Leadership Lessons from Life Series L EADERSHIP L ESSONS from The Game of Golf An 18-Hole Course in Leadership Peter R. Garber HRD Press, Inc. • Amherst • Massachusetts Project1 4/10/06 1:57 PM Page 1 Copyright © 2006, Peter Garber All rights reserved. Any reproduction of this material in any media without written permission of the publisher is a violation of existing copyright laws. Published by: HRD Press 22 Amherst Road Amherst, MA 01002 1-800-822-2801 (U.S. and Canada) 1-413-253-3488 1-413-253-3490 (F ax) www.hrdpress.com ISBN 0-87425-877-4 Cover design by Eileen Klockars Productions services by PerfectType Editorial services by Suzanne Bay New Leadership Golf_fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page ii iii About the Leadership Lessons from Life Series The most important and significant things we learn about life are usually basic and fundamental lessons taught to us early on—lessons that we might have forgotten about, overlooked, or simply taken for granted. Even the most complicated leadership theory has as its source something we were taught when we were young. The Leadership Lessons from Life series is designed to remind us of this wisdom and help us apply it to our efforts to become better, more-effective leaders. Each book in the series is devoted to exploring what we learn from significant people or events in our lives as it relates to our professional endeavors. Even the most challenging leadership and management situations can be changed for the better as a result of insights coming from unexpected sources. As you read each book, you will have a new appreciation for this simple wisdom and find new ways to apply the funda- mental principles to your professional life and responsibilities. Good luck in your never-ending learning journey. May this Leadership Lessons from Life series make the experience valuable and enjoyable. New Leadership Golf_fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page iii New Leadership Golf_fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page iv Introduction Can you learn to be a good leader by playing golf? Believe it or not, you can! There are fundamentals and rules in both endeavors that must be followed if you expect to ever keep up with the competition, let alone beat it. There are also right and wrong ways to perform a particular activity that can make the difference between winning and losing. Leaders and golfers must have perseverance and patience if they are to achieve success. Some golfers and managers never learn the importance of those virtues, however. In golf and in business, you have good days and you have bad days. There are times when the ball just won’t drop in the cup, no matter what you do! And there are some customers who will never be satisfied, no matter how long you work at it. What makes the difference between playing the best round of golf you have ever had in your life and playing the worst? Similarly, what makes the difference in business between satisfying the requirements of the customer and losing their business? Leadership Lessons from the Game of Golf explores these differences and what you can do about them. 1 New Leadership Golf_fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 1 New Leadership Golf_fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 2 Leadership Lessons from the Game of Golf The Course This unique golf course consists of eighteen holes, each one devoted to a principle of management. Like any other 18-hole course, there are a number of obstacles and hazards designed to trip you up or throw you off your game. Play the course by circling “Yes” or “No” after each question or statement. Don’t be too easy on yourself as you answer each question. Be as honest as you can. Then use the scoring key on the page that follows each hole to determine the number of strokes you took to play the hole. A final scorecard is included after the 18th hole so that you can evaluate your overall per- formance and compare it to “par” for the course. Good luck and hit ’em straight! 3 New Leadership Golf_fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 3 New Leadership Golf_fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 4 b Hole #1 Master the Basics of the Game Par 4 • 305 Yards Every golfer knows how stressful it is to play your first real round—not to mention intimidating. Trying to remember all the things the instructor told you to do and still make contact with the ball while your friends are watching doesn’t seem like so much fun. Once you learn the fundamentals of the game, however, it all comes down to practice, practice, and more practice. You can be sure that today’s tournament champions spent hours alone at the beginning of their careers trying to remember to keep their head down and to follow through with their swing. There are known best practices, techniques, and pro- cedures in every game or field of endeavor. Analyze the performance of great leaders and you will undoubtedly learn that they attribute their initial success to mastering the fundamentals. Failure to learn the basics before we immerse ourselves in the game is usually the reason why we have returned products, unhappy customers, missed putts, lost balls, red ink, and yes, embarrassingly high golf scores. The basics of every game are always easier to learn in the beginning, before we make mistakes and go looking in the wrong places for the r oot cause of the mistake. And let’s face it: Bad habits are extremely difficult to break. Besides, they just get in the way of the game. 5 New Leadership Golf_fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 5 New Leadership Golf_fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 6 [...]... sand, or water? They enjoy the challenge of trying to improve their performance—that’s why they play Sharing the golfing experience with others while trying to improve their own game is what the game is all about Why can’t some of the same factors that make golf so much fun be introduced in the workplace? A day at work will never compare to an afternoon at Pebble Beach, but some of the same principles... address the real root cause of the problem? YES NO Do you commit the resources necessary to learn to do the job correctly the first time? YES NO Scoring key on back 7 New Leadership Golf_ fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 8 MASTER THE BASICS OF THE GAME Hole #1 • Par 4 Player: Directions: Record your “score” for each question in the space provided Are you presently striving to master the basics of the game at... help you improve your play The same individual who was so polite to you on the golf course over the weekend might be on 27 New Leadership Golf_ fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 28 the phone today trying to take your customers away from you Do the best you can to treat people the way you want to be treated, but don’t expect too much from the competition off the course! 28 New Leadership Golf_ fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM... golfers coming back for more What would it be like if we took this performance measurement tool away from a golfer? Let’s say that immediately after each shot, you blindfold the golfer and lead him or her to their next shot They have no idea how well or how poorly they hit the ball, and no way of getting feedback about their performance How much enjoyment do you think the golfer would be deriving from. .. on in the process It is important to identify and address the real root cause of problems if you want to completely resolve the problem and prevent it from reoccurring On the other hand, good things can lead to more good things A good golf swing will benefit a golfer on every shot, regardless of club selection, and a good hit off the tee puts you in a better position to hit another good shot In golf, ... continuously improve their performance? YES = 1 stroke NO = 2 strokes _ SCORE TOTAL NUMBER OF STROKES 20 _ New Leadership Golf_ fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 21 SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE If you are going to play golf, you must first learn to speak the language Unfortunately, the language of Golf has few if any similarities to English For instance, in golf an eagle is not the symbol of our nation’s independence...New Leadership Golf_ fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 7 Scorecard MASTER THE BASICS OF THE GAME Hole #1 • Par 4 Player: Directions: Circle “Yes” or “No” for each question And don’t be too easy on yourself Be as truthful as you can Are you presently striving to master the basics of the game at work? YES NO Do you often rely on “gimmicks” to improve your performance, rather than master the basics? YES... People set their own goals in golf and motivate themselves to achieve them Wouldn’t work be a lot more fun if we could do the same thing? Most golfers have a continuous-improvement plan—a goal or a score they would like to beat, or a fault they would like to correct It is this drive for continuous improvement that keeps even the most frustrated golfer counting the days to the weekend to play another round... you aspire to be a good golfer, you must learn the right way to play the game, and apply those lessons on every swing The same 23 New Leadership Golf_ fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 24 holds true in business How much money is lost each year by managers who do what is easiest or expedient, rather than what is most effective? 24 New Leadership Golf_ fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 25 Scorecard DO THE RIGHT THINGS Hole... measurement tools to help others improve their performance? YES = 1 stroke NO = 2 strokes _ SCORE TOTAL NUMBER OF STROKES 16 _ New Leadership Golf_ fin b 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 17 Hole #4 Keep the Game Fun Par 3 • 152 Yards Why do golfers have so much fun lugging a bag of heavy clubs around for miles and miles on the weekend, just so they can hit an unpredictable little ball and then chase it into tall . about them. 1 New Leadership Golf_ fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 1 New Leadership Golf_ fin 4/10/06 1:12 PM Page 2 Leadership Lessons from the Game of Golf The. business between satisfying the requirements of the customer and losing their business? Leadership Lessons from the Game of Golf explores these differences and