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Canadians at Wimbledon

A great weekend for Canadians at Wimbledon.

Eugenie Bouchard is runner-up in the final, Milos Raonic loses to Roger Federer in the semi-final and Vasek Pospisil wins in men's doubles.  Impressive results getting the attention of media, fans and opponents.

All three are young contenders that can only get better and do better. A theme that also works for entrepreneurs. Learn from your losses, rest, then get back into the fray with new tactics, skills and energy.  

 

Why Business is Like Golf

Like successful golfers, we believe entrepreneurs need to be constantly improving their performance and that we can apply the lessons from golf to improve our business performance.

Here is my list of "Why Business is Like Golf":

1. It's important to have a plan. Of course nothing goes exactly according to plan, but if you have one, you will at least recognize where you should be now and can adjust to get where you want to be. (Like Oops! I'm in the bunker and need to get out of the sand and back on the fairway in front of the green.)


2. Even the good shots can end up badly. And vice versa. So take your best shot and hope for the best. That great drive (or proposal) may have gone too far and ended up in the rough. And sometimes a terrible slice (or bad sales call) can actually bounce off a tree and end up right where you wanted to be.


3. Every problem is just another challenge. It was not supposed to end up in the rough and behind a tree, but now you have a chance to work on your "recovery" shot.


4. Work on the fundamentals. You cannot get better if you don't understand and master the basic principles, techniques and foundation of a good swing (or business). As Arnie Palmer apparently advised one angry amateur, "you're not good enough to get that upset about poor results."


5. Choose and use the right tools and equipment. Technology keeps making the game easier, but make sure it is the right equipment for you and your plan. And don't try to use an 8-iron for a long, low fade, when a 4-iron is the right tool. Same for a home office $129 accounting package when your business is doing plus $2 million a year.


6. Know the rules and play fair. Even if nobody catches you cheating, you know you don't deserve the credit you're getting for a good game. Kidding yourself about your score doesn't work in business either.


7. Continuous learning and determined practice are the disciplines of champions. If the Number One golfer in the world is still adjusting his swing with a new coach, what are you doing to be better and do better?


8. It's easier if you lower your expectations and have good excuses. But you want more, right?


9. Learn from your mistakes. You will inevitably have an occasional bad shot, a bad hole or a bad day. It may just be bad luck, a bad idea, or a bad swing, but continuously analyse what you did wrong so that you can avoid the mistake next time.

That's the first nine holes, I have for you.

Hopefully some memorable ideas that will improve both your golf and your business.

I'll work on another nine another day.

Until then, keep hitting them down the middle!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8355696

START OF A NEW SEASON

Finally got out to hit some golf balls today. 

Course is open and snowbanks have finally disappeared in Montreal. 
(Sorry forgot to take a selfie, please excuse the old photo of Jim Furyk.)

It is important to recognize the start of a new season.  Set the counters back to zero, define some new performance objectives for this season and get to work on the plan. 

And start on the driving range.  Loosen up, warm up and practice the fundamentals. Re-think your strategy and game plan. Consider a complete re-work of your swing instead of just repeating the same old bad habits with corrections and tweaking that didn't work last season. Maybe you need a new coach. 

All good lessons from the new golf season that you should consider for your business. 

Keep hitting them long and straight, stopping them close and rolling in the long putts. But most importantly enjoy!  

It's not just for the money, right!  

NHL or NBA

Lots of drama in both sports.

Playoff season for both with all the excitement, energy and talent at it's best, but a manager fined for complaining about ref's and an owner banned for life for racist comments.

There are some lessons there for your business. Too much to write in a Blog.  Maybe a chapter in the next book.

Your thoughts?

Good for Gold!

Whew!

After all the second guessing and snide comments and sweating through surprisingly tight games, we won gold! Again. In men's and women's hockey, our signature sports. Canadian pride is soaring again!

 See you in four years.

Unless Bettman and his bandits of the NHL decide to hold the fans and players to ransom for some bizarre business reason.  The guy loves to be in control.

I wonder if they noticed that no fighting still made for a great hockey spectacle.

Go CANADA Go!

Great hockey game, but much too stressful for a Friday afternoon at the office!

I'm still not agreeing with the coaching decisions, but some of the choices seem to be working out.  Who knew Jamie Benn before this.  And happy to see another BC boy and Montreal Canadien do so well  - attaboy Carey Price!

But how could you not include P.K. Subban and Martin St. Louis?  Two superstars that make a difference every time they play.

My approach would have been to pick the best possible team for talent and experience and put them on the ice from start to finish. Let them learn to play together and get over the added pressure of being still "on evaluation".

No way to build a winning team - in hockey or business.

(I know they are winning, but it shouldn't be this close. It just proves that when we have the luxury of a surplus of talent, it may be enough to make up for bad management.)

It isn't figure skating, but....

The problem with figure skating, or any sport that counts style points, is that too much depends on the very subjective evaluation of the judges.  Who are these people and why do they not see what I see? Hopefully, they are experts and are objective in their scoring. Unfortunately, some recent stories of backroom deals and political influence diminish that hope substantially.

At the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Canadian fans complained that their dance team favourites and Gold Medal Winners of 2010 were relegated to second place before the competition began.  The skaters, Virtue and Moir, took the more generous version: "We won silver, we didn't lose the gold." No complaints about the judging.  Or the coaching. (Strangely, the American gold medal team have the same coach!)  But they have to wonder what they might have done to improve on the style points.

In our businesses, we should be happy that our performance - win or lose, profit or loss - is not judged, it is told by the numbers. No points for style.

But maybe not.  There are still many subtleties and subjective "style" points if you consider all the less easily measured factors that affect bottom line performance.

Consider brand reputation, corporate image, marketing messages, packaging, advertising, social and environmental impact.  Your choices on all these factors will affect the perceptions of customers, employees and strategic partners and thereby influence your results in sales and profits.

Maybe it's time to get your head out of the numbers and  check how you are doing on style.

More Olympic lessons

An Olympic rower shares with HBR his lessons learned on handling stress, improving weaknesses and the values of teamwork.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/02/how-an-olympic-gold-medalist-learned-to-perform-under-pressure/

Humility and generosity of spirit from an Olympic Champion

Alex Bilodeau made history by repeating his gold medal aerial performance on the moguls.  Then he modestly gave credit to his teammate and his brother as his inspiration to stay at the top of the world. 

Alex Bilodeau and fellow Quebecer Mikael Kingsbury, who won gold and silver in men's moguls on Monday.   

Hard to focus on work at the office while Canadians are making us proud with spectacular gold-medal performances at the Sochi Winter Olympics. 

Go CANADA go! 

Winter Olympics - Time to talk about Sochi 2014

The Winter Olympics are another great opportunity to learn more business lessons from sport.

Hard work, dedication, talent and perseverance get you to the medals and the gold in in your business too.

Check the champions who get all the attention, but don't forget anyone that makes an Olympic team is an outstanding example of what can happen if you apply talent and effort to realizing your dreams.  You can enjoy the spectacle of the highest forms of athletic performance, then absorb the lessons that you can apply to your own endeavors, business or otherwise.    

A Clinic in Confidence

Another lesson from the world of women's tennis.

A Clinic in Confidence from Genie Bouchard

Talent and charm help, but being confident in her ability led Eugenie Bouchard to the semi-finals at the Australian Open. 

And moved her up to 19th in world rankings.  

 

More from Profit Magazine

http://bit.ly/1ec4xqX

Be confident. 

Charming Champion

Lin Na wins the Australian Open tennis championship and charms us all with her humility and sense of humour.

She had already demonstrated her awesome tennis.

See her speech on YouTube:
http://bit.ly/1lhD78p

Golf entrepreneurs

  

The PGA tour professional golfer is a great case study for any entrepreneur.

More than self-employed as a talented athlete, the successful pro golfer (one of the top 200 worldwide) has to manage and develop not only his talent, but also his marketing, administration, organisation and finances.


In other words, the perennial entrepreneurial challenge of providing both strategic leadership and operational excellence.

People make the difference

In business and in golf, it's the people that make it a good experience - whether you're a player or a spectator. (Having just enjoyed David Beckham's performance at the Olypic stadium in Montreal, I can add soccer to the list where good people make a difference.)


Playing partners that respect the rules and etiquette while still challenging you to achieve better results yourself, add a lot to the experience.

For spectators of the PGA Tour, we have learned to appreciate the skill, power and creativity of players like Rory McIlroy hitting a 3-wood 340 yards and bending it down the middle between the water and the trap; and Bubba Watson hooking it out from under a tree over the traps and stopping it on the green. 

Meanwhile Tiger has become a sideshow as the "bad boy" of golf. His golf has not been good enough to overcome the bad behaviour, on and off the course. 


We would wish him well if we were convinced he was sincerely trying to be a better man, not just trying to get back to being a great golfer.

 Until then, we would rather watch and play with the other gentleman golfers we know.


Posted June 2012

It's Research, Not Relaxation

The best part of maintaining this "Business is like Golf" Blog is that I get to go golfing during office hours and call it research!

So what did I learn from yesterday's "research"?  Let's sum it up as a lesson in humility.

My previous round, first of the season (late start, I know, neglecting my research), was an exceptionally good one. Breaking 90 is a rare event for me and it was a day when almost every shot did exactly  what I wanted.  So I was feeling pretty good.  Confident that I had finally mastered the game.  Ha!

Yesterday the old Del was back.  Breaking 100 was a struggle without a single par all day.  (Still a good day in the sunshine and much better than an afternoon at the office on the computer.)

So like in business, take the time to celebrate your successes, but don't get too cocky.  You still have to focus, keep your eye on the ball, and avoid costly mistakes in your next challenge.

Keep swinging smoothly.

Lessons of life and business

Great weekend of hockey & golf for lessons of life & business.

Success = talent + dedication + hard work.

The dream is not enough.

"Keep your head down"

"The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing"

Phyllis Diller (Quote of the Day, Montreal Gazette)

Why Business is like Golf

DirectTech Solutions understands that business is like golf - easy to get into trouble and hard to get the results you want. So don't putter around. Get creative, practical solutions for your corporate strategy, business plans, and performance improvement needs. More than a mulligan, we deliver solutions.

Like successful golfers, we believe entrepreneurs need to be constantly improving their performance.

This Blog is an extension of the theme that we can apply the lessons from golf to improve our business performance .

It fits with my online efforts to help entrepreneurs as Uncle Ralph, with "Enrepreneurs Only" and DIYBusinessPlan.com  (http://www.diybusinessplan.com/), where I write, teach, advise, consult and comment on management, leadership and other issues of entrepreneurship. The golf analogy keeps coming back.

So let`s test the analogy a little further.

Here is my list of "Why Business is Like Golf" :

1. It's important to have a plan. Of course nothing goes exactly according to plan, but if you have one, you will at least recognize where you should be now and can adjust to get where you want to be.  (Like Oops! I'm in the bunker and need to get out of the sand and back on the fairway in front of the green.)
2. Even the good shots can end up badly. And vice versa. So take your best shot and hope for the best. That great drive (or proposal) may have gone too far and ended up in the rough. And sometimes a terrible slice (or bad sales call) can actually bounce off a tree and end up right where you wanted to be.
3. Every problem is just another challenge. It was not supposed to end up in the rough and behind a tree, but now you have a chance to work on your "recovery" shot.
4. Work on the fundamentals. You cannot get better if you don't understand and master the basic principles, techniques and foundation of a good swing (or business).  As Arnie Palmer apparently advised one angry amateur, "you're not good enough to get that upset about poor results." 
5. Choose and use the right tools and equipment. Technology keeps making the game easier, but make sure it is the right equipment for you and your plan. And don't try to use an 8-iron for a long, low fade, when a 4-iron is the right tool.  Same for a home office $129 accounting package when your business is doing plus $2 million a year.
6. Know the rules and play fair. Even if nobody catches you cheating, you know you don't deserve the credit you're getting for a good game.  Kidding yourself about your score doesn't work in business either.
7. Continuous learning and determined practice are the disciplines of champions. If the Number One golfer in the world is still adjusting his swing with a new coach, what are you doing to be better and do better?
8. It's easier if you lower your expectations and have good excuses. But you want more, right?
9. Learn from your mistakes. You will inevitably have an occasional bad shot, a bad hole or a bad day. It may just be bad luck, a bad idea, or a bad swing, but continuously analyse what you did wrong so that you can avoid the mistake next time.

That's the first nine holes, I have for you. 
Hopefully some memorable ideas that will improve both your golf and your business.
I'll work on another nine for another day.

Until then, keep hitting them down the middle!

Del