Archive for May, 2009
The Parallels of Golf and Leading Your Business
First of all I want to credit my friend, client and fellow golfer, Deb Waitkus, with the idea for this article. Deb is the founder and CEO of Golf for Cause. She is an expert in demystifying the game, turning ‘Golf into GoldTM, and leveraging golf for business. The Rules of Golf which as you may know can be very obscure, daunting, and at time bewildering. It struck me as I read them there are many parallels between golf and leading a business. The rules of leading effectively can also be quite daunting and at times bewildering.
The Royal and Ancient Club may not have had business lessons in mind when those rugged Scotsman devised this challenging game, but they did us all a great service both recreationally and professionally when they codified the rules of the game over the years. Here are a few samples of how golf and business parallel each other.
| Golf | Business |
| Penalty Strokes | OK, you goofed. You did something by mistake or even knowingly did something that you could have done better. Be honest about it, admit the error, take the penalty stroke, learn from the error and move on. |
| Maximum 14 Clubs | What are the 14 ‘go to’ tools you use most frequently and effectively to lead and manage effectively? Golfers are continually following technological development and buying new clubs to get that edge. Are your ‘leadership tools’ the ones you need in your bag? Are you technologically savvy? |
| Be Ready | Being ready and prepared for your next shot are critical in maintaining pace enjoying your round of golf. Are you anticipating and are you ready to meet your next business challenge? Are you considering the lie, have you lined up your next move, can you visualize the ability of your company to respond, are the other players on your team ready to respond? |
| Etiquette | Golf is not just getting the lowest score. It is also about etiquette, honesty, and following the rules. You learn a great deal about a person’s character, ethic and personal code of conduct when you’re playing a round of golf. Wouldn’t it be nice to know how your potential clients and colleagues react under pressure before you engage them in business? You can learn this in a friendly round of golf. |
For those of you that are golfers I have adapted the Slow Play Test from Golf for Cause newsletter to a Slow Play Test for Leaders and Managers.
Slow Play Test for Leaders and Managers Yes No
| 1. Am I courteous? | ||
| 2. Do I know when it is appropriate to make the next move to close the deal or coach a subordinate? | ||
| 3 Am I ready and proactive when action is needed? | ||
| 4. Do I note the reaction and change in market to my strategy and tactics; do I learn from the markets reaction? | ||
| 5. Do I delay and procrastinate to avoid difficulty decisions? | ||
| 6. If in doubt, do I have a contingency plan prepared? | ||
| 7. Am I decisive and committed to my decisions? | ||
| 8. Do I know how to ‘take relief’ and guide my team when minor adjustments need to be made? | ||
| 9. Am I preparing for my next leadership action as I observe the activities of my team? | ||
| 10. Do I note the score, take a quick assessment of results and then move on rather than dwelling on the past? |
An article, “The High Cost of Employee Disengagement” (http://www.wistechnology.com/articles/983) is not only informative, but also quite startling. As a leader of your organization you are also likely to find the content disturbing because it presents such a challenge to us as leaders. I suspect we all think we are doing a better job than we really are.
I am in the midst of an organizational assessment for a regional professional service firm. Fortunately, I am finding the vast majority of their employees are engaged which is demonstrated through their hard work and committed to results. Further, the great news is the leaders want to know how the entire organization can be more successful, thus the request to conduct the assessment. While most of their employees are already engaged, I want to help them see the ROI potential they have by providing the direction and culture through which ALL the employees can become fully engaged.
The Gallup Organization’s most recent Employee Engagement Index reports:
- Active disengagement costs the US $300 billion a year in lost productivity at a time when we cannot afford it (just imagine the positive impact on our economy if we could turn this around)
- 17% or 22.5 million workers are actively disengaged (unhappy, busy acting out their frustrations, angry, alienated, poisoning others, involved in idle chatter, etc.)
- Each one of these disengaged employees costs their employer $13K per year in lost productivity
- Only 22% of workers are truly engaged working with passion and commitment to their company
- At least 71% are on cruise control
So why do 7 out of 10 workers feel a high degree of apathy? And, more importantly, what can you as a leader do to avoid this drain on your organization?
For decades, employees have been saying the same thing in almost every employee survey report. Their lack of engagement comes primarily from managers whom they perceive do not care about them, lack of clarity about the goals of their organization, poor communications (lack of information needed to do their job well, about company performance, and about their own personal performance), the perceived inability to influence the results of the organization, and weak accountability.
Those of us in the organizational development (OD) profession would say the source is the lack of an effective organizational culture. A culture that lacks leadership, a clear vision of where the organization is going, an appropriate organizational structure, accountability and measurements of success, an intentional communications systems, etc. When employees have clarity about where the organization is going and how they can add value, when they believe their manager cares about their welfare and their contribution, they feel respected, valued and are rewarded appropriately, and when they have the information and tools to do their job well, the vast majority of the time they will be engaged, committed and contribute positively.
So if you have an abundance of ‘water cooler conversations’ going on in your own organization, take a quick assessment of what might be missing from your culture that is allowing so many employees to spend some portion of their time unproductively. Leading by example and holding everyone accountable for results are critical to producing results through highly satisfied employees.
Content versus Process – Your Role and Mine
You know the old adage…’there are two kinds of people in the world’. There are many ways to look at this dichotomy – men and women, old and young, tall and short, and so on. I’d add another. There are process people and those who can’t stand process. I’m the process type. This article focuses on the valuable role a skilled facilitator can play in helping you and your group move toward achieving better results faster.
What is a facilitator?
A facilitator is a process person. Their job is to manage the process of information exchange, decision-making, discussion-guidance, and effective group dynamics in order to achieve the results you are targeting for your work session. In short, the facilitator’s responsibility is to address the journey rather than the destination. You concentrate on the content and destination and the facilitator concentrates on the process and journey.
Why would you want to use a facilitator?
That’s easy! You want to use a facilitator in order to free yourself and other group members to be able to concentrate on the quality of the content and decisions, to optimize your time, and to maximize group effectiveness. Gee! With all those benefits, why wouldn’t you want to use a facilitator?
When would you want to use a facilitator? Anytime you are concerned with…
* both the decisions and how they are made
* optimizing the time invested by the group
* ensuring an inclusive process and quality results
* reducing resistance and increasing employee buy-in
* accommodating and managing a variety of styles, interests, and agendas
In short, anytime you and your staff as content experts want to be free from managing the process, and need to optimize time, effort and results.
How do you specify your needs?
A good facilitator will know how to help you design the work session in order to optimize results, but it is helpful if you can…
* articulate the outcomes you want to achieve
* characterize the perspectives of the participants
* share the norms the group currently uses
* lead by example so others are willing to give up their sense of control of the process in order to concentrate on the quality of the content and the decisions being made.
Are Your Routines Stifling Your Possibilities?
Don’t get me wrong – I love routines. They are familiar, easy, often effective, some times pleasurable. But that may be precisely the problem. For the very same reasons, routines are also dangerously seductive. Undue reliance on them can cause us to become handcuffed, ultimately causing our today’s and tomorrow’s to look like our yesterday’s. Daily, well-trodden pathways can produce well-worn feelings. Be careful of routines, sometimes they are so good they are bad.
Of course, routines cannot be beaten when they help us accomplish recurring tasks, but if we want to construct wonderful memories, then we may need to halt what is ordinary and orderly in order to do what is extraordinary and new.
For many of us, our professional lives do us a favor. They provide variety and challenge. Even so, there is routine. We leave for work at about the same time each day, we travel the same route, we do similar tasks each day, we go home by the same route at about the same time, we eat, watch TV, check e-mail and voice mail, go to bed at the same general time, etc. And wake up tomorrow in order to leave for work at the same time and do it all over again.
How about it? Will you remember today, tomorrow or the next day one year from now? If not, then maybe it’s time to give yourself a break from your routine. Have an adventure. Make that call. Arrange that trip. Visit that place. Introduce yourself. Make a beginning. Make an ending. Write it. Buy it. Say it.
You gave many other people gifts. It’s time to give yourself the gift of possibilities and make your days and your life memorable.