Resources...
PGA GOLF PROFESSIONALS
AND LEADERSHIP - April 20, 2006
"What they
didn't teach you in business school that your golf
professional might"
by James F. Bracher*
Can a golf-pro teach a CEO something about running
a company successfully? The answer may surprise you.
Successful PGA golf professionals not only play well
but also relate maturely with many different people,
maintaining commitments to the highest principles
of golf. They perform excellently, while simultaneously
managing others productively. They teach students
of all ages constructively and communicate effectively;
while simultaneously mastering their own emotional
reactions, intellectual and strategic challenges
and performance demands. Playing consistently at
or below par defines the scratch golfer, but not
necessarily a golf professional. Those at the top
of the game can teach more than driving, chipping and
putting. They are master leaders as well.
First, they understand and model the behaviors required
to play golf at a consistently high level. They are golf
professionals because they are able to:
- Control emotions, including anxiety and tension,
quieting the mind
- Stay in the moment, concentrating - leaving bad
shots behind
- Assess circumstances continuously, both opportunities
and risks
- Concentrate, relying on individual routine throughout
performance
- Stick with decisions, visualizing and executing
without uncertainty or fear
- Maintain confidence and rhythm; sustaining balance
and calm
- Remember to see, feel and hit the ball - with confidence
and intensity
- Acknowledge that performance at this level has
already qualified those who have the talent and discipline
to perform, consistently, at the highest levels.
At the professional level, it is foremost about attitude
- monitoring and controlling emotions; and, of course,
keeping score with integrity.
Second, as managers working with and through colleagues,
like other executives, golf professionals exhibit these
seven "best-in -class" inspiring leadership
behaviors. They elect to be the role model for what
is expected from others - all the time; establish goals
with clear parameters that encourage innovation, risk
and experimentation, leveraging original ideas and
creativity. Productive professionals clarify accountabilities,
measuring frequently and consistently; reward appropriately
for high levels of performance and innovation; and,
teach constantly. Leaders replace those, in timely
ways, who are unwilling or unable to "be" partners
and supporters of high-level client-centered service
culture. Golf professionals embrace the entrepreneurial
approach with optimism, seeing obstacles as opportunities,
with a clear focus on providing goods and services
that generate legitimate profits.
You are now halfway through this essay about PGA Golf
Professionals and Leadership. Have you discovered many differences
between effective golf leadership and general management? The answer is probably
no. Ancient Wisdom teaches that "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing
yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is
true power." Golf professionals and effective executives master themselves
first before presuming to manage others. So what two additional insights might
be learned by observing competent golf professionals?
Third, successful golf professionals are also teachers.
Like effective executives, they transfer performance
excellence to students or colleagues, of all ages,
all the time. They know that teaching with impact involves
asking the right questions, after having made, and
then confirmed, perceptive observations. Golf professionals
and other effective leaders make every effort to incorporate
these six constructive actions into their daily interactions.
They determine the development objectives of the
student - assessing physical ability, strength, coordination
and capacity; and, evaluate client expectations against
current assets - confirming reasonable goals, while
setting legitimate improvement milestones that a
professional can justify.
Leaders know how to utilize client-specific tools and
processes that accelerate learning - always leveraging
the uniqueness of each instructor's assets, both intellectual
and athletic. These tools may include: video equipment
and data to confirm developmental needs, training aids
and golf-swing improvement exercises, varied environments
- practice facilities versus on-course play and coaching,
and always, keeping records to monitor progress.
Golf professionals and executives make sure clients
receive what they want as well as what they need; and,
they create improvement plan, with milestones, with
recovery steps when objectives are not met.
Fourth, and finally, successful golf professionals
communicate competencies, capacities and values. They
know that communications effectiveness is almost always
about congruence between what one says and how one
operates. Once again it is about balancing and integrating
the demands of the emotional, intellectual and physical.
Communicating is about feeling the message, understanding
the requirements of the listening audience and then
doing the real work of choosing relationship-building
words and presenting them in transforming ways. Both
the golf professional and the successful executive
know their own strengths and weaknesses and are open
about them. Since others observe us anyway, and generally
have a good sense for where we are, then why not save
the stress caused by denial, and simply be more transparent?
Effective communicators ask for assistance, graciously,
and are prepared to provide an elevator speech to anyone,
at almost any time, which needs to be about 30 seconds
in length, that defines the skills and services for
which one is paid. Concise introductions are good marketing.
They are also excellent methods to lead others toward
developing roles and responsibilities that will support
the lead function, streamlining and strengthening teamwork,
productivity and profitability. In addition, talented
professionals recognize that the leader is seldom,
if ever, off duty and as a consequence, being the role
model is likely to be the most effective way to communicate
who one is, what can be provided, and how well those
tasks will be performed. As a consequence they continuously
refine verbal and non-verbal communication skills,
as the demands and expectations continue to rise throughout
careers. For the golf professional or corporate leader,
the key to success is continuous learning, whether
as performer, manager, teacher or communicator. Listening
is essential.
In conclusion, leadership requirements are the same for
the golf professional, corporate executive, parent, surgeon,
teacher, religious leader, farmer, politician, attorney,
gardener or technologist. Professionals always do the
job with excellence, helping others learn while consistently
communicating with sensitivity and graciousness. Leadership,
just about everywhere, is about competence, courage and
communication. It begins and ends with listening and,
always, with integrity.
*James F. Bracher
*Jim Bracher is the architect for
the renewal of integrity-centered leadership. He created
the Bracher Center for Integrity in Leadership as
an extension of his 35 years advising 8000 individuals
and 400 organizations. The motivation for the Bracher
Center grew from suggestions of clients. They
realized that Jim’s executive development firm, Dimension
Five Consultants, Inc., Monterey, California,
was founded in 1980, and had been collecting data concerning
effective and integrity-centered leadership. Clients
and friends recognized his knowledge could enable those
in positions of responsibility to gain insight into
their own operational effectiveness as well as that
of their organizations – improving service quality
and the bottom-line. Member: Monterey Peninsula
Country Club, Pebble Beach, California; and, Tehama
Golf Club, Carmel Valley, California. Client: DNA Golf,
since 1998, learning to play golf at a higher level
while studying professional golfers and their leadership
responsibilities.
Co-author:
Integrity Matters with Daniel
E. Halloran, 2004.
