My poor golf swing & Your staff
One of the great joys of being an entrepreneur is the freedom it brings. You can do what you want, when you want to….. At least that’s what I imagined when I set up Adam Butler Consultancy almost 9 years ago.
The truth is that you could have all the freedom and time you want but because you are so driven to achieve your goals you never really take full advantage of it. I think that’s a big part of why my business has thrived and is still here 9 years on, when stats suggest most start ups don’t last beyond the first year. Sheer determination and pig headed self discipline have been my own personal secret weapons.
So recently I decided I would start playing some golf again. All work and no play makes “Ad” a dull boy. Nothing that would eat into my working week too much, but just making the most of the long summer evenings, and perhaps popping down the driving range at lunch time.
Bear with me, this does come back to a point about your business, but not just yet.
I’d been getting along reasonably well, picking up where I had left off many years earlier, and my goal of achieving an 18 handicap before the summer ended was well within my grasp.
And then the “shanks” arrived.
I literally went from hitting my 7 iron consistently 150 yards straight towards the target, to hitting it 10 yards directly to my right. And it happened over, and over, and over again!!! Arrggghhhh!!!!!
Whether you play golf or not you will no doubt understand my pain, as there will be something you have done that you know you can do well, that suddenly leaves you. A skill you had…. Gone!
I tried lots of new things, I stepped closer to the ball, further away from it, changed my grip, changed my equipment (at considerable expense!), watched EVERY YOUTUBE video on the subject, but nothing would stop me shanking the ball 10 yards to my right.
It came to a head when I played against my 13 year old son Joe, and he wiped the floor with me. I walked around the course like a miserable teenager, with him coaching me to “not give up, try something new, or at least try and enjoy the walk!”
It was real role reversal. It was VERY depressing!
And then it struck me. I needed to get some expert advice. OBVIOUS. Doh!
Yesterday I went to the range for a lesson. My golf coach Gary showed me how to “address” the ball properly, how to grip the club, and exactly how to align my stance to avoid the dreaded “shank”. Or as he put it “ensure the very best chance of success every time you take a shot”…. Positive language, thanks Gaz.
I practiced immediately after, and went back at lunch today, and I’ve just hit 89 out of 100 balls straight out of the centre and down the middle of the range. Sweet. (The other 11 balls I hit were less than perfect but ZERO shanks!)
But what has this got to do with your business and your staff?
Well I’m sure you have worked it out for yourself. We are all very aware that the definition of insanity is something like “doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result”
Sometimes you need to call in a professional to assist, and if you get the correct advice from someone that can see things from a different perspective then they can make some relatively minor adjustments which can give dramatic positive results.
Maybe you have been looking in the wrong place for your staff?
Maybe you haven’t done enough work on your own culture and values to identify a good “fit” for your business?
Maybe you are so immersed in the repetitive recruitment admin and process that you can’t see the wood for the trees by the time it gets to interview stage?
There are perhaps many minor tweaks that you could make to improve what you do, that would make a MASSIVE difference to your business.
The great news is that there are people (myself and my great team of recruitment professional spring to mind!) out there who are trained and equipped with tools and techniques to help you make up the ground quicker than you may have ever dreamed possible.
We may not have spent much time on the course or out on the range in the last 9 years, but we have invested a lot of time into working with businesses across the UK, helping them avoid “business bunkers” and hit the fairway every time!
So if you fancy a chat give me or one of the team a call on 01244 752 459
And if you fancy a game of golf, let me know, I need more genuine excuses to get out on the course!
