Tài liệu Golf and the game of leadership 10 ppt

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Golf and the Game of Leadership
over. Don was hired and served the club in outstanding fashion
until his retirement following the Inverness-hosted 1993 PGA
Championship. Don’s distinction as a Master PGA Professional
set him apart from the other applicants for the Inverness job.
Today, there are approximately 24,000 PGA club professionals, of
which only 250 are designated as Master Professionals. They, like
Don Perne, have earned a slight edge.
The 2001 United States Open Championship was played at
Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This annual
tournament is open to professional and amateur golfers whose
USGA handicap index does not exceed 1.4. The starting field con-
sists of 156 players. The majority of the players (89 in 2001) earn
their places through 18-hole local qualifying rounds and 36-hole
sectional qualifiers. (A total of 8,398 applications were accepted
for the 89 nonexempt slots in the 2001 Open field.) The rest of
the players (67 in 2001) are exempt from qualifying on the basis
of championships won and/or tournament money earned in the
previous year.
All 156 tournament starters play the first and second 18-hole
rounds. After 36 holes, the field is cut to the 60 lowest scores and
ties. The U.S. Open champion is the player with the lowest score
at the end of 72 holes. If there is a tie, it is played off over 18 holes
of stroke play on the day following the end of the tournament. If
this also results in a tie, the tied players play hole by hole until a
winner is decided. Skill and perhaps some good fortune combine
to leave only the champion standing.
Golf at the professional level clearly requires a slight edge to
finish in a tournament top ten, let alone in first place. Golfers
work to develop this slight edge through a dedication to perfecting

their skills through countless hours of practice. They know that
just a few strokes, often only one or two, are the difference in
making a cut, finishing in the top ten, winning, and earning thou-
sands of dollars in prize money. Stories abound of golfers finish-
ing a tournament round and heading directly to the practice
range, where they then work until dark trying to achieve the per-
fection in shot-making they demand of themselves. They fully un-
derstand the need to develop a slight edge over their opponents.
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The Slight Edge
One professional is said to end each of his dedicated practice
rounds in a unique way. He rings a hole on the practice green
with golf balls set about four feet from the cup. When he has
successfully putted 100 balls in a row into the cup he quits. Miss
one and he starts over!
Course Analysis
Golf commentators on television are mostly ex-professional golf-
ers. They really know the game, the golfers, and the courses played
on the various tours. So, it is not surprising that they do an excel-
lent job of analyzing, not only the play of the individual golfers,
but the golf courses as well. They tell us which are the easiest holes
on the course and why. At the same time they indicate that these
are the holes each golfer must play well in order to have a chance
at making the cut, because these holes provide the best opportuni-
ties for birdies, and even eagles. Play these holes poorly and the
odds are that the golfer will be home for the weekend. Play them
well and the golfer will probably stay in contention for the tourna-
ment lead.
The analysts also point out the holes that offer the most chal-

lenge, and therefore the most reward, for those who play them
well along with playing the easier ones well. So, the slight edge
goes to the combination of playing the easier holes very well, the
equivalent of our holes one through six, and adding good play
over the more difficult holes, the equivalent of those remaining
on our Global Leadership Course.
If you strive to be the best leader you can be, regardless of
your position in the organizational hierarchy, developing the
slight edge, i.e., being in the upper percentiles of effective leaders,
requires dedication and hard work. The development path for
excellence in playing the leadership game is no different from the
path demanded of the golfer who seeks to be among the best.
Your values, adherence to the rules, vision, posture, grip, and
alignment give you a leadership foundation. Learning from your
leadership experiences provides valuable development opportuni-
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Golf and the Game of Leadership
ties. But it takes sustained extra effort to build the slight edge
demonstrated by the best. Let’s look at a few examples.
A Slight Edge on the Odds for Survival
Bill Niehous was the general manager of Owens-Illinois Inc.’s
Venezuelan operations in the mid-1970s. He was kidnapped by an
anti-government radical communist group and was held captive
in the jungles of Venezuela for three years. Bill’s captivity caused
great pain to his family and friends. In most similar circum-
stances, the captives had been killed by their captors. Bill Niehous
lived to tell about his experience following a successful escape
attempt.
How did Bill Niehous manage to survive until his eventual

return to freedom? Well, I always tell people you would get a good
idea if you knew him. Bill speaks Spanish and that certainly was
part of his slight edge. Even more, his genuine liking and respect
for others, his desire to help and be helpful, a personality that
warms you on contact, his ability to be patient and control his
emotions, and his great courage in the face of adversity gave him
more than a slight edge on the odds for survival. Following his
return and later retirement from O-I, Bill Niehous has served a
wide variety of community efforts—always in an outstanding
fashion. All who know him, admire him. And, he loves the game
of golf. We’ll hear from Bill when we play hole ࠻17.
On Arrival
A marketing manager recently flew to London via British Airways.
The flight was scheduled to land at London’s Heathrow Airport.
However, due to a labor dispute on the ground the plane was
unable to land as scheduled. The flight circled for a time, then was
diverted to Stansted Airport where it landed and remained on the
runway for a period of time, after which it took off and landed at
Heathrow. The delay in Heathrow arrival lasted about 90 minutes.
Nothing unusual to this point for those of us experienced in air
travel.
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The Slight Edge
However, our marketing manager was impressed. Specifically,
she was very surprised how the plane’s captain announced the
problems of landing at Heathrow. He did not use the standard
method of an announcement over the plane’s speaker system. In-
stead, he came into the passenger cabin and made the announce-
ment in person, and in a very personal way, by making his

comments in a conversational manner every ten rows or so until
he had informed everyone and responded to any questions. And
he didn’t do this just once, but he repeated the process five times
during the ninety-minute delay.
The marketing manager commented, ‘‘I could feel the impact
of the captain’s actions in the plane cabin. People were obviously
calmed and put at ease about the situation. He demonstrated his
understanding that the passengers deserved both an explanation
and his help in adapting to the delay in arriving at their destina-
tion. I was impressed by his leadership.’’
On Departure
After a week in London, our marketing manager was back at Hea-
throw Airport on a Monday morning to make the return flight to
New York. The labor dispute of the previous week had been set-
tled. She arrived at the British Airways counter at 8 .. to check-
in for her 12:15 .. departure. It is always a good practice to
allow plenty of time for check-in on international flights. How-
ever, she along with others in the processing line were told they
would have to wait until 9:30 to be processed. Naturally she
thought to herself, ‘‘Here we go again.’’
Yes, but then again, no, as instead of the usual ‘‘come back at
9:30, you’re on your own till then’’ there was more to the an-
nouncement. There was a surprise for the British Airways custom-
ers. All of the waiting passengers were directed to a Quonset hut
set up by the airline and asked to go there and relax until 9:30.
They were served coffee, tea, and rolls, and provided with com-
fortable seating. And British Airways people actually asked if there
was anything else that might be done to make the wait as enjoy-
able as possible.
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Golf and the Game of Leadership
Our marketing manager, reflecting on this experience, said: ‘‘I
spent three more hours waiting before I was processed. But the
British Airways people kept coming around with updates for us
and to check that everything was okay. And they were so genuine
in the way they did it. Once again, I was really impressed. British
Airways, based on my experience, knows what it means to work
for a ‘‘slight edge’’ on the competition. They get my vote.’’
It is not just physical ability or physical characteristics that
bring about greatness. In golf, and in leadership, it’s about having
a passion for the game, being an intense competitor, having a
great desire to come out on top, being concerned with what deci-
sions get made, focusing on substance and reality rather than on
symbolism and wishful thinking, being willing to work hard, and
having the integrity to play by the rules. Greatness comes from
within!
What plus How
Today’s effective leader must be a ‘‘leader of the business’’ and,
even more importantly, a leader of the people. He or she must
know what it is that must be accomplished and what needs to
be done to ensure successful accomplishment of organizational
objectives. The vast majority of leaders understand and aggres-
sively pursue this aspect of leadership, which I call the WHAT.
They know WHAT to do. Far too many don’t really understand
the HOW. They don’t know HOW to get it done.
A ‘‘leader of the people’’ knows how to get it done. This is
where you want to develop your slight edge. Orchestrate the ef-
forts of your people, utilize and expand their personal capabilities
to the fullest, and marry their efforts together to achieve the opti-

mum results. Does this sound like the golfer who knows WHAT
is required to play a successful round of golf but must also know
HOW to get it done using the tools in his or her golf bag? You
bet!
Speaking of tools in the golf bag, my years of experience have
taught me that we all have far greater potential for leadership
effectiveness than we are exercising. During the balance of the
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The Slight Edge
round we’re going to play the tools that with use and perfect prac-
tice on your part will make you a better leader, even a great leader,
to your benefit and that of those whom you serve. The tools in-
clude focus, responsibility, confidence, expectations, courage, rec-
ognition, feedback, change, help, and optimism.
So You Are Capable—Who Knows It?
Leadership and golf require persistence, dedication, and practice
in order to achieve maximum success, i.e. the slight edge. It truly
takes more than ‘‘who you know’’ to succeed. Rather, it’s ‘‘who
knows you and your capabilities.’’ Notice the two parts. You must
have capabilities and you need to let them shine through to those
in position to evaluate your performance. Too often, people do
not ensure that their capabilities are known, and therefore they
are not brought into play. Play your best clubs, take your best
shots. You should not leave knowledge of them to chance. Show
the confidence you have in your leadership skills. Ask for, and
readily accept, added responsibilities. Your demonstrated leader-
ship performance will win the confidence of others. You will have
greater influence in the organization. Your leadership example
will rub off on others to their, and the organization’s, benefit. In

short, step out of the leadership shadows and into the glow of
increased leadership success.
Sure, there are exceptions, and some people do advance based
on who they know. We love to voice our indignation when this
happens. But the truth is that most people get ahead on their
merits. They’ve developed a slight edge in performance. Be objec-
tive, take a look around.
Holes 1 through 6 provide a good foundation for anyone in-
terested in playing the leadership game. The remaining holes are
designed to challenge you to take advantage of the opportunities
available to use your store of potential and develop your personal
slight edge and move to the next level in playing the leadership
game. Learn to play these holes well. Take their lessons to heart.
You will become a more effective leader, you will know it, and so
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Golf and the Game of Leadership
will everyone else. It will be hard work but you’ll be a champion
at the leadership game.
Remember the advice Jawaharlal Nehru gave to his daughter,
Indira Gandhi, who went on to become Prime Minister of India,
like her father: ‘‘There are two kinds of people, those who do the
work and those who take credit for it. Be part of the first group,
there are fewer of them.’’
Leadership is like a race where you run the first few laps
as fast as you can and then gradually increase
your speed.
FORE! . . . the author
Quick Tips for Improving Your Leadership
Game

Real leaders typically understand and model the following in their
day-to-day actions:
■
SMILE MORE!
■
Make it easy for your associates to say, ‘‘Have you got a
minute?’’
■
Acquire the habit of thinking and saying ‘‘we’’ rather than
‘‘I.’’
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Focus
Tiger Woods at this point in history is rated the number
one golfer in the world. He has great natural talent but
he has a slight edge on much of his competition. It’s his
ability to focus.
FORE! . . . the author
All the great golfers, both present and past, share at least one
common ability: the ability to focus. They are able to block out
what is going on around them and concentrate fully on the shot
facing them. When distracted from their focus they do not plunge
ahead anyway but rather begin again to set their focus and execute
only when they feel right.
In what ranks among the greatest duels in senior golf history,
Don Pooley and Tom Watson went head-to-head for 23 holes in
the 2002 Senior Open Championship. On the 23rd hole—the 18th
hole at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland—Pooley had a 10-
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Golf and the Game of Leadership
foot birdie putt to win. He lined it up, addressed the putt, and
then backed away. ‘‘My thoughts were going all over the place,’’
Pooley said later, ‘‘I had to stop and get refocused.’’ He then made
the winning putt.
Vincente Fernandez’s caddie helped Fernandez as he prepared
to hit a shot from 93 yards out to the pin at the 18th hole during
the third round of the 2003 Senior Open Championship. When
they were ready, he said to Vincente, simply, ‘‘concentrate.’’ Fer-
nandez put the ball within four feet of the pin, sank the putt for a
birdie, and finished the day in a tie for second place.
WIN
Golfers focus on each shot. Tiger Woods is so good at this that he
can stop a shot in mid-swing, a virtual impossibility for most
people. Professional golfers need to hit their best shot(s) in order
to win tournaments and/or win as much prize money as possible.
They know the importance of focusing on ‘‘what’s important
now,’’ which in acronym form is ‘‘WIN.’’
Golf scores are improved when golfers focus their energy on
what they can do, one shot at a time. They do not focus on what
they can’t do or what other golfers can or cannot do. They con-
centrate on how they can best improve their opportunity to get
the little white ball in the hole in the fewest number of strokes.
Golf is a tough game. It is humbling. It is a frustrating game.
There are no teammates to pick you up, to take your shot. And
there’s no place to hide.
Leaders can learn a great deal from watching professional
golfers focus in the here and now on the shot immediately facing

them. They can also learn from the professional golfer’s focus on
the future. Professional golfers do not dwell on yesterday’s round
but learn from it. They focus on today’s round in order to shoot
the lowest score possible. They think about tomorrow’s round in
terms of strategy and scoring objectives. And professional golfers
focus on the day after tomorrow, i.e., on the opportunity to play
in the final two days of a tournament, on the opportunity to play
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Focus
in tournaments of choice, and on maintaining their eligibility to
play on the PGA tour. Theirs is a future success orientation.
Leadership in today’s competitive organizational life is
stressed by demands for innovation. These demands can be so
intense that sometimes leaders take their eyes off solid, well-
structured, high-value operations. They’ve been running so well
for so long that there is a temptation to pay less attention to them.
Leadership takes its eyes off the ball.
A Veritable Cash Cow
For example, a large automobile manufacturing facility
had been successfully building and selling a profit-rich lux-
ury model for seven or eight years. Because it was selling so
well, and because the initial tooling investment and start-
up costs had long since been amortized, the model was a
veritable cash cow. Customers were very happy with the
product. Dealers continued to serve their repeat custom-
ers. Over time there were very few changes to the model.
The operation seemed to run itself.
After seven to eight years of marketing bliss, some cus-
tomer complaints began to surface. The complaints were

mostly about nuisance items, such as wind noise, rattles,
poorly fitting doors and hoods, and misaligned trim. But
management became increasingly concerned: After all
this was a luxury model and quality expectations were
high.
Attempts to fix the causes of customer concerns focused
first on the assembly workers. It was assumed the current
workers were not assembling the vehicle correctly. New
training programs were devised and presented to the as-
semblers. But the problems continued to increase. This
brought more attention from management, first locally and
then from headquarters. Meetings were held, and manag-
ers were challenged to ‘‘fix the problem.’’ Incentives were
implemented. More training was provided to the assem-
blers.
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