You start a round trying to perfect your swing and end up thinking about leadership – how does that happen?

There are times when you are blinded by a parallel scenario as I was recently playing golf.

I had played badly the previous round and wasn’t overly confident as I started on my first hole. The ball just didn’t seem to be going as far as I normally hit it. The round progressed pretty much the same way until the last hole when the ball finally split open. You see there had been a crack in the middle of the ball for some time (two rounds) and I just couldn’t see it till the very end when it split open. I had spent the best part of two rounds fiddling around with my swing technique believing it was me that was the cause of the problem not the ball. I had never had a golf ball split on me before.

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Well whats the parallel I hear you say – well when the club’s golf professional Simon explained that the ball cracks from the inside and the driver cannot see the damage till it finally split I thought of leadership crack

I wondered if many leaders had experienced similar cracks in their organisation and not seen them till they exploded. You see leaders are all busy with the busyness of leadership (I wrote about the conspiracy of busyness in a earlier post) and yes some of us routinely ask for feedback and try an enact improvements – BUT – what if the core is cracked (e.g. disbelief in the values and strategic directions of the school) and no amount of swing or leadership behaviour technique alterations would make a difference?

Yes I know this is a simply analogue not to be overdone for in golf you simply change the ball. It’s not that simple in organisations – or is it?

I think the point I’m trying to make is that we must often confirm that the core beliefs and plans are being driven by our key people and if not listen and then offer feedback but always be ready to challenge and change (the ball) or in organisations (key people) if we continue not getting the effects we want or need.

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4 Responses to You start a round trying to perfect your swing and end up thinking about leadership – how does that happen?

  1. Tim Bowman says:

    Reminds me a little of a Tony Robbin’s golf analogy:
    https://youtu.be/j-idlmMvlKE

    • mwalker says:

      Tim, I had a look at the 2 millimetre rule. You only have to tweek something small to improve – like it – although as one who has a few golf lessons a year with the subsequent practice sessions – it takes a lot of practice to change muscle memory.

Interested in your thoughts