The Business Golfer….Chapter Ten.
This is another in a continuing series of articles relating the similarities of being a good golfer to those of a being a good businessman. The author is Jim Masters, a FocalPoint Business Coach and Area Developer in Omaha Nebraska.
Today’s Installment: The Act of Giving Back
Recently, my wife and I attended a funeral for Steve Hogan, founder of “Hogan’s Junior Golf Heroes”. Steve created the organization back in 1990. (You can learn more about the organization and what it does for kids at “www.thefirstteeomaha.org”.) The funeral was a touching tribute to a man who had devoted much of his life to helping at-risk inner city kids find a better path.
To understand why Steve founded Hogan’s Junior Golf Heroes, it’s important to understand his background. Steve grew up in Omaha’s inner city and took up golf at an early age. As a young African-American, growing up in a rough area, Steve realized he faced a lot of tough moral decisions. Interestingly, he always found that the game of golf and its focus on respect, integrity, honesty and attitude helped give him a solid moral compass from which to weigh his actions and consequences.
He so embraced the game of golf that he decided to make a career out of it, becoming the first Nebraska African-American PGA professional. He returned back to his old neighborhood and its inner city course to become its pro. He realized things had not gotten better in the area….if anything, the conditions and temptations were even worse. It was then that he reflected on how fortunate he had been and he owed much of his success to the game of golf and what it had taught him about life.
Steve Hogan then made a decision….a decision which would change his life and the lives of so many at-risk inner city kids. If golf had been such a good life teacher to him, why wouldn’t it work just as well on these kids? So, Steve decided golf would be his “hook” to work with kids and teach them there are so many opportunities to pursue with their lives. Enlisting the help of city and business leaders, Steve turned his dream into a reality…the program now reaches out to more than 650 youth annually.
An important fundamental of the program is the “warm-up” drill taught to all the participants enrolled in the program. It is called the “Divine Swing”, and goes like this:
1. Feet Together... (Have a firm foundation which is Jesus Christ)
2. Shoulder width apart… (Stand tall and be responsible)
3. Bend your knees... (Pray Always)
4. Bend Your Waist… (Bow to no man but bend to respect and help every man)
5. Hold the ball… (Hold on to God and your dreams)
6. Bring it Back… (Remember where you are but never forget where you came from)
7. Toss.. (Take a swing at your dreams)
8. One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three… (Wait on the Lord and stay on course)
9. Watch the ball fly… (And one day you will fly)
Steve is an example of a professional golfer who chose to “give back”. There are countless others. Consider this: The PGA leads all professional sports in terms of charitable contributions. In 2007, alone, the PGA gave $123 million to charity and has raised more than $1 billion raised since 1938. Many golfers support specific charities or even establish their own. Since its inception in 1996, the Tiger Woods foundation has raised and dispersed more than $30 million toward communities nationwide through grants, scholarships and the Tiger Woods Learning Center. More than 10 million young people have been touched by the Tiger Woods Foundation
During this Holiday season, as business people and/or golfers, it is important to reflect on our good fortune and ask the question, “What am I doing to give back”. Some equate giving back with giving money. While so many could indeed use financial help, giving of your time, energy and talents in service to others, may make an even greater impact. So, just like Steve Hogan, you too can be a “hero” to others….just make a commitment to give back…starting today!
ABOUT THE COACH AND AREA DEVELOPER
Jim brings a wealth of sales, service, operations, associate development, team-building and leadership experience to his role as business coach and area developer. In his career, he has worked for and with all types of businesses, from large international corporations, to locally owned entrepreneurship's. He has been a consultant, served as an executive for a company with revenues in excess of $1 billion and was elected President of a non-profit enterprise with a budget of more than $3 million. Throughout he has learned the key factors to success in any sized businesses and is dedicated to creating time and money for his clients. Contact information:
Jim Masters
FocalPoint Business Coaching
402-331-7000
jmasters AT focalpointcoaching DOT com
Monday, December 15, 2008
Business Coach Dan Creed on Business during the Holidays
Happy holidays to all!
I hope that you’re keeping warm wherever you are? Heating up your business activity is a good way to keep busy. I personally subscribe to over 30 newsletters and blogs from some of the top business development; motivational experts; retailing experts and business coaches in the world. Last week there seemed to be a theme that I was preaching as well.
Right now, today and for the next month or more is the greatest time in history for aggressive salespeople and businesspeople, hard working salespeople/businesspeople to be selling something, anything, successfully. Why, because your wimpy competition is in hiding. Everyone is sticking their head in the sand and many salespeople/businesspeople are:
Crying and moaning and agreeing with the gloom and doom pundits about how bad they perceive the economy to be, or;
Using the economy woes and everyone’s fears as an excuse to go play more golf or sit around the office.
While your competition is “cocooning” you need to be attacking. The field is wide open. Now is your time to be a positive light (maybe the only positive light) for all of your prospects and customers. Give them options, be creative, help them think positive and be positive. Ask them for their business or ask them for more business. Be sure to have a strong “Call to Action” in all of your advertising and marketing and be sure to answer the WII-FM questions, “WHAT’s IN IT FOR ME?” questions.
This is a great time to steal market share from your competition and build tons of good will that will last far beyond the difficult times and into the good times.
I’ve also added a very nice piece below that I want to share with you. It’s called “The Eight Essential Clarity Questions in a Challenging Economy”…..These are questions that you really need to ask yourself about your business an yourself as you plan your goals and business strategy for 2009. And remember, if you might need some help with goals; time management; strategic planning; business plans and more, give me a call or drop me a line. Business Coaching is one of the best gifts you can give you and your business for 2009.
"8 ESSENTIAL CORE QUESTIONS IN A CHALLENGING ECONOMY"
1. What are your core competencies? What do you do very well? It’s essential to know this. Be honest with yourself. You can’t do everything but you can do some things very well! So, Identify them and do more of them.
2. What are your core activities? Guerilla marketing experts now say that 10% of your activities will produce 90% of your profits! Identify them and focus on them, NOW.
3. What are your core products and services? What products and/or services produce the most sales or highest profit? (Pareto’s Law)This used to be the 80/20 rule, but today the 90/10 rule seems to be the standard! 90% of your profit will come from 10% of your products. Identify your winners and focus your efforts on them.
4. What/Who are your core customers? In most businesses 20% of your customers produce 80% of all sales, who are these people? Focus on them, care for them more, ask them for more business and ask them for referrals!
5. Who are the core people in your company? Identify your keepers! If you have problem team members or slackers, now is not the time to have anyone that isn’t a major contributor! Deal with it!
6. What are your core sales and marketing methods? Millions of advertising dollars are being wasted today because “That’s the way we’ve always marketed!” Marketing effectiveness has changed and your consumers have changed. If you’re not getting results stop it now and build a new strategy that works featuring low cost and high impact.
7. What can I do NOW to protect my core business from the worse thing that could possibly happen? A key component of surviving and thriving is preparedness. It’s tough but you must ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen to your business? Be aware and then plan ahead to prevent it from happening or at least how you would deal with it.
8. What are the core strengths that I have as a person? Leaders know…
a. What they’re good at
b. What they’re bad at
c. What they like to do
d. What they don’t like to do
9. What are your core opportunities? Open up your eyes and understand what opportunities are staring you in the face. Be aware of them and don’t miss them, act on them now. Time is your worst enemy!
Good Luck All!
Happy Holidays
Dan Creed,
FocalPointCoaching
www.focalpointcoaching.com
I hope that you’re keeping warm wherever you are? Heating up your business activity is a good way to keep busy. I personally subscribe to over 30 newsletters and blogs from some of the top business development; motivational experts; retailing experts and business coaches in the world. Last week there seemed to be a theme that I was preaching as well.
Right now, today and for the next month or more is the greatest time in history for aggressive salespeople and businesspeople, hard working salespeople/businesspeople to be selling something, anything, successfully. Why, because your wimpy competition is in hiding. Everyone is sticking their head in the sand and many salespeople/businesspeople are:
Crying and moaning and agreeing with the gloom and doom pundits about how bad they perceive the economy to be, or;
Using the economy woes and everyone’s fears as an excuse to go play more golf or sit around the office.
While your competition is “cocooning” you need to be attacking. The field is wide open. Now is your time to be a positive light (maybe the only positive light) for all of your prospects and customers. Give them options, be creative, help them think positive and be positive. Ask them for their business or ask them for more business. Be sure to have a strong “Call to Action” in all of your advertising and marketing and be sure to answer the WII-FM questions, “WHAT’s IN IT FOR ME?” questions.
This is a great time to steal market share from your competition and build tons of good will that will last far beyond the difficult times and into the good times.
I’ve also added a very nice piece below that I want to share with you. It’s called “The Eight Essential Clarity Questions in a Challenging Economy”…..These are questions that you really need to ask yourself about your business an yourself as you plan your goals and business strategy for 2009. And remember, if you might need some help with goals; time management; strategic planning; business plans and more, give me a call or drop me a line. Business Coaching is one of the best gifts you can give you and your business for 2009.
"8 ESSENTIAL CORE QUESTIONS IN A CHALLENGING ECONOMY"
1. What are your core competencies? What do you do very well? It’s essential to know this. Be honest with yourself. You can’t do everything but you can do some things very well! So, Identify them and do more of them.
2. What are your core activities? Guerilla marketing experts now say that 10% of your activities will produce 90% of your profits! Identify them and focus on them, NOW.
3. What are your core products and services? What products and/or services produce the most sales or highest profit? (Pareto’s Law)This used to be the 80/20 rule, but today the 90/10 rule seems to be the standard! 90% of your profit will come from 10% of your products. Identify your winners and focus your efforts on them.
4. What/Who are your core customers? In most businesses 20% of your customers produce 80% of all sales, who are these people? Focus on them, care for them more, ask them for more business and ask them for referrals!
5. Who are the core people in your company? Identify your keepers! If you have problem team members or slackers, now is not the time to have anyone that isn’t a major contributor! Deal with it!
6. What are your core sales and marketing methods? Millions of advertising dollars are being wasted today because “That’s the way we’ve always marketed!” Marketing effectiveness has changed and your consumers have changed. If you’re not getting results stop it now and build a new strategy that works featuring low cost and high impact.
7. What can I do NOW to protect my core business from the worse thing that could possibly happen? A key component of surviving and thriving is preparedness. It’s tough but you must ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen to your business? Be aware and then plan ahead to prevent it from happening or at least how you would deal with it.
8. What are the core strengths that I have as a person? Leaders know…
a. What they’re good at
b. What they’re bad at
c. What they like to do
d. What they don’t like to do
9. What are your core opportunities? Open up your eyes and understand what opportunities are staring you in the face. Be aware of them and don’t miss them, act on them now. Time is your worst enemy!
Good Luck All!
Happy Holidays
Dan Creed,
FocalPointCoaching
www.focalpointcoaching.com
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