The Business Golfer….Chapter Fifteen

This is another in a continuing series of articles relating the similarities of being a good golfer to those of a being a good businessman.  The author is Jim Masters,  Business Coach, International Trainer and Area Developer for FocalPoint Business Coaching.  This installment…

Are You Playing With a Full Set?

“Most Golfers prepare for disaster.  A good golfer prepares for success.” 

            Bob Toski, Legendary PGA Teaching Professional

When I came across this quote, I was fascinated by its application to both golf and business.  How many times do we hear failing business people, blaming others, outside influences and the economy for their misfortunes?  Instead of using all the tools available and refining how the tools are employed, they spend their time figuring out how they can justify failure….preparing for their own “disaster”.

In golf, the most easily recognized tools, the golfer employs is his/her clubs.  A set of clubs commonly consists of woods (no longer wood, but ultra high-tech metal construction) hybrids, long irons, mid irons, short irons and a putter.  Each club is designed for a specific purpose and the good golfer knows how to maximize the performance of each club.  This is important, since the rules of golf limit the number of clubs a golfer can have in his bag to fourteen.  Now, believe me, I’ve heard lots of golfers lament that they wish they could carry more clubs…very few ever wish they had fewer.  I also find golfers are habitually trying out new clubs or new technologies in an effort to make sure their 14 clubs are the best 14 clubs or tools they can find.

Yet so many business people I meet limit their potential by playing with the same set of tools with which they started.  Some even shun new technologies, updated techniques or current best practices.  The say to themselves, “Surely, if I just keep doing what I’m doing, and maybe even more of it, things will turn around.”  Essentially, they have made a subconscious choice to prepare for disaster by relying on a rusty old, less than full, set of tools to use in their business!

Here’s an important point…I am not simply advocating that every golfer should just run out and get new clubs, or every business person just spend a bunch of money upgrading machinery and equipment.  That’s only part of the answer.  Upgrading “hardware” is indeed part of a winning equation for success, however, the other piece of the formula is to make sure the “software” is working at peak efficiency as well.  The best club swung by a bad golfer still gets bad results.  The best equipment used incorrectly by a business, still results in failure.  Enhancing our skills (the software)   maximizes the results we obtain when we use the right tools (the hardware).

How do we make sure we have the best tools/skills and use them effectively in our business?  As a business coach, I take on the role of a “swing coach” for my business clients.  I bring a wide array of tools, including my personal experience , our Brian Tracy content and the experience of my colleagues  into play for my clients… all of our coaching tools are designed to make sure the businesses “software” and “hardware” are aligned and working in a complimentary fashion.

As an example, the FocalPoint Business Coaching content (as supplied by Brian Tracy, world renowned business management guru and author/speaker) starts with our first coaching module entitled, “Gain Power Through Clarity”.  As the name so aptly implies, this module allows us to work with the client to determine where we are, where we want to be and how to use all the tools available to get us there.  As Brian states in his book, Turbo Strategy, “The starting point of strategic planning is for you to develop absolute clarity about your current situation. Look at your overall business and ask what’s working, and what’s not working in every area.”