Leadership Development on the Golf Course!

Is it possible to become a better manager by walking around the golf course stroking a golf ball?

 Well yes of course - and actually a lot better!

The starting point is as follows. When we have a question or problem, whether it is on the golf course or in a management situation, we will tend to find a solution that is in fact based on our personality.

For example; if by nature you are the creative and innovative type you are most likely comfortable with some degree of chaos and unpredictability. This may mean that there are certain traits in your personality that you - more of less consciously - push aside as well as other more beneficial solutions. This can be illustrated as follows:

Which type of solutions are you more likely to use according to your nature?

The Development orientated person will most likely stick to the green corner and by nature choose solutions and behave according to the keywords shown in that corner. The arrows indicate which solutions and behavior this person might have difficulty se-lecting as alternative solution strategies.

Therefore, when a project does not succeed for the Developer it may very well be be-cause he is more interested in experimenting and finding new alternatives as opposed to motivating, creating consensus and setting up frameworks. The same mechanism holds true for the other types as well. Take for example the Baser, for whom it is so important to have systems and security that he as a result may miss out on opportunities. One of the Integrator's strong sides is his focus on consensus. This focus may again result in not always have the necessary focus on discipline and instructions.

Whether you are a manager or a golf player, the consequences are the same. We tend to overlook alternatives and do not always choose the optimal solutions. However, to be-come more efficient, whether it is as managers or as golf players, we need to learn to choose solutions according to the situation and less in accordance to our own personal-ity and temperament. To learn how to do this requires both practical and especially mental training.

This is one of two things that leadership development on the golf course is about.

By playing golf on the course the manager will get to know more about himself and his type so that he mentally is able to place himself in the center of the model thus being able to see the 4 different colors as different solution strategies - and from here choose the most beneficial solution.

Now to the second point, because however optimal the solution is, is it worthless unless you can motivate the employees to carry it out. To do so we need to learn to meet the employee in whichever corner he or she is in. For example, the Baser employee is best guided on the bases of his or her need for rules, predictability and security and not from the Developers need for change and space for creativity. The same mechanisms apply to the other types as well. A blue employee requires guidance and motivation based on his or her need for social security, acceptance and support. A red employee requires guid-ance based on his or her need for individual competition just as the green employee re-quires guidance based on his or her need to work with creative and innovative tasks.

As a person and as a manager we cannot just stand in our own corner shouting and hop-ing that others will come to our corner and meet us where we are. We need to learn to meet others where they are.

During the game on the golf course the participants learn to asses the other player's needs and thereby understand which corner they are most comfortable in. By meeting them where they are and from what best motivates them, the participants learn to get the optimal out of both the individual's and the team's resources.

The golf course is actually a great place to see these problems illustrated and is the ideal place to begin the practical learning.

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