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A female executive walks into her
boss’s office, her voice full of frustration and says, “I’ve
mastered all aspects of my job and I’m consistently at the top of
the performance scale. Tell me, what else does a woman have to do to
get ahead around here?” Her boss hands her a set of golf clubs and
says, “Here, master these.”
Now, we’re not suggesting you must
learn how to play golf to have a successful career, but we do
believe there are some important correlations between the game of
golf and business. A recent survey of senior-level business
executives concluded that playing golf with someone is a good way to
learn about a person’s character, competitiveness and motivation.
Every day, on countless golf courses around the world, business
associates are evaluated, relationships forged, and deals made. Golf
has truly become the recreational activity of choice in the business
world. The punch
line of the story also makes the point that golf is an extremely
difficult game. As the quote at the beginning of this chapter
explains, even Ben Hogan, the best golfer of his time, understood
that even though he might spend a lifetime consumed by the quest for
improvement, the game of golf was one that could never be perfected.
How many of us feel the same about our leadership abilities? Are we
always searching for the right strategy or most innovative technique
to improve our effectiveness as a leader…whether it’s in our jobs,
at home, or in the community?
Like golf, leadership can never be
mastered. However, the goal of this article is to identify the
qualities shared by the world’s greatest golfers and “link” them to
the qualities exhibited by the most successful leaders. Perhaps the
easiest way to do that is to ask, “What makes the best, the best?”
Obviously, the best golfers have superior physical skills, but we
believe it’s also what they have within their hearts and minds. We
believe they think, feel, and act in a manner that sets them apart
from the competition.
In this article we will explore our
theory that, generally speaking, both golfers and leaders are
challenged by the need to successfully manage the People they
depend upon, the Attitude of those people, as well as their
own, and the Resources available in order to effectively
execute their game plan. In other words, both successful golfers and
leaders must manage P.A.R. – People,
Attitude, and Resources.
Managing People
“What makes a great captain? Twelve great players. My job is to
get them matched up and motivate them so they make me look good. If
they play great, we all look great. If they don’t, I look dumb.”
Curtis Strange, 2002 Ryder Cup Captain
Managing People begins with the
recognition that whether it’s the game of golf or leadership, you
can’t do it all yourself. As Captain Curtis suggests, select the
right people for your team, clarify their responsibilities, help
them work well together, and then allow them to perform their jobs.
Whether in golf or leadership, the
process of building a team begins with an assessment of your own
strengths and weaknesses. Although there isn’t a pat formula for
managing people, one winning strategy is to lead with your strengths
and delegate to your weaknesses. Identify those areas of
responsibility where you need the most support and find team members
that have those particular skills and talents. Successful leaders
seek the wisdom of experts to enhance their performance and results.
A leader must possess the self-confidence to recognize that asking
for help shows strength of character, not weakness.
Implicit in the above quote from
Curtis Strange is also the suggestion that a leader is responsible
for providing an environment that fosters superior performance from
the entire team. Tiger acknowledges, “Everything I have learned
in this game I’ve basically learned from somebody else. They’ve
given me that knowledge, and it’s my responsibility to pass that on
and share that knowledge.” He’s not just talking about swinging
a golf club; he’s talking about a philosophy of managing
relationships and sharing what he has learned to help others. He’s
talking about empowering leadership…sharing knowledge to bring out
the best in everyone.
Do you have a “coach,” someone to help
you learn and strive for improvement? As in golf, do you have a
“caddie,” someone who will give you honest feedback? They may be
called mentors or consultants in the business world, but you get the
idea. Most effective leaders rely on such people to support and
advise them.
The best golfers realize there are other aspects of their life,
beyond golf, that need tending while they focus on their golf game.
For instance, managing financial and business transactions. The
people responsible for these areas may not be as visible as a coach
or a caddie, but they are critical members of the team and must be
highly competent as well. Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds believed,
“You’re only as good as the people you hire.”
A good leader will create an
environment of shared goals, an environment that promotes
relationships in which knowledge is shared and learning encouraged,
where everyone strives to improve not only themselves but also the
team as a whole. Have you created a working atmosphere that makes
people want to be a part of your team?
Communication is key to any
relationship. Share your knowledge with your team and ask the same
of them. Make sure everyone understands what is expected of them,
give them ongoing feedback on their performance, and recognize their
accomplishments. Ben Hogan believed, “You don’t simply tell a
player what he is doing wrong. That’s not much help. You must
explain to him what he ought to be doing, why it is correct, and the
result it produces—and work like blazes to get it across so that he
really understands what you are talking about.” Studies
consistently reveal that the leading reason for poor performance is
poor communication.
If the world’s best golfers had no
coach to learn from, no caddie to help shoulder the burdens, and no
one to do any of the other work, they’d never win a tournament. But
by properly managing their people, they have the expertise, team
support, and knowledge to achieve great success. The same applies to
a leader of any endeavor. When the right people are in the right
positions doing the right things the right way, the whole team wins!
Managing Attitude
“A golfer can and must decide how he will think.” Bob Rotella,
author of Golf is Not a Game of Perfect
One of the most impressive
performances ever on a golf course took place at the 2000 US Open at
Pebble Beach. Tiger Woods ultimately won this tournament by 15
shots, the largest margin of victory in the 100-year history of the
US Open. Although Tiger thoroughly dominated the tournament from
start to finish, the way he played the final round and, in
particular, his final hole, was especially fascinating. Not so much
due to the physical skills displayed, although he really did put on
a whale of a show, but more so for his Attitude about how to play
the game. As Tiger
stood on the tee of the 72nd and final hole of the tournament, he
needed a birdie to break the record for the lowest score ever
recorded in a US Open. But instead he played the last hole the way
he did every other hole throughout the match because he had set his
own goal before the final round began. His goal was to make nothing
worse than par on any hole. As he stood on the 18th tee his
scorecard was filled with pars or better on each of the first 17
holes. A par on the last and he would achieve his goal and still tie
the record. And that’s exactly what he did. An interesting attitude,
don’t you think?
Attitude is a combination of many things. Confidence (not ego),
evaluating risk, decision making, and perseverance are among the
most important factors that contribute to attitude. Attitude is a
decision to think in a certain way. As the quote from Bob Rotella
suggests, leaders must decide how they will think.
Both successful golfers and leaders
demonstrate confidence. We’ve no doubt that when Tiger began his
final round of the US Open he was extremely confident in his ability
to perform at the level necessary to achieve his goals. That was the
attitude he had chosen. Successful leaders are capable of evaluating
a situation, determining the desired end-result, and maintaining the
confidence necessary to achieve the goal. Leaders exude confidence,
but they do so without letting ego influence their attitude or their
actions. Leaders
make decisions. It’s part of the job description. And every decision
involves risk. Yes or no, stop or go, change or do nothing; every
decision can lead to success or failure. A good leader has to
determine which course of action provides the best opportunity to
accomplish the goal. Evaluating risk and making decisions go hand in
hand, in golf or leadership.
When challenged by the environment,
it’s easy to allow negative thoughts and fear to stifle one’s
potential for success. Tiger’s goal of completing his final round
with nothing worse than pars on his scorecard was not accomplished
without fighting through some adversity. The strength and
perseverance of attitude determines ability to overcome the
obstacles in the way of a positive performance.
In Michele’s best-selling book,
Attitude: The Choice is Yours,
she suggests people listen to their “self talk” that channels their
thoughts, feelings, and actions. Paying close attention to the voice
within us will tell us things we believe we can or can’t do. Even
though the odds may be against them, successful leaders or golfers
are able to control what they believe they can achieve. Managing
your attitude can bring positive results, both on and off the golf
course. Remember, you decide how you will think and manage those
thoughts. Attitude is a choice!
Managing Resources
“All fourteen are my favorites. If they are not my favorites,
they are not in the bag.” Tiger Woods, when asked which club was
his favorite. If
you think about it, nearly everything that helps a business operate
could be called a resource. So in order to simplify our discussion
we have divided resources into three categories: intellectual
resources such as information and people, physical resources such as
equipment, and limited resources such as time and money.
Professional golfers might consider
their coach or the statistics available on their performance as
intellectual resources and their clubs as a physical resource. With
time and money as the assets used to acquire these intellectual and
physical resources.
The use of time and money is the same
in the business world and, since both are limited, managing
resources becomes a balancing act. Successful leaders must formulate
a strategy for managing, utilizing, and developing resources.
In golf the term “course
management” refers to the process of developing a game plan for
playing a particular golf course. In business, the analogous term is
“project management.” Throughout the implementation of a
“management” strategy, in golf or business, decisions are constantly
being made to maximize performance and assure proper utilization of
the resources available.
One of the most important intellectual
resources both golfers and leaders can use to identify areas that
need attention are statistics, especially those that measure
performance. The most obvious and significant measures in golf are
the number of tournaments won, the rankings on the money list, and
scoring statistics. Naturally, each round’s score is the core number
that interests the fans and motivates the players.
Beyond these obvious measures, golf
has more statistics than you can imagine. The Professional Golfers
Association maintains information on driving distance and accuracy,
greens in regulation, sand saves, and number of putts, just to name
a few. Therefore, golfers can study every facet of their
performance, allowing them to easily identify areas that require
additional attention in order to improve and set goals.
In business, the obvious and
significant measures are income growth, profitability, and return on
equity. But not all businesses have accurate measurements for the
more intangible elements of their operation, such as customer
service and satisfaction, marketing effectiveness, and others. It is
in this area that business leaders can take a page from golf. They
may need to develop and manage ways to measure the more detailed
aspects of resource performance since, just as in golf; these
details ultimately drive the achievement possible in the more
significant areas of performance.
This process of breaking the “game”
into smaller pieces is an integral part of the management strategies
we spoke of earlier, course management in golf and project
management in business. In golf, course management starts with an
assessment of the golf course as a whole in order to define the
basic pieces of the game plan. From there, each of the 18 holes is
analyzed separately to determine the best strategy for each hole
and, finally, even individual shots are planned so that the golfer
will be in the best position for the next shot. Sometimes the plan
has to be changed; after all, golfers do hit bad shots. But that’s
the idea. This is
the same concept corporate leaders use in project management. Once
the overall goal is defined and resources selected to accomplish
that goal, a leader will break that goal into smaller pieces,
frequently defined in time (monthly, quarterly, etc.) and by
segments. In this way, the process of selecting and managing
resources is simplified, and the team also gets a psychological lift
since each of the smaller tasks appears much more manageable.
Clearly, managing resources is a
difficult and complex task. But when someone asks, “How are you
doing?”, if you can describe your performance in specific measures
rather than just in general terms, your results will be moving in
the right direction. No matter which “game” you play, performance is
directly tied to the appropriate selection and proper management of
resources. We hope
this article has given you insight and suggestions for managing your
“game of life” on and off the golf course. It matters not what you
do, but how you do something that ultimately leads to what you get
out of life. Realize that in order to make a positive impact at
work, home, or play you need to be effective at managing P.A.R.:
the People you rely upon and influence, the Attitude
that channels your action and the Resources available to
achieve desired results.
Keep swinging and enjoy your
“game”!
Michele Matt, CSP – is the co-author of
Magnetic Leadership and
three other books on leadership, strategic planning and attitudes.
As the founder and owner of Inspiring Solutions, she speaks to over
100 different groups at conferences, businesses, schools, and even
prisons each year. She has been swinging a golf club since age 5 and
has won several golf outings and tournaments. In 2005, she
celebrated her first hole-in-one.
Steve Rutledge – is the co-author of
Magnetic Leadership. He
is the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board at Farmers Mutual
Hail Insurance Company of Iowa. During his career, which spans more
than 30 years in insurance and reinsurance, he has served on several
boards and is a frequent speaker at various conferences and
seminars. Among his golf accomplishments are three holes-in-one,
including one at St. Andrews in Scotland.
To order a copy of
Magnetic Leadership,
click here or call 623-322-3851. |
