Why Use Golf to Develop Leadership?

There is a striking similarity between the game of golf and leadership. Once the analogies are made clear to you, you might wonder why not see it before. By the time you’ve finished reading this, you will know the major connections and feel compelled to learn more.

35% of golfers in the UK are senior executives, professionals or executives, according to Mintel. This rises to 43.3% in London golfers. And 12.8% of all golfers in the UK are senior managers, executives or professionals – which is about 1.8 million golfers are senior managers, executives and professionals in the UK! (Source: GB TGI, BMRB Quarter 4 2006/Mintel) 44% of senior executives and professionals in the UK have played, or would like to play golf. (Source: BMRB / Mintel) Add another 1.4 million directors (Source: GB TGI, BMRB Quarter 4 2006/Mintel) and you realize how big of a sport has become a golf course – and predominantly identification Abc1 playing the game, and still predominantly male – 83%!

In part, business leaders, particularly those with certain sales or marketing role, playing golf with the prospect of networks and customers. There is no doubt about the status of being a member of the golf club, and that part is the “coincidence” of playing golf and being a business leader.

The characteristics of those who play golf and show business leaders that are very similar. For example, the desire to score well (even win) a game of golf. A worry about their performance and try to improve their personal relationship with a strong ‘Achievement Orientation’. I want to do well, because I want to do it right!

There are differences, and also important. In golf, the golfer is playing against the course. It is one of the few sports where the game has no other effect on the performance of the player at all … unless it (and still is predominantly “I”) permits. This is not the case with most business leaders, where the performance can be affected by the performance of others. Therefore, the golf course is where a player can surely take the attitude, my actions and issues that their actions only change the result. This suggests that the desire for control – or Directiveness.

76% of golfers play for social reasons (GMI / Mintel) – which shows a desire, if not the capacity, powers of influence and communication.

So why use golf to develop leadership?

The game of golf attracts business leaders more than other groups – and perhaps the above findings indicate why. Thus it became increasingly clear that our team of golf can be an attractive idea for development within this group, and the game of golf itself could be deliberately used to develop the skills and behaviors associated with leadership. In fact, many of our customers confirm the attractiveness of our golf training programs for senior management through the application of training to take place in golf clubs.

Our research using simulations has shown that a truly safe environment to practice the tools and techniques of leadership and management, participants not only learn more (23% higher learning) to use more traditional methods such as case studies enjoy most (17% higher) and demonstrate a greater transfer of new behaviors in the workplace (26% greater transfer).

Not only this, but studies in societies where women feel disadvantaged in management showed a greater improvement demonstrated in the management of skills of leadership and after a program based on the simulation of a traditional program of its male 16% greater improvement in demonstrated competencies. The key to the success of the use of simulations is that they offer a realistic, safe environment to practice the tools, techniques and good leadership behaviors (Kenworthy 2005)

Golf is a safe, realistic environment?

The good news is that golf is one of the few activities that truly offers a level playing field – through the well-established inability of the system. May not be perfect, but very close. This means that a player competes quite a beginner with zero. There are also rules in the game should be played – they represent the difficulties of doing business. Establishes rules that encourage or Foursomes peers to work together, and there are rules to encourage competition in the individual business-sometimes we want our business leaders and to be “go-Getters” – for example, on other occasions, we want to be team leaders or team players.

Caddies, a perfect metaphor for coaches and mentors. The course offers a varied environment, changing according to the things that are beyond the control of the player, but observable by them. The hole sets a goal, the course provides a strategic plan to achieve the real goal. The points are directly related to income or profits. The clubs and balls are resources – including those of golf can be a consultant resource.

The game of golf offers a fantastic platform to learn leadership – its safe and fair, is as realistic as you need it to be and is fun!

Can you play golf to develop leadership?

There is no doubt about the game of golf that share the characteristics of good leadership, but if golf is the game that develops the person as a leader or leadership that makes a golfer is an open question . Like any training program for large-scale leadership development needs solid support model development. Unfortunately it is not much good to tell someone to be Jack Welch, or even tell someone what makes Jack Welch – who does not make you a leader. Also, you can simply try to develop the 10, 7 habits, 12 and so much of the best leaders in the world – leadership is personal – the first step in becoming a leader is to take care of yourself and align their personal values to achieve what you want to achieve. If it were that easy then there would not be a problem of leadership anywhere in the world today.

Solid Foundations

Effective leadership development (in fact, for adults to learn effectively) the student needs to go through three processes of learning according to Bloom-cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning. We need to develop knowledge about leadership, feelings associated with emotion or the desire to learn the skills and physically to put knowledge into practice.

Most business leaders have some knowledge about what constitutes “good” leadership – although few practice all the time. They have seen “good” example of leadership by others in their past or present. They may have read a book on leadership – and the 7 Habits. Where most of these often do not become new behavior is twofold – first, more examples of “good” leadership is often done “naturally” to prove that the person who often refer to them as “born leaders. They are” good “leaders, but not consciously know what they do – and therefore are unable to share with others what they should or could do. Most of the books other hand, tend to focus on one aspect – how to be a leader – in this case is the Director General Large and this is what he must do the same. distil or ‘best’ behavior and provide a checklist for you to do “good” leadership.

In the former situation, the “born leader” can not (or unwilling) to give the knowledge needed to learn. In the latter (books), which often do not make an emotional connection to the application of knowledge (not you’ve bought the book, therefore, you should want to learn), or simple application that provides checklists, to do this, this, in this work. If the new “habit” does not work the first time, the book offers little or no guidance about what to do now.

What people need is a synthesis of tools, techniques, attitudes and attributes of “good” leadership within a structured model is supported by templates that let you learn the physical behavior. And one way to ensure an emotional hook is learning using the game of golf as a metaphor, and golf provides a way for you to put your physical practice by yourself first – that is, self-leadership, then you can use the templates work. All practices within a safe and realistic, which is fun.

Building on this base to a safe environment for learning and a realistic simulation of business on the golf course and has the leadership development that really does what it says on the box.