One of my favorite hobbies is to play golf but there is one big problem, I am not good at it. Golf is a game that requires continuous improvement no matter how bad or good you are at it. Leadership is very similar. The effective leader is one who is continuing to improve himself or herself working on all areas of their life and leadership.
One of the things in golf that is a continual work is my swing. A key element in the swing is acceleration. Creating speed and acceleration in your swing will help you hit the ball more solid and help you with control.
Here are some leadership lessons from Golf I learned from an exercise in helping create acceleration:
1. Tension is a basic element of acceleration.
The more tension that you can create the more potential energy there is. Tension is a stretching, and expanding that must take place before the energy is released. That tension is created by torqueing your upper body against your lower body. Believe me this is not the most comfortable position to be in but it is required for maximum acceleration. Leadership is not always comfortable and requires us to be flexible so that tension can be created and released.
2. Deceleration is the opposite of acceleration.
One of the keys in golf is to swing through the ball. This was one of the great misconceptions for me. I always thought if I just hit the ball that was the end all and a great shot would happen. Many times the ball was hit and a decent shot happened. It was good by not great. The ball is never to be the end target. The key is to accelerate through the ball and that creates a more solid shot and when I applied this principle my distance increased as well. In leadership, when we choose not to hit through the ball we actually are decelerating. When we decelerate we end up settling for good and not great and sometimes we are just happy to hit the ball at all. Deceleration effects quality of the contact, kills acceleration, and effects control, distance.
3. Acceleration requires sequence.
The downswing starts where torque has been created and you release the torque leading with your hips and not your shoulders. In golf you want to create separation at the start of the downswing which is critical and vital for acceleration. There is a sequence that must happen to have a successful downswing that accelerates through the ball. When you don’t do things in sequence you end up with a bad shot or you may hurt yourself. Leadership is not much different. As a leader, you must learn when to create torque, when to release torque and how to accelerate through (manage torque) so that you have a successful shot and no one gets hurt. It is great feeling when you work through the swing and hit a solid shot.
The great thing about golf and leadership is that they are done one shot at a time and there are more holes to play. Its not about how far you hit the ball but how you hit the ball.
