Integrity Matters Broadcasts, 2006
September 6, 2006
Leading the way with integrity
Dear Friends:
Good news! PGA Magazine, September
- 2006, has published my essay on leadership in
their current issue titled: Leading
the Way.
Leadership
requirements similar for PGA Professionals, corporate
executives
September 2006; By Jim Bracher
Can a PGA Professional teach a CEO something about running
a company successfully? The answer may surprise you.
Successful PGA 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 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
PGA 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 PGA
Professionals because they are able to:
- Control emotions, including anxiety and tension,
quieting the mind.
- Stay in the moment, concentrating and 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.
As managers working with and through others, like other
executives, PGA 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. PGA Professionals
embrace the entrepreneurial approach with optimism, seeing
obstacles as opportunities, with a clear focus on providing
goods and services that generate legitimate profits.
Successful PGA 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.
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.
PGA Professionals and executives make sure clients receive
what they want as well as what they need, and they create
improvement plans, with milestones, with recovery steps
when objectives are not met.
Finally, successful PGA Professionals communicate competencies,
capacities and values. They know that communications
effectiveness is almost always about congruence between
what one says and how one operates.
In conclusion, leadership requirements are the same for
the PGA 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
is about competence, courage and communication.
It begins and ends with listening, and always with integrity.
To view original essay: "What
they didn't teach you in business school that your
golf professional might"
Please consider attending our upcoming one-day workshop
entitled: MBA Impact: Essentials. Learn
more and register for September 20- MBA
Impact: Essentials
Sincerely,
Jim
