Now, I’m not suggesting you must learn how to play golf to have a successful career, but I 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.

My grandfather taught me how to play golf as a young girl. Ironically, he game me some great lessons about life as well. A couple weeks ago, while playing golf with a client I had my first hole-in-one…whether you call it skill or just plain luck; I believe there are many aspects about golf that carry over into business. 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
Managing People begins with the recognition that whether it’s the game of golf or leadership, you can’t do it all yourself. 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.

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.

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
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.

Both successful golfers and leaders demonstrate confidence. 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. The strength and perseverance of attitude determines ability to overcome the obstacles in the way of a positive performance.

In my best-selling book, Attitude: The Choice is Yours, I suggest 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
If you think about it, nearly everything that helps a business operate could be called a resource and can be 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.
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.

It matters not what you do (game you play or work 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”!

--- This was an excerpt from “Links to Leadership” written by Michele Matt and Steve Rutledge. Read more about the topic and others in the book Magnetic Leadership.