Does your boss really want you to know more about golf? Chances are if you want to be on their good side and do better in the company, the answer is yes.
But why, you ask?
There are plenty of reasons. Golf can not only help you business-wise, especially in sales but also helps your relationship with your boss and co-workers.
Golf can be a great tool that can aid in getting ahead in any business. No matter what your business is, there are many ways golf can help. The first thing any boss wants you to know is the basics of how to play. Other than that here are 14 things you should know about golf and why your boss wants you to know them.
1. It's challenging and that's ok:
Just like so many things we start, we do so with inexperience, often not realizing how challenging things can be. The pros in both golf and business make it look easy, it's not. Spend a few minutes at a driving range and you can figure that out. To get good at golf, just as it is to get good at your job, takes time and patience. To reach success takes repetition to the honing of your skills.
2. Punctuality is important:
Punctuality is a sign of respect towards others. To succeed in golf and business you must be on time. If you are late for your tee time, often your reservation will be passed on to the next player or group. Just as in business if you are late for a business meeting, you may have a deal passed on to the next company. Be late to work and your position may be given to the next in line for it.
3. Count on adversity:
Talk to any golfer professional or amateur and they will tell you, the "perfect" round is nearly considered a myth. Golfers, time and time again, hope for a round with the fewest mistakes. Even the best rounds have one or two shots putting players in a difficult spot. The key is to not let the bad shots control the rest of the shots to come or have a negative impact. In business, things will surprise you and catch you off guard and have a negative impact. The important thing is to remain focused on the goal and not let a bad break mentally take you out of the game.
4. Know where you are aiming:
When playing golf one of the most important things to do is know where you are aiming. You do not just get up and hit a ball blindly and hope it goes where you need it to. The green is your goal and if you don't know where that goal is you can't aim at it. If you want to succeed in business you must know what your goal is and have a plan to reach that goal.
5. Be Patient:
As we mentioned with number 1, golf is challenging. You are not going to become a pro golfer overnight. You have to work at and improve your skills day by day. The same goes for business, no company will become a fortune 500 overnight. You can't expect instant success and must be patient and give it time.
6. Having a strategy:
Watch any professional golf tournament and you will hear about players and their caddies walking the course days before they play their tournament round. Many players do this to learn the course layout, possible hole locations, and to look for potential problems. From there they develop a strategy of how to attack the golf course. Building a strategy for projects or tasks in business should be approached the same way. Having a strategy for different stages, of your career or just a project, is highly effective.
7. Take your time:
As we mentioned with being patient, success won't come overnight. However, being patient isn't the same as taking your time. In golf, you need to take your time gathering information for your shot. Knowing how far your target is, slope angles, and more all go into the preparation of taking a shot. Just because you have all the correct information, you do not rush through the shot. Regardless of what career you are in having all the correct information won't mean a thing if you rush through the execution. Take your time with the information, process it, and execute it when ready.
8. Do the job you are meant to:
Do you ever see a professional golfer carrying their own clubs? No. Why not? It is not the job they are supposed to do. Their job is to play the course in the least amount of strokes as possible. It is their caddie's job to carry the clubs and help them with their strategy. They each have a specific job that contributes to their ultimate goal, to win the golf tournament. In any business, this works the same. You were hired for a specific job, just as a co-worker was, and together that helps the company reach its ultimate goals.
9. You can start slow and still finish strong:
In golf, there is a front nine and a back nine, 18-holes total. Many avid golf fans will tell you, tournaments are won on the back nine. Whether at an amateur or professional level, many golfers will start off shaky before finding their rhythm after a few holes. Once you find that rhythm you can build momentum all the way to the end. Just because things do not start off smoothly does not mean you can't have a strong run ahead of you. Don't start to question yourself. If your daily work isn't resulting in the success you hoped for you can change how you are doing things. Just stay in the game and find a way to finish strong.
10. You have another shot:
You may miss your first shot, but you can take another one. It may affect your score in golf, but it does not mean you failed. Being able to try again is what life is all about. If you fail at your first attempt, so what? Take another run at it or take a different approach to it. You will always have another shot at a career choice, project, or business venture. You don't fail unless you give up. Remember the old saying "If at first, you don't succeed, try, try again."
11. Being a good sport:
Win or lose in golf, being a good sport you still shake hands with your opponent. That shows sportsmanship which will win you many friends. That same sportsmanship will help you achieve success in your career as well. Being a good sport with any success or failure is key to business relationships and your relationships with co-workers.
12. Honesty and Integrity:
Golf is a game mostly played on an honor system. It is mainly up to the player to call a penalty on themselves. If you play golf alone, but would still play by the rules and call a penalty on yourself, that shows you have integrity and are honest. Those traits go a long way in any business or career. If you are running late to work or a meeting would you make an excuse or be honest? Would you take the blame for a mistake? Having honesty and integrity in your career or any business situation will take you far.
13. Relationship building:
Golf being a leisure sport gives you a great chance to get to know others you are playing with. With a time frame between 3 to 5 hours in a relaxed atmosphere, you can learn a lot about someone you just met or get to know someone else better than you do. Golf is great for building relationships with co-workers and developing a comradery of sorts. Time spent getting to know your co-workers will make a more enjoyable workplace. Building relationships with clients on the golf course is also great. Getting to know a client, where they really get to know you, and you are not pressuring them into perhaps buying something can lead to a better relationship which can also lead to more business with that client. Also since golf is not gendered specific it gives women and men the same opportunity to use golf to build relationships.
14. Learning to laugh:
If you hit a bad shot in golf you can either laugh at your failed attempt or get angry. If you learn to laugh off your failures with humor it will make it easier to learn from your mistakes. Getting angry will only lead to more anger. Anger makes you lose focus and not learn from your mistake. The more you stay angry will lead to more potential mistakes you can make. Learn to laugh and you will stay relaxed, learn from your mistakes, and be able to correct them faster.
Golf is a tool that can be used in many ways for any company and for anyone in any career. Many entrepreneurs and business owners have used golf to make business contacts, strengthen bonds with employees, or make business deals.
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