Henry Ford once said, “You can always distinguish the leaders by the arrows in their backs.”
Leadership is a thankless and frustrating job, but many of us strive to do it, because it is satisfying to bring a diverse group of people together to accomplish a big task. In the same light, trying to manage City Club is like trying to herd 230 smart and independent cats with diverse interests and opinions. So why do we do it? Because the feedback we get from our members makes it all worthwhile.
Though it is cold outside and we seem to be in the dead of winter, in fact, we are closer to Spring than Fall, the ground is starting to breathe and the birds are starting to sing. In short, once again we are about to awaken from our hibernation and feel love in the air, and realize pursuit of happiness, instead of mere survival as our primary goal. In the midst of all this, we are making great progress in our garden project and will be ready to celebrate its opening by Spring.
If you stand in line long enough, eventually it's your turn.
– Woody Allen.
Forty years since the renovation of Highland, and nearly fourteen years since we started City Club, it sure looks like our turn has come.
Maybe it was the opening of the third floor shared workspace, or the gold leaf sign at the entry, but it appears we have finally been discovered, as evidence by the fact that we are attracting a lot of young and smart business members, and are blessed to have unbelievably experienced social members like Joe de Raismes who is featured below, Bud Wonsiewicz who is doing the science talks next week, and Scott Garen who uses his 30+ years of experience in Hollywwod to pick movies we've rarely heard of, let alone seen, and clearly explains why we should.
As a community, Chef Maria’s delicious food nurtures our Reptilian brain; our connection with each other and the sense of community it creates feeds our Mammalian brian; and our diverse and interesting topics of discussion satisfies our Neocortex.
A year ago we started a new section in this Newsletter titled “What we are reading and talking about.” Steve Smith’s Monday Member lunches; Kevin Townley’s Western Mysticism topics; Bud Wonsiewicz Poetry reading and science talks, always provide something for us to learn, and an opposing opinion to take in and digest.
This year started with a Bang! and City Club may no longer be the best-kept secret in Boulder, as evidence by the fact that so far we have signed up two tenants, seven business and two social members. In short, our community is growing and the synergy is building, allowing us to hire more employees to serve you, and more programs to attend.
Read MoreHighland City Club’s greatest asset is our members. We are fortunate to have founding members like Steve Smith, Kevin Townley and others who help grow our community by sharing their knowledge and wisdom with us.
Although Bud Wonsiewicz is a relatively new member, he is passionate about whatever he does, including his new City Club community. A scientist to his core, and a poet at heart, Bud has agreed to lead not one, but two programs at City Club. Please see an abbreviated version of Bud’s impressive bio below.
Many of our members tell us Highland’s award-wining garden is one of their favorite features of City Club. We are already halfway through one of our ten goals for this year, which is to build a 20-seat dining area outside.
This area is designed to have a concrete floor, electricity, crazy fast internet, light and shading so our members can work outside during the day, have lunch in shade during summer, and participate in our themed dinners, which is another one of our ten goals for the year.
In this season of rest, reflection and renewal, we want to take the time to count our blessings, and to thank you, our members, for helping us create a safe and supportive community to belong to.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year ahead.
For the longest time, the main question I faced was whether I thought City Club was going to make it, and I always answered: "I don’t know, but I am trying my hardest."
Read MoreAlthough we are proud of all we have been able to accomplish towards our goal of creating Highland City Club, we see our progress to date akin to having built a strong foundation, waiting for a great architect; or a large canvas, waiting for a great painter. In short, we believe the best is still ahead of us. The following is a partial list of our plans and projects, large and small, for the near and long-term future.
Building a country, starting a religion or forming a community is akin to drawing a circle. As soon as the circle is drawn, there are the insiders and outsiders. The Jews’ Ten Commandments, the American Constitution and the Communist Manifesto are a few examples.
The circumference of the circle, the line that separates the insiders from the outsides are the rules the community adopts and the code of conduct for self management. Similarly, the glue that bonds Highland City Club members together is our Vision, Mission and Charter.
Year End Update
Endings are sacred; at City Club we pay special attention to them.
As we approach the end of the calendar year and prepare to go into winter, we try to do two things well:
In the five years Carlos has been a member of Chef Maria's kitchen team, he has never missed a day of work for any reason! That’s an incredible record till you learn that on average Carlos puts in 58 hours a week to prep, wash dishes and spot clean the kitchen from top to bottom every Saturday. In addition, Carlos takes on outside maintenance jobs, and as an X-Rodeo Star in Mexico, he tends to seven horses in his ranch in Lyons, delivers calves and raises hogs. In short, Carlos is the poster child of the hard-working immigrants who have made our country the envy of the world.
Read MoreI give thanks for living in a country with a constitution that allows transfer of power every two years without a shot fired and/or tanks rolling down the streets.
I am thankful to be in a loving relationship for over 40 years, and have the wisdom and commitment to survive its many ups and downs.
Bill and Pam Stewart joined City Club in April 2006, nearly a year after we opened, when we were more of a club in concept than in reality. While Pam was more outgoing, energetic and excited about the club, it was Bill who I bonded with and brainstormed about our vision for an ideal community.
One day I told Bill about an item on my bucket list which was to visit the Bohemian Club’s summer camp in the redwood forest north of San Francisco, which many believe it is harder to get into than Fort Knox. After listening intently, Bill casually stated “I am a member and will be glad to get you an invite for next summer.” While being a part of this all-American experiment was a lifetime achievement, the real highlight was spending ten days with Bill and the chance to get to know him, his lightness of spirit and his joy for life.
There is a lot of talk about how our country is divided, on the wrong track, and at the edge of civil war. From pipe bombs in the mail to mass shootings in schools and synagogs, from talk of impeaching the president to impeaching a sitting Supreme Court justice, at times it sure seems like the fabric of our society and democratic system is being torn apart.
The Founding Fathers understood the human nature and designed our system not for an ideal enlightened leader, but to withstand stressful times like we live in, so as long as we continue to exercise our right to vote, all’s well with our system.
The good news is we are finally growing, and fast, on many fronts.
The bad news is we are shorthanded and need help.
To keep you up with our progress, we are proud to announce we finally got Paul Cure to morph from a member in good standing to a staff member with a lot of potentials. Paul is an up and coming young local star who is involved in many aspects of Boulder from farming to Historic Boulder, World Affairs Conference to local politics. Everyone loves Paul and we feel fortunate to have snagged him as part of the front of the house Admin Team led by Nathalie Wilson who is already overwhelmed by how much there is to do while acting cool, pretending all’s good on all the fronts at all times at Highland City Club. See Paul’s picture and profile below.
As an engineer, I have always been fascinated by the physics of the flywheel. In his best selling management book, Good to Great, Jim Collins dedicated a chapter to the effects of the flywheel as it applies to the start-up and growth of an organization.
Asian cultures use the example of how bamboo grows an inch a year for the first four years, and then eighty feet the fifth year.
We are fortunate to have Maria Cooper as our Executive Chef for over eight continuous years. By any measure, this is a fantastic record of creativity, loyalty and service. To minimize burnout and maximize creativity, the secret to our success is twofold. 1) City Club is the only commercial kitchen in Colorado we know of that has no labor or food budget, so Maria plans her menu based on the best fresh ingredients available at the best price, not to meet a budget. 2) All City Club employees have unlimited vacation, as long as they have their work covered.
Read MoreA few years back, the biggest negative feedback we heard about City Club was that we had so few young members. Now that we have many great young members, the question is: how can we get our older members to mentor the younger ones.
Trying to get elder members to mentor younger members is like pushing on a string. The only effective way to mentor is by pulling, not pushing; by setting an example, not by talking.
