
the world that you can do great things in small marketing.
21:43
And we did. And part of that, it sounds
21:46
cliche, but it was the culture that we built.
21:49
It was when you walk into those doors, people fell, seen love
21:53
and appreciated. And that's why they came so much
21:56
to the club. You know, it wasn't that we
21:59
brought more members. He was just members using the
22:01
club more often. It's because they love the
22:03
experience. As soon as they walk in, the
22:06
ballet will say hi to them, recognized by the names, the
22:09
Hostess to myself, to the staff, they feel seeing love.
22:13
And then even the chef will come out and talk to them.
22:16
And just we create a culture that it was hard to miss and
22:19
people just wanted to be around that high, that happy energy.
22:23
Of course, did we did increase for culinary offerings.
22:28
Did we, you know, increase for men?
22:29
You'll make it better. Yes, 100%.
22:31
But it was just a culture that people love.
22:34
Welcome to those doors. It was the way they they felt
22:38
when they left. Yeah.
22:40
And the thing I want to call out about your answer there is you
22:43
immediately said we had a killer team.
22:47
You deflected the the credit to the folks that were with you
22:51
rather than saying, oh, here's what I did.
22:54
Oh, no, we had a great team in place.
22:55
I think that says a lot about your personality.
22:57
It keeps coming through and a lot of the answers that we're
22:59
getting from you, I just want to call attention to that.
23:02
I appreciate and like I said, we had a a team of just world class
23:05
humans and everybody was a killer when it come to
23:08
operational, but the most important it was the world,
23:10
world class humans and the members just just just felt
23:13
connected. It was a connectivity where we
23:15
were to create that sense of community.
23:18
So at Lakewood, you're known for your tradition, right?
23:22
That's central to your identity, but you also really emphasize
23:26
this forward thinking innovation.
23:30
What have you found most challenging about trying to
23:33
blend those two perspectives, and how do you work to overcome
23:37
that? It's challenging, especially for
23:42
clubs, but a but a clear mission, vision and
23:46
communicating that is key. And of course results.
23:51
You know, when they when, when, when you want to change the
23:55
culture of a club and more nice it, it takes more than just one
23:59
person is also buy into from from the board of directors,
24:03
from the leadership team to the board of directors all the way
24:06
to the membership and just become a unify, unifying front.
24:10
And the the challenge is just communicating and and having
24:14
members buy into it. You know, because the reality is
24:17
like, why would you want to change something that works?
24:20
It's like because we could do better, right?
24:22
And it would take the risk too. And I'm blessed that I have an
24:26
amazing board that's willing to take calculated risk for a
24:31
better that the that perfect sample is or golf course
24:35
restoration. It was a calculator risk that's
24:37
paying tremendously dividends. There are a lot of naysayers, a
24:40
lot of doubts and we prove them. We prove everybody wrong that
24:45
that was with the right call. And now we have some
24:47
credibility. We have some banking to get some
24:50
cash in the bank that if we want to do anything like this,
24:53
something like that, we want to accomplish it.
24:55
And what's the metric? How do you how do you sort of
24:58
look at that decision and say, yes, that was the right move?
25:01
Is the membership levels the membership and just the bottom
25:04
line, right? Seeing the balance sheet and
25:06
seeing where we are and and and see the activity levels at the
25:09
club, how how members are proud walking in and saying like
25:13
that's incredible. We accomplished there.
25:15
I'm glad I'm part of these and telling their friends you should
25:18
join our community. Come over here.
25:21
You know what I think that's the biggest compliment is when a
25:23
member recommends another potential member to join the
25:25
club. That's a testament that we're
25:27
doing something right. And you mentioned this word
25:30
early on about the Renaissance that's taking place.
25:34
As you look ahead, how do you envision Lakewood Country Club
25:38
evolving even further over the next few years?
25:42
I want to be this place to be the hub for families and young
25:47
professionals and professionals of the West side.
25:50
You know, our our focus and we have a championship golf course,
25:53
but you know, our hope is the weakest such decision to fucking
25:57
on lifestyles. You know, I like to say we don't
26:00
sell membership, we sell lifestyle.
26:03
And I think that's powerful, right?
26:04
Like it was where you can only just come here to play golf, but
26:07
you come here to play golf, to work out, to have a great
26:11
breakfast, work from home here at the club interact where you
26:16
celebrate your important anniversaries, your birthdays,
26:19
your your big of a life milestones.
26:21
And I want to be a hub for community here at the in the
26:23
West side of Cleveland. So we've been talking a bit
26:26
about the Renaissance, the transformation, if you will,
26:30
that's taking place there at Lakewood Country Club.
26:33
Alfredo, I want to hear about your personal transformation
26:36
that's been taking place recently.
26:40
Yes, I I, I this year and a half is is been incredible for me
26:45
both professionally and personally.
26:48
You know, I, I took this role being 34 years old in the midst
26:52
of moving from forward to Cleveland.
26:55
I had a newborn baby. I have a three-year old and two
26:58
year old. We move into Cleveland with when
27:00
he was 2, two weeks old. My wife was really to kill me.
27:05
I I take over the new challenge and three months later, after I
27:07
took the role where, you know, six months later, we're taking
27:10
ground for new Golf course restoration.
27:13
We're, you know, building the new culture here, the club
27:16
breaking records both from, you know, member involvement to a
27:21
revenue and in the in the midst of all the stuff, I decide to
27:25
take over my own personal health as well.
27:27
And, and, you know, just take over my ownership of my life.
27:30
And, you know, I lost near 90 lbs since then and and
27:34
combination of that. I celebrate of doing a half Iron
27:36
Man this past this past week, which it was probably the
27:41
hardest thing I ever done in my life, but I got it done and it
27:46
now what I learned from that is like every anything is possible
27:48
if you put your mind into something and if you create, if
27:51
you put some grit and discipline.
27:54
What was kind of the catalyst to the losing weight?
28:00
I just, you know, I will talk about excellence all the time to
28:03
my team, but then on my personal life, it's like I'm 260 lbs
28:07
walking around not taking care of my buddy is like, I got to, I
28:11
got to do what I say, right? And I decide just to flip the
28:15
switch and see if I'm going to talk about excellence, I'm going
28:17
to do excellence. And I was doing excellence at
28:19
work. Every time I walk in, I'll, I'll
28:21
be down lane. But it was more in personal
28:23
life. And I do feel like the way you
28:25
conduct yourself before you show yourself as a mirror of, of, of
28:28
your habits and your discipline. And I needed to make the change.
28:32
And that helped me to be more presence at home, more principle
28:36
work and be a better leader. You know, there's no bigger
28:39
challenge now that I that I cannot tackle.
28:41
And that's the mentality I take when any problem comes in.
28:44
If I can do an Ironman and lose 90 lbs in a matter of 12 months,
28:48
I can tackle any challenge. And that's the mentality that I
28:51
bring to work every day. It's like, OK, if somebody
28:53
brings a problem, OK, what's, what's the solution?
28:56
You know, like we know the problem.
28:57
Let's come up with a plan. Let's come up with a solution.
28:59
Let's, let's try it out. Let's figure out a way so we can
29:02
come your way as winners. When you decided that you wanted
29:07
to embrace excellence for your personal fitness, what was the
29:11
first step that you took? Did you immediately make the
29:13
decision that I'm going to enter a half Iron Man?
29:17
Did that kind of come later? Like what?
29:18
What were those first steps like that that kind of got you some
29:21
inertia, some momentum? I have a great group of men of
29:25
friends, leaders, managers that work with me.
29:28
And like I said, we're a big family.
29:30
They're the ones, hey, you got kids.
29:32
You got to take care of yourself.
29:33
And between that and my family too, reminded me like, you're
29:37
working too much, like you should be taking care of your
29:39
body. But also for myself, I just
29:42
wanted to be more presents and have the energy.
29:44
You know, I was giving everything I have to my job.
29:48
And when I go home, I was just tired.
29:50
I didn't have the energy. And seeing that I'm missing
29:53
those, those times with my kids playing around because I was
29:56
tired, that was kind of flip the switch.
29:58
It's like, you know what I need to do better, not only for me,
30:01
but for my family, for my kids, for my employees, for my team,
30:05
for my club community. They deserve the best version of
30:07
myself. And and that's when I flip the
30:09
switch. And it started with little
30:11
things with my diet to just moving around a little bit when
30:15
I feel like I can do more than this crazy idea of the half Iron
30:18
Man came alone and everybody doubt me said you crazy.
30:21
There's no way. And I'm like, no, I'm going to
30:23
do it. Then I got it done.
30:25
I got it done. Do you have any other goals like
30:29
that? Do you want to do another half
30:32
Iron Man? Do you want to do a marathon?
30:34
Do you like? How do you think about this
30:36
going forward? Yeah, you know, this is I didn't
30:40
when I crossed the finish line, it wasn't just I'm done this
30:43
actually as I was crossed the finish line, I'm starting a new
30:46
journey, right. This just they just sparked
30:49
something in me and I'm known I'm I'm known that he's down on
30:53
that. It's just a lifestyle now and I
30:56
got actually in two in a week. I have a Olympic triathlon.
30:59
I want to do the Akron math half marathon in September and I'm
31:05
going to do a full marathon in January in Miami and sounds
31:10
crazy. I haven't asked tell anybody,
31:12
but my mind now is in the full Iron Man.
31:14
But I want to give my family and my team a little little more
31:18
time. You know, it was kind of crazy
31:19
when I took over these challenge first a lot of stress and my
31:22
wife is is the queen. She took a lot of that
31:25
responsibilities while I was absent and working out.
31:28
I was putting close to 17 hours a week training for these and I
31:33
want to make a little more build the foundation and I want to do
31:37
a full Iron Man hopefully by twenty 27th.
31:38
But I do have a N half hour mind on the books for next year to
31:43
give my time. Wow, what were what was the
31:49
biggest dietary change that you made?
31:52
For me, I, I, I, I fast, I serve fast interpreter fasting.
31:57
That really helped me set up some, some, some discipline on
32:01
when I'm meeting, when I'm eating, and then from there to
32:03
just be more alert of what I'm eating, right.
32:07
Like processed food to fry food. I eat pretty clean now, you
32:12
know, try to eat organic as much as I can't from home, but also
32:16
does exempt from my kids too. My kids are eating pretty
32:18
healthy too. Like we don't need sweets.
32:21
And I feel like too like all the all the habits that I'm creating
32:23
for me and my family is when I pay dividends for my kids as
32:26
well. You know, my kid sees me working
32:28
out and now he wants to run and he goes, Daddy, let's go ride a
32:31
bike. He will, let's go swim.
32:33
So my oldest 1 is so active and he's one of them the proudest,
32:36
proudest moments in this my oldest kid running with me as I
32:40
was cramping out on mile seven of the half marathon of the Iron
32:43
Man and him being so excited and calling me Iron Man.
32:47
I, I think that's going to leave a big impact on my family.
32:49
And I, I hope I can, I can, I can leave that.
32:52
Like you know when you put your mind to something, you always
32:55
you need to accomplish it and you don't quit.
32:58
What's your superpower, Alfredo? My superpower, I will say, is
33:03
connecting with people. I can.
33:04
I have these. I won't say skill, but
33:09
connecting with people, that's what I love the most.
33:12
Like you put me in a room and I'll make for, I'll make If you
33:14
put a room with five people, they will become my best.
33:16
We'll become best friends in a matter of 30 minutes.
33:20
And I think that's why I was able to be successful in this
33:22
industry because at the end, it's all about people.
33:25
You, anybody can do my job. But connecting with people and
33:27
how you make people feel, that's what makes us taken from one
33:32
level to the next one. So aside from the culture piece,
33:35
which I know you're a big fan of, what are some other things
33:39
that you've tried and found success with when it comes to
33:41
recruiting and retaining team members?
33:46
I, I will, I will say invest in your people, right?
33:49
I invest a lot on my not only just resources and money and
33:53
tools on my people, but also my time.
33:55
Like I said, conversations and making feel like they're seeing
33:59
the love and I appreciate it. And, and the other thing is
34:03
people want tough love as much sounds bad, but they want a good
34:07
feedback, you know, and, and I, I give a lot of tough love.
34:10
I'm I'm honest and I think when they come join my program, I'm a
34:15
frumble. Then you said you come over
34:16
here, I'm going to make sure that you're successful, but also
34:18
I'll make sure that you're a work as well as human and that
34:22
I'm going to hold you accountable and that
34:24
accountability is key. And as much, you know, sometimes
34:28
could be tough on my, of my employees in a good way.
34:30
Oh, you know what, I'm glad you called him out.
34:32
I'm glad you hold me accountable for what I could do better.
34:35
Because at the end, that's why they join me is because they
34:38
join our team here, Aliquid, is because they want to be better
34:40
people. They want to be better leaders
34:41
and very managers. It's my responsibility to pay
34:45
pay tribute to that. What advice would you give to a?
34:49
Leader on how to approach some of those tough love
34:52
conversations. You just gain comfortable.
34:58
With this with with uncomfortable, right?
35:00
Like if for me, it's hard because I'm a yes person.
35:04
I am a let's connect. I'm a people person.
35:08
So I, I know that those conversations at the beginning
35:12
were hard for me, but also I understand as a leader is my
35:15
responsibility to develop our leaders.
35:19
And the only way you can develop is by giving true feedback.
35:22
And it's the bad, the good and the ugly.
35:24
You know, I give high 5 when somebody does a great job in
35:27
front of everybody, but somebody fails or can do better, I close
35:30
the door, bring them over here. And then we have a good
35:32
conversation, say, hey, listen, here's my feedback, here's how
35:35
we can do better. Help me help you understand how
35:37
can we can be, you know, what can I do to help you be
35:40
successful? But he's, he's always a
35:42
coaching, you know, I'm not the guy that closed the door and
35:44
just RIP somebody apart. That's not the way I I manage or
35:48
lead. I will never do that.
35:50
He's always a opportunity to learn.
35:53
I like that. Alfredo, if you were going to
35:56
recommend a resource to somebody that's been helpful for you and
36:01
your development, whether it's a book, a podcast, a course, what
36:05
would that be? I will say I love Simon Sinek.
36:17
You know I. I would say.
36:18
Leaders is last. That's one of my favorite books
36:23
or. Everything starts with why I
36:26
think. Everybody got to know him.
36:27
Through what is your why right that that what is Ted talk?
36:31
Where is your Why but? Like leadership?
36:35
Last, that's true. Serving leadership and and
36:38
that's why I feel like my leadership philosophy hits the
36:42
nail the leadership philosophy, right you empower people you
36:46
hold them accountable and you give space to grow say more
36:50
about. That say say more about.
36:51
How servant leadership shows up for you and your day-to-day at
36:54
Lakewood. Is is the micro moment right?
36:59
Listen them, empower them, offering their tools and
37:02
resources and and hold them accountable.
37:06
I'm the first. One and it's the same.
37:08
Thing is, I want also my employees to hold me accountable
37:10
if I'm not doing great. I always constantly asking for
37:13
feedback from my employees to my managers because it's the only
37:17
way you can get better, you know?
37:19
And for me, one of the biggest tools and resources that I can
37:22
have is just raw feedback from members or employees is the only
37:25
way you get better. How about some daily practices?
37:30
Alfredo that either help to get you started or keep you on
37:34
track, keep you centered throughout the day yeah so I
37:37
started these when I. Started this new transformation
37:39
of of me in in 2024. I start with with movement in
37:44
the morning. I have to work out going to walk
37:47
or you know, play with my kids, but just move.
37:50
I tried to spend a little quiet time for myself too.
37:53
I started my gratitude journal. So it's been what close to 8
37:58
months since I started. Every day I have my graduate
38:01
journal. I write something I'm grateful
38:03
for something that I'm looking forward to and just thanking
38:07
anybody could be my wife, my employees and just recognizing
38:11
something and what it does for me is that I start my day just
38:14
be thankful for thankfully grateful for what I have or what
38:18
I've done and for the people that have my life.
38:20
So it's it helps me keep grounded, humble and just use a
38:24
way. It's a perfect way to start my
38:26
day. And if I.
38:28
Miss it that morning I start doing.
38:29
The day, but it's two things that I always start every
38:32
morning. Those two things, it's movement
38:34
and just be grateful. Yeah, I think that.
38:38
Gratitude element is so key. This, this kind of showed up in
38:42
a a funny way for us the other day in our house.
38:46
My we were going through the calendar.
38:48
My kids have the days off from school coming up next year.
38:52
And so my wife and I are kind of coordinating which days she'll
38:55
stay home, which days I'll stay home.
38:58
And I was getting a little bit frustrated because most of the
39:00
days were kind of falling to me and I had to kind of flip the
39:03
switch. And as I'm sort of sighing on
39:06
each, you know, entry I'm making into the, the calendar, I said,
39:11
you know what, I, I love my kids and I'm grateful that I have the
39:14
flexibility and the opportunity to stay home with them.
39:16
And so I think, you know, sometimes it's just finding that
39:19
gratitude in those small moments where you you find yourself kind
39:23
of veering off and to being ungrateful or frustrated.
39:27
Now I see you're nodding your head.
39:28
You, you agree. Yeah.
39:30
It just life gets so busy. You know, like I have 200 plus
39:34
employees, 395 families working alone in the summertime and
39:40
working out and all that stuff. And sometimes you just, you just
39:43
forget that little things make a big impact and, and little
39:46
things like just being grateful about my wife and taking over
39:50
responsibilities at home and for my absence where I'm, you know,
39:54
working or working out or like little things that unemployed
39:57
did for me. So I can be successful in my
39:59
job. It's just, it's incredible.
40:01
I highly suggest it to anybody. You you realize that how lucky
40:05
we are and, and, and all that all the things that we have in
40:08
life. You know, Alfredo.
40:10
Sometimes our. Mistakes, and I put that in air
40:13
quotes, end up becoming our greatest teachers.
40:17
What's 1 early career moment that seemed like a set back at
40:21
the time but actually propelled you forward?
40:25
I would say early in my career I.
40:27
Tried to prove myself by doing everything alone, right.
40:30
I learned quickly the delegating and trust on signs of weakness.
40:34
But they are foundation of great leadership and if I try to do
40:38
everything here in my role, I'll be here all the time.
40:41
And that's probably one of the things I struggled the most my
40:44
first two quarters of the new general manager role.
40:48
Transition from assistant general manager to general
40:50
manager CEO is completely different dynamics and trusting
40:55
your employees, delegating empower them is not only key for
41:00
you to accomplish more stuff but just also give the the outlet
41:04
for your mid level and and and and head departments just to.
41:08
Grow as well. What's something you do for fun
41:14
lately? Pure enjoyment.
41:16
Pure enjoyment. I like boating with my kids.
41:21
I just, you know, I, I'm, I'm so stuck with my phone all the time
41:24
because employees members, it just, it's the way that I, I
41:28
roll with the business. I always want to be present, but
41:32
like when I do that, I, I just flip the switch.
41:34
I'm just there, I'm just there with my kids and my wife.
41:39
Alfredo, what's the best decision?
41:40
You've made for your career and why.
41:45
The best decision I've made. Was invested in people.
41:50
Investing in people and in. Prioritizing the culture and
41:55
team development results fall after that.
41:58
And it's not confidence. It's not it's a it's a formula,
42:01
right? Invest in your people and that's
42:04
my profession about personally was choosing my boss, not my
42:09
work. When I follow my boss, it was
42:14
because I chose my boss, not not the work.
42:16
And I think sometimes people just want to take these
42:18
glamorous jobs and go to this beautiful place.
42:21
But you really when you're young and hungry, picking the right
42:25
boss can play a lot of dividends down the road.
42:28
And for me was best decision. I worked for one boss for 10
42:32
years. And listen, he was tough to work
42:34
with sometimes, but he gave me all the tools and resources and
42:37
the tough love that I needed you to be successful on my job right
42:41
now. And to this day, I'm so grateful
42:44
and thankful that I made that decision to pick my boss, not my
42:47
job. Well, that's so interesting
42:49
that. Mentorship really provided A
42:52
framework for you going forward on how to approach your roles
42:56
and how to approach managing people correct And I told any
43:00
young. Manager is like, don't pick the
43:02
job, pick your boss. That person's going to help you
43:05
become the person you want if he's the right person that you
43:08
choose. And that's what I did.
43:10
I worked for the same person for 10 years and I don't think I
43:13
will learn or even experience whatever experience somewhere
43:17
else. As you think ahead for the.
43:22
Next couple of years, Alfredo, what do you think some of the OR
43:26
maybe one of the biggest changes that are coming to your space
43:31
is? Clubs are becoming.
43:35
A lifestyle, communities and the future is in holistic
43:38
experiences, fitness, family, food and flexibility.
43:43
Those who embrace change while honoring tradition will lead the
43:46
way. What does that look like?
43:50
That holistic? Kind of experience what are some
43:53
things that people are introducing to clubs or thinking
43:57
about introducing to clubs that maybe 20 years ago were unheard
44:02
of? It's a lifestyle, right?
44:04
It's a. One stop shop is where you walk
44:06
in and that's where you get massaged.
44:08
That's when you work out, that's when you get you the hair done.
44:11
That's where you play tennis, that's where you play work.
44:13
That's golf dining room, how people see food now too, right
44:19
Is is a holistic way people want to see what calories they're
44:22
eating, what kind of food they're eating, where they get
44:24
in their food and just a lifestyle.
44:28
That's where that's your valid preposition.
44:30
If how many it's not just a beautiful clubhouse.
44:34
It's just more than just that is lifestyle communities.
44:39
What's one thing you wish more people knew?
44:40
About your industry, Alfredo. It's more engulfed in fine
44:46
dining. I.
44:48
Discord the industry is about. People and connection.
44:51
We create spaces where members are feel the true sense of
44:55
belonging. Where there's there.
44:58
We celebrate life's meaningful moments that happen here.
45:03
Behind every experience there's a team committed and we're here,
45:10
you know, it's all about experiences and memories.
45:13
I will say that it's not just about golf and fine dining.
45:15
It's about experiences, how it make people feel.
45:19
I like. That and no just.
45:21
From the member side. But also from the staff side,
45:23
it's incredible when you walk in as an employee and the members
45:26
truly, genuinely want to know about you.
45:29
And I see so many stores where a server starts here when they're
45:32
16171819 and ended up working for for a member.
45:37
So it's a place to network. It's a place to get the soft
45:40
skills that we're losing nowadays with AI technology.
45:45
You know, I think soft kill, soft skills is what's going to
45:48
set us apart going forward is AI.
45:52
Become part of your day-to-day operations there.
45:56
Are you guys leveraging it in any way?
45:59
We do. We do and.
46:00
If you are not using it, I feel like you're behind, right?
46:04
That's why technology is there is available for anybody and
46:07
that's what we're talking about traditions with with
46:11
modernization, right? Like it's, it's a tools to use
46:13
it out there and from accounting to marketing to communication,
46:20
we got to use it. We're going to use it to
46:22
simplify it, to make it easy, and that's the world we're
46:25
going. And so what's your favorite
46:29
tool? What do you like to use you?
46:33
Know I I. I use Grammarly a lot, you know,
46:37
English being my second language, I tell everybody I
46:40
have to work harder than anybody, right?
46:43
I'm in a position where I communicate with members of
46:45
staff and I want to be concise. I want to persist and I want to
46:48
make sure my message gets across.
46:50
So communication is key and and I use any tools that I can to be
46:53
able to to communicate that If I wouldn't be using it, I don't
46:56
think I would be doing anything disturbing to my membership
46:58
because those tools are there for anybody.
47:00
And I encourage everybody to just just explode us in, you
47:04
know, club industries, one of those dinosaur industries were
47:07
were so behind in many ways. But the the clubs are evolving
47:12
are the ones that use the technology in their advantage.
47:16
Yeah, yeah, amazingly. Powerful tools when used the
47:19
right way. I agree exactly.
47:21
Yeah, you got to be careful. Of course, you know, and, and
47:23
you can't rely solely on that because at the end is, is AI.
47:28
But there's some things that some great things you can use.
47:31
Yeah. So, Alfredo, I've just.
47:33
Got one more question for you, but before I ask, I want to do a
47:36
couple of things. First of all, everyone listening
47:38
today and I ask you just to pause for a second.
47:41
Go ahead, hit that follow or subscribe button on your
47:44
favorite podcast app. I want you to continue to get
47:46
more great content like this. If you've got a free moment,
47:49
leave us a review or a comment. It's a really helpful way to
47:53
encourage other people's to find the show and benefit from these
47:57
interviews as well. Alfredo, I also want to let
47:59
people know the best way to either get in touch with you
48:02
directly or to follow your story or that of Lakewood Country
48:06
Club. What would that be?
48:08
There'll be two LinkedIn. I will say we're pretty I'm
48:11
pretty active for LinkedIn is one of my goals for 2025.
48:15
He's write an article an article a month.
48:16
So between that and and showcasing what we're doing here
48:19
at Lakewood Country Club, showcasing my people or team and
48:23
then also follow Lakewood Country Club and seeing all the
48:25
great things we're accomplishing.
48:27
Our team keeps growing, our culture keeps getting better and
48:30
our membership keeps growing and result of that and really
48:33
excited. That's awesome.
48:37
So last question for you. Alfredo, you and I reconnect a
48:41
year from now and you're really excited.
48:44
You are celebrating something big.
48:46
What's that one thing that you're celebrating a year from
48:49
now? From here to now, what I want to
48:57
celebrate is my key that I can sustain what I'm doing in my
49:05
personal life. Right Be presents be a.
49:08
Present Father. Husband.
49:10
Leader an upright and and my goal hopefully by then I I
49:15
accomplished a full Ironman, which is a big test to take.
49:18
I hope that I can say, hey, I I accomplished that's 140 miles
49:21
plus and in a professional world is that we I I set up Lakewood
49:26
to be the standard in the West side of Cleveland and ignores
49:29
Ohio. It's a standard club to follow.
49:31
We're not just following trends, but setting the trends.
49:34
Well, I'm rooting for you. Alfredo Hildebrand from Lakewood
49:38
Country Club, I want to be the first to thank you for sharing
49:40
both your time and your story with us today.
49:42
I really appreciate it. Thank you, Anthony.
49:44
I appreciate it for having me. Folks, that's a wrap on another
49:47
episode of The Inspired. Stories podcast.
49:49
Thanks for learning with us today.