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This golfing tip will help you be a better leader and BDM

 In Learning from Luminaries, Sports people

“A ‘swing thought’ is a golfer’s term for a single correction to your form that you keep in mind as you stand over the ball. The idea is that to try to make several adjustments at once is a setup for failure. A swing thought keys on a very specific single behavior that stands for the overall shift you are seeking to make.”

This quote is from the book, Fear your strengths by R. Kaplan and R. Kaiser. Here is the link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16056939-fear-your-strengths

The golf swing has applications to behaviours in the workplace. For example, a client of mind would often ramble in presentations to senior executives. His swing thought before he started to speak (in golfer’s parlance, that is, when standing over the ball) was ‘Begin with a landing place in mind’.

Kaplan and Kaiser also relay an interaction with a middle manager they worked with. “A middle manager, who regularly worked on his form both as a leader and as a golfer concluded:

“Positive swing thoughts are much better than negative ones.  A negative swing thought such as ‘Don’t try to crush the ball’ or ‘Don’t move your head’ tells you what not do and focuses your attention on not messing up. A positive swing thought focuses you on doing the right thing to improve your game.”

Your Call to Action/How to apply for this post: Over the next seven days consider what swing thought you could keep in mind/say to yourself for a behaviour you want to change. Experiment with the swing thought in safe situations and then reflect on the experiments.

p.s. A presentation that has resonated with my clients in the last 12 months is one entitled: Mind if I listen in? Fresh networking and body language techniques that pay-off. One client said of this about the presentation: “There was a real buzz in the room after your presentation and with the networking among the group.”

Formats that would be ideal for this presentation would be a Client appreciation event or at a Christmas function. Please contact me if you want to discuss a presentation that could be packaged for your needs on: (02) 9416 2311, or michael@kellyspeech.com.au

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