3 Ways Businesses Can Learn From Good Golf Coaches
1. Know YOUR fundamentals.
A good golf coach doesn’t force his student into a swing that’s not right for them. Obviously, there are commonalities amongst good golfers but they aren’t set in stone. A good golf coach looks at his student and helps them develop their own basics, fundamental principles, core values, or (in golf terms) fundamental skills.
A bad golf coach has one template of a good golfer and tells their client that they MUST conform to the template to succeed. The bad coach is too ill informed or just plain lazy to help their student develop into the best golfer they can be which would end up being more complex (and therefore also more wonderful) than a generic golf swing taken from a coaching seminar.
The good coach knows many different templates, models or philosophies and uses them to help a golfer find their own ideal golf learning framework.
Businesses who follow “tried and tested” models will, at best, end up being constrained. For example that business could be constrained by limitations that the template’s creator had in mind but didn’t voice. Imagine this, a template could have been created in or for a market with regulatory constraints, cultures or even physical impediments that don’t apply to anyone else!
Wise businesses and golfers develop policies and procedures or lessons and fundamentals that support their own development towards the highest results.
2. Do not rely on fancy equipment.
Golfers are stupid. They are swayed by fancy gear. If a coach has a new device that is claimed to help golfers that individual coach can add 30% on to his or her hourly fee, even more if that device has been seen on TV.
Businesses can be equally as stupid. How many board meetings have you sat though that have been swayed by an external visitor who’s message was weak but their presentation graphics were strong? How many businesses think that their problems are going to be solved when the next update of XXX product is released?
A good golf coach uses great gear and can surely use that gear to enhance their income but it isn’t their Unique Selling Point. A good golf coach knows that there will be a new fad along soon and, more importantly, the good coach knows that long term and profitable business relationships shouldn’t rely on anything outside of their control.
Businesses searching for help should speak to knowledgeable folks who can advise but they should also be wary of the showman with great PowerPoint!
3. Don’t worry too much about the flag!
If you’ve made it this far down my post, you get something a little more personal, and this is my best tip! I am a complete range rat I try to get to the driving range 5 days a week. I get envious of other guys on the range all the time. If I arrive at the range and see some balls tightly grouped around a flag I immediately look along the other golfers to see who is hitting all these amazing shots! I used to dream of being that golfer, the one who could hit those shots. I wasted hours trying to be a golfer that wasn’t who I was. Years down the line I don’t even try to aim at a flag when I practice (don’t get me wrong, I always have a target!).
Businesses can make the same mistake. They can look at their competitors and want to be them! They can think those companies who look amazing, who look profitable actually are profitable! They are probably watch you and trying to work out how come you are doing your ‘thing’ without doing everything that they have strived to do!
A great golf coach and business knows which targets are valuable for their students. I know, for example, that I am accurate enough on the golf course, but I struggle to avoid one or two stupid mistakes, and they are costly for my results. I don’t need to hit the ball at a flag when I practice, I am already good enough at that when it matters I need to practice in a different way! Your business may not need to deliver in the way that others do, work out what podcasts are important for you, prioritise them and focus on them!
