A study by Gueorgui Kolev and Robin Hogarth discovered that CEOs and Directors who frequently hit the links earned 17% more than their non-golfing peers.
In this post, we discuss how improving your golf game positively impacts your career. This includes recruitment, training, strategy, and execution. You can implement lessons learned on the golf course in the boardroom.
Initial Investment
Every business or project needs an initial investment. Without it, you cannot recruit the right resources, train them and market your product or service.
Golf is precisely the same. If you do not fork out the necessary investment for suitable clubs and coaching, you will struggle to see results.
Resources
Resources are essential to the growth and success of your business, be it human, financial, land, or inventory. Minimal financial resources restrict your ability to conduct research and development, leading to a lack of innovation and growth.
In addition, a quality team is needed to plan and execute your ideas. If you hire the incorrect people for the job, the prospects of success are diminished. Plus, when you do not hold the required inventory, you cannot expect to produce the desired product or service.
Your resources include your finances, golf clubs, and coach. Therefore, you must decide how to distribute your budget to acquire adequate equipment and regular coaching sessions. Purchasing clubs that do not fit your swing or not taking lessons will slow your growth.
Training
Regular training sessions are essential to equip your team with the knowledge and skills required to execute their tasks. That is why new employees undergo onboarding training. In addition, they should receive frequent mentoring on new procedures, products, and services.
Whether you’re a C-level executive, senior computer programmer, or a virtual assistant at a company, training is needed.
Golf demands the same approach. That is why you should take lessons before venturing onto the course for the first time. Skipping class as a beginner will hamper your development and increase frustration.
Think about your business and the importance of training. If you fail to prepare your team for success, they stand little chance of reaching their goal. This creates frustration for everyone involved and does not promote progress.
Strategy
Golf and business both also rely on strategy. A strategic plan is vital to guide your business to higher heights. However, simply creating a roadmap is insufficient. Your objectives must follow the S.M.A.R.T. guidelines.
This provides a blueprint for your team to follow to help them achieve the desired outcome. Like a business strategy, golf requires short, medium, and long-term plans to improve your performance.
Your plan for the current hole represents a short-term strategy in golf. Where should you aim off the tee for the simplest approach to the green?
How far do you need to hit it to have a comfortable mid to short-iron for your second shot? Which side of the fairway offers the safest area in case I mishit my tee shot?
Based on those answers, you strategize how to play the hole and get down in as few strokes as possible.
Furthermore, a medium-term strategy could be your goal for an upcoming tournament or round of golf. If the wind is forecasted, you may substitute high launching hybrids for low-flying long irons. This reduces the impact of the breeze and is the safest way to navigate these conditions.
Finally, a long-term strategy would be working towards a handicap target. For example, you may wish to reach a 14-handicap in two years.
Therefore, you and your coach devise a plan to improve your long, mid and short game to shave strokes off your current handicap.
Learn From Your Mistakes
Even the best plans are worthless when they are poorly executed. This is where training comes to the forefront. When your team is prepared for action, they are less likely to panic while executing a task.
However, sometimes, they stutter and deliver undesirable results. Naturally, that is part of the overall learning process.
No matter how often you practice or receive lessons, your shot doesn’t always come off the way you planned. Therefore, it teaches you the importance of recovering from your mistakes.
For example, if you slice your drive into the rough, calm down, get yourself back into play, and think about your training.
FAQ
What Is An Executive Golf Course?
Despite the misleading name, an executive golf course is not designed for powerful business figures. Instead, it features a shorter layout than a standard 18 or 9-hole golf course. On average, an 18-hole executive golf course measures less than 5,200 yards.
Conclusion
Growing your company into a household name requires a similar procedure to lowering your golf handicap. For starters, it is not a cheap game and requires a substantial initial investment to acquire clubs and receive frequent lessons.
In addition, you need the correct equipment and training to navigate the business world and the golf course successfully.
Finally, a concrete strategy is a prerequisite to lowering your handicap and increasing the revenue of your business.
