HOW'S YOUR ROUND?

HOW’S YOUR ROUND?

“Our life and leadership are like a round of golf; we begin and end at the same place and the only thing that really counts at the end of the day is the things that we did in between and how we did them.” I said that.

When we embark on a round of golf or we choose leadership we select a course and who we want to play with. The tools we bring with us, our dedication to development, and the known skills and attitudes of our partners are also our choice.

We must never forget or disrespect those who laid the paths for us to follow even when their tools were limited to walking with a Niblet and a Cleek. They never played cart paths only or 90 degrees. They always came prepared to use what they had and each one was committed to the other. They respected the game.

Great leaders and great golfers from the past always brought determination, an appreciation of the game and social interaction, a brotherhood, a desire to play well and plenty of balls. They never blamed their failures on inherited clubs, too much wind, hard sand, tall trees or too much water. Neither the union groundskeepers nor the unpredictable governing weathermen were ever responsible for their poor showing.

Even leaders who don’t play golf should pay attention to the lessons from the game. Take a correct stance, set your feet, have a firm posture, listen to coaches, make up your mind, relax and trust the shot, don’t wobble, stop leaning, keep your head down, make smooth transitions, be respectful of others, know the game, be quiet, get a grip and don’t cheat.

When you select partners, in leadership or in golf, don’t pick those who share your weaknesses. A team is a group who are able to take different approaches and whose combined talents end up complementing one another on the scorecard of teamwork and leadership. If you are only a starter, and you surround yourself with only starters, always remember someone, eventually, will have to putt. I didn’t make up the game, but that is how it is played.

Did you come to lead, to play or just to be seen riding and looking pretty in the buggy?

Leaders who score consistently are less concerned about how they look in their knickers and more concerned about being consistent, being correct, trusting and pulling up their big boy pants and hitting the leadership ball toward the flag. That is the essence of leadership, decision making and golf based upon historical lessons of followership and the applause from the gallery.

Always respect the gallery and listen to them. They can make you look good or really look bad. How you interact with them, treat them and acknowledge them determines whether they are waiting to see you or waiting for you, whether they heckle you or follow you.

Leaders and golfers must make the best decisions based on existing conditions and our skills. Each shot, good or bad, should be evaluated and remembered so as to be applied in a more logical and successful way and to a better outcome during future rounds. Golf and leadership challenges are much the same no matter where we play and they always repeat themselves, round after round.

If our leadership and our golf shots are repeatedly the same with poor preparation, poor choices and poor results, we are either satisfied with bogey, or worse, or we never dedicated enough effort to feel the excitement of a gallery, or an occasional eagle or a birdie.

Leaders who are arrogant, narcissistic, indecisive and self focused only serve to annoy those who are behind you who will resent you because your poor play is holding them up, wasting their time and causing their principled play to suffer. Eventually the marshals will come and tell you to move on.

If you can’t overcome the leadership yips get a tennis racket, find a cinder block wall and some softer balls. The balls will always bounce back to you, no one will see your pitiful swings, no one will suffer or die from your failed play, the wall doesn’t care and your shot creativity and success rate is known only to you so you can make up the success of your innovations and creativity as you choose to portray it.

Are you scared, indecisive, inconsistent or over the top?

Can we play through? I have somewhere to be and someone needs me.

You can’t buy a golf game or successful leadership, but each does require an investment.

Stop with the waggle, it’s getting dark.

Thanks for reading, sharing, liking and leading.

Have a great day – it’s a GREAT day for it.