Passing The Torch: New Roles For Dana Garmany And Tim Schantz

When founder Dana Garmany steps down as Troon CEO and becomes executive chairman effective April 1, he will leave huge shoes to fill. No one knows that better than 21-year Troon veteran and current President Tim Schantz, who will become CEO. The two sat down recently at company headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., to discuss their new roles, the transition in leadership, and the company’s continued growth.

What will your new role as Executive Chairman entail?
DANA GARMANY: It will be to help Tim as needed. But in general, I’ll also run board meetings for the company, be involved as the largest individual shareholder, and be a presence for Troon in the industry.

Why make this change now?
DG: The timing is right because Tim has been ready for a number of years. I was just too stubborn to leave. I think he will probably tell you he’s able to take over something that’s really sitting there ready to go to the next level. Looking at the expertise we have, there’s a real group of professionals who can run this thing for the next several years, so we wanted to get that in play and let people see there is a reason to be here, that there will be upward mobility, and that there’s no glass ceiling.

Why was Tim selected to take on the CEO role?
DG: People have seen who Tim really is — a caring leader, high IQ, really smart dude. I think a lot of people would say with Tim we have a really smart guy in the room at meetings.

TIM SCHANTZ: That’s a kind thing to say Dana. Troon started as a small collegial company where everyone knew each other. That always lends itself to friendships that transcend business. Dana has done a masterful job of maintaining that, even though there are now 150 people around him in the Scottsdale corporate office. He still answers his own phone and email. I do that too. People vote with their feet — there is a lot of tenure in the corporate offices and in the field. That’s because people feel like they can still make a difference even though it’s now a big organization. We want to do things right, but if a mistake is made, that’s all right — we learn from it and move on.

How will Tim’s role change when he becomes CEO?
DG: I don’t think it really will because we have talked about how to make this work really since early last summer. I said to him back then, let’s make it so that anything that will need your imprint, let’s start doing those things now so when I leave there won’t be a massive transition. I think we have worked effectively together where people will realize that he was running the company with me. If there’s anything that Tim and I have done well, I think it’s the way we transitioned this.

TS: Dana has been helping mentor me about shifting gears to what it means to have your hand in what everybody is doing, but in a way that pays respect to the fact that they’ve been doing it for a long time and know what they are doing. I feel comfortable in the sense that the people around me are super capable. Dana is a classic entrepreneur and classic visionary, but he also has a management style that allows for everyone’s voice to be heard. We all sort of pull together in one direction, with one ultimate leader setting that direction. So stepping into the CEO role and trying to do that the same way going forward will feel pretty easy to me.

Read the rest of this great interview from Tom Mackin in the March/Arpil 2019 edition of TROON Magazine by clicking here.