Mike Beckley: Manager of many, listener to all.

• Author: TITUS, STEPHEN
• Position: Catamount Ranch & Club - Brief Article

FROM THE FRONT LINES TO THE FRONT OFFICE, STEAMBOAT CLUB'S PRESIDENT HAS KEPT HIS MANAGEMENT STYLE

Mike Beckley, president and general manager of Catamount Ranch & Club in Steamboat Springs, drives his Range Rover around the club's nearly complete golf course. He stops to talk with workers digging a ditch. He calls them by name, asks how things are going and whether they need anything.

A little farther down the road, at what will be the first tee, Beckley hops from the car and offers to carry the clubs of a golfer and potential homeowner who's about to try out the new course. The prospect is reluctant to let the smartly dressed, 6-foot-4 Beckley serve as his caddy, but Beckley is adamant. The golfer, however, is equally adamant. He won't give up his bag. The tug of war finally ends when an attendant steps in to guide the golfer to the course.

This lead-by-example style is Beckley's management philosophy in action He says he's developed it from years of working "the front lines. Lots of people have lots of different theories about how management best works," says Beckley "I absolutely believe, I've always believed, that the product is where you interface with the guest. I don't know how you manage an operation unless you're down there understanding it. Basically it's all about knowing your product and being able to lead and react daily. I believe that those guys in that ditch ... have such an understanding of the product and what's needed. They're doing the homework, you just have to be there and listen. So that's why I do it that way Plus I'd rather be outside than sitting at a desk."

Beckley, 52, developed his style by not sitting behind his desk. His working career spans posts in the U.S. Navy's flight program to road manager for rock bands like America, Poco and Crosby Stills & Nash. His brother, Gerry, is a member of America, and in the 1970s and '80s, when Mike was not touring with the band as a bodyguard and road manager, he lived in Vail, working at Vail and Beaver Creek as a ski instructor and on the trail crew. "I remember thinking, if I ever got to be the head of the trail crew ... I'd touch base with them twice a day, and say, 'How are you guys doing? What are your issues?' The next thing you know I got a promotion and I got a chance to go in and say, 'All right guys, what do you think?'"

His first crew had eight members, but now, he says, "Nothing is different with 800. Everything you ever needed to know to succeed in business...