I read Sports Illustrated every week and almost always find examples of good leadership skills that can be applied in the real world – but it’s not often that one jumps off the page and screams at me (more on that in a second).
Here’s a little background:
In SI’s April 6, 2009, edition Damon Hack wrote a preview for the Masters Golf Tournament that features Tiger Woods.
Even if you don’t follow golf, you’re probably not surprised to learn Tiger was featured in this article. However, if you don’t follow golf, you may not know that Tiger was off the golf course for about 8½ months recouping from surgery on his left leg. So, this season he’s back – and he’s back in winning form.
But here’s why I’m writing today. Check out this passage from the article (like I said it jumped off the page and screamed at me):
“This was the equivalent of a master artist digging through his earliest drawings, and the results were undeniable. Woods unleashed a putter so pure in his victory at Bay Hill [site of the Palmer Invitational] that the time that had passed since his last win … last June, seemed to vanish into the dusk.”
Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer of my generation, if not in the history of the game.
He’s arguably one of top 10 greatest athletes in my generation.
And yet, he has never stopped learning.
You may not read greens, but do you read people?
You may not care about swing dynamics, but do you care about dynamic presentations or the dynamics of your sales process?
You may not analyze the mechanics of your putting stroke, but do you analyze the mechanics of your website, your return on investments, your automation system or your assembly process?
To be the greatest in your world you need to be doing at least some of the things other great people do. If the greatest in his world has never stopped learning, maybe continual learning would be a good idea for you too?
Your personal leadership development program doesn’t have to take a lot of time or money. Could you . . .
. . . read a blog.
. . . apply something you learned from a book.
. . . re-read your favorite leadership book.
. . . pull out your notes from the last conference you attended and take action on something you learned.
. . . have lunch with your mentor.
If you’re interested in dominating your sport (and isn’t all business a sport really) or building an organizational leadership development program, take a tip from Tiger – keep learning and applying that knowledge to grow yourself, your business and your successes.
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