After staring at my new 2010 calendar for a couple of days I started thinking…
What is it I REALLY need to do this year to improve on what I did Last Year?
In reality what I need to do is what I am finding I would suggest almost everyone in business should consider doing. So here are five things I plan on doing for my business this year.
1. Continue to Learn
I have been going at this business operations stuff now for almost 35 years..geez, that is a long time. Even after all that time and after seeing the economy go back and forth over five times there is not a day that goes by that there was not something I needed to learn more about. Over the past five years of developing my own business and going out to challenges all of the conventions the golf industry has stuck in place I find that there is even more that I need to learn. There is also a lot I would enjoying learning more about that would certainly improve the way I do business.
So, one of the things I will be doing this year more than I did last year is to go out and participate in more Learning Experiences. Maybe go to a seminar or two on something I am challenging its worthiness or need to learn more about to help my mentees and clients.
So learning will be the name of the game for me. Who knows, I might even finally get to meet you at one of these educational gatherings
2. Teach More
I never really considered myself a true teacher like in the traditional sense. However, I do find that offering my experience to the younger generation, who are open to learning more of the realities of business, is very satisfying and rewarding especially when I confirm their thinking that jumping on the latest trends of doing business like the colleges are shoving down their throats, in an effort to validate their unnecessarily high tuitions, really only works for those who have more money than brains.
This year I will finally bow to the pressure my mentees, clients and friends around the world are putting on me to produce a few seminars and workshops on how to deal with the realities of business in a world of deception. Of course, my efforts to get more people to understand the hidden benefits of playing golf as a way of doing business will be featured in anything and everything I do.
It could be that more people need to look to teaching others what they have learned from experience. Believe me, there are people in the world who are looking for anything and everything that will teach them how to do something better, faster and with better results.
3. Travel for Effect
Yaw, I know. You are thinking I am crazy and I probably am heading that way after spending so much time on Twitter and especially after being on Facebook for more than ten minutes at a time. However,the economy needs me and it needs you to do more than sit here on the computer terminal whining about whatever has crawled up your backend for the day.
There are some fundamental sectors of the economy that are pillars to all of the economy, especially for business people, that if not shored up with the public’s support will cause the rest of the economy to crumble into a pile of you know what. The sector that effects business golfers, business people and almost everyone else is the travel industry.
Putting all politics aside, traveling today is scary enough but has become a total necessity for business. You can Skype and video conference and phone conference all you want with people but eventually business will have to be conducted in an environment where you meet the person face to face.
Today, Trust in who you are doing business with is now mandatory. Very few business deals can be made with a phone call and those that have deep ramification on a business’s survival should never be made without knowing the true person on the other end of the phone call. Going to see that person or meeting that person in person will have to be made to secure trust.
The same goes with gaining information. You can sit on webinars all day but the true impact and the most effect can only be realized when the person learning can see the person lecturing eyes.
I could go on and on about the worthiness of having effective business practices but the bottomline is in today’s business environment in this failed economy is traveling to meet someone in person is even more important than before.
So, I plan on leading the charge to go out and meet more people who maybe out of reach of a day drive in a car. I plan on developing more business in areas outside of my backyard and do a little more traveling to meet those who I only know from an avatar on Twitter. Where I go and when has not been determined. The important thing for me is, and I am sure the same is for you, I need to secure more trust in people I plan on doing business with and that can only be done by traveling to meet them in person.
4. Improve My Golf Game
I know. For those who know me you are saying..
Why isn’t this your number one thing to do for business?
I asked myself that question while writing this blog and the reason came to be that the first three things I need to do all will result in me having to improve my golf. However, they need to come first in order to push me to improving my golf game…if that makes sense.
I am a firm advocate that better golf makes for a better state of mind and with a better view on life I can do a better job in business. If you are one of the many people I have run into who play golf and realized how much better you feel about yourself after playing the best round of golf you ever have played, then you understand what I am talking about on the importance of improving the skill level of golf.
Now this does not mean I am inspired to tour professional and reach the top levels of golf. No, all I want to be able to do is have confidence in knowing that my golf shot is going to go within ten yards of where I am looking to hit the ball. I have been there before so I know it can be done. I just want and need to get back there.
The way I prefer to get back into golf shape is to attend a golf school. For me it is a great way to learn and be taught. Like 85% of the people who play golf, I am a visual person. I learn from watching and back up what I see with asking questions. I found that I am the same way in the business world which I would be safe to say how you are in business would be the way you approach learning to play golf.
So, this year, one of the things I am going to do is go to a golf school. And again, for those who really know me, it is not an impossibility that I would produce a golf school which I would invite you to join me and my other business golf friends. So, lets stay tuned for more on this.
5. Continue Building
Over the years I have built lots of things. I have built houses. I have built teams. I have built departments. I have been on a team that built entire business groups. Some of the more exciting things I have built are relationships..both professional and personal. However, the most exciting and rewarding so far is my building of the Business Golf Country Club. I am very proud of where that golf community has gone and, as the its founder, am exciting on where it can go.
One of the things that has not taken place in the business world or in society in general is the building of communities where people get a feeling of belonging. Over the past 30 years there seems to have been a aversive effort to keep people from congregating in groups and bond their interests. The younger generations were not exposed to how commonalities within a community can build strengths that carry on into adulthood. The lack of places for business people to kick back and relax with others who have a common purpose in life has developed armies of individuals who nurture the belief that everything has to be about them.
So, one of the things I will be doing along with all the other things I listed above is to continue to built by business, my relationships and golf community through learning more about what I do not know and teaching more about what I do know.
Maybe some of what I am doing should be what you should do or be doing this year. I know it will work for me so it should work for you. Let me know how I can help.
