-- Don Carlos Lee Gibson Jr. has announced the release of The Stewardship Standard: A Hospitality Operating System for Private Golf Clubs, a new book that presents a leadership framework designed specifically for the private club industry. Rather than positioning club leadership as a matter of day-to-day management, the book frames it as an act of stewardship, one in which leaders are entrusted to strengthen institutions on behalf of the generations who will inherit them.
Photo Courtesy of Don Carlos Lee Gibson Jr.
Gibson brings a background spanning automotive management, golf operations, and resort leadership to the book. He currently serves as General Manager at Marietta Motors and Westfall Towing, and has held leadership roles in golf and hospitality including Senior Director of Operations and Resort Operations Manager with National Golf Management Group, as well as General Manager and Head Pro at the Golf Club of South Carolina at Crickentree. Earlier in his career, he served as a Military Intelligence Analyst in the United States Army, an experience that informs the structured, systematic approach he brings to leadership.
The book argues that private clubs occupy a distinct category among organizations. Unlike businesses measured primarily by quarterly performance, clubs are built to endure, with success defined less by annual figures and more by whether the institution is stronger for the members and families who will belong to it in the future. According to the book, this requires leaders who view their roles as temporary responsibilities rather than permanent positions, and who prioritize relationships over transactions.
"Stewardship begins with a fundamental realization that what we lead does not belong to us," Gibson said. "We are temporary custodians of institutions shaped by previous generations and destined to serve future ones."
The book is organized into eight chapters and sixty-three modules, moving systematically from foundational philosophy through practical application to legacy thinking. Early sections address why private clubs differ from conventional businesses and what mindset defines a steward, including qualities such as humility, responsibility, courage, and patience. Later chapters turn to leading culture, stewarding people, and stewarding excellence, before concluding with a focus on succession, institutional memory, and generational leadership.
Gibson frames the book's central commitments as honoring the past, serving the present, and preparing the future. "The clubs we serve deserve this kind of leadership," Gibson said, "and so do the generations who will inherit these institutions."
The book is intended for general managers, board members, and emerging leaders within private clubs who are seeking a structured approach to culture-building and long-term institutional health. Its content is designed to be applied incrementally, with each chapter building on principles introduced earlier in the book.
James Mitchell Harrison, former President of the Club Management Association of America, contributed a foreword to the book, describing it as arriving "at precisely the right moment" for an industry navigating the tension between operational demands and long-term institutional purpose.
In closing, Gibson said the book is meant to invite readers into a broader calling rather than simply offer a set of management tactics. "Stewardship is not ultimately something we do," Gibson said. "It is who we become."
The Stewardship Standard is available now on Amazon and Kindle.
Visit Don Carlos Lee Gibson Jr. website to learn more about The Stewardship Standard.
About Don Carlos Lee Gibson Jr.
Don Carlos Lee Gibson Jr. holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Virginia College and multiple associate degrees from the Golf Academy of America. He is active in community mentorship through organizations including Celebrate Recovery and the First Tee Golf Program. The Stewardship Standard reflects his combined background in business operations, golf and resort management, and hospitality leadership.
Contact Info:
Name: Don Carlos Lee Gibson Jr.
Email: Send Email
Organization: Don Carlos Lee Gibson Jr.
Address: Tennessee, United States, North America
Website: https://www.doncarlosleegibsonjr.com/
Release ID: 89198311
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