A good caddie is more than a mere assistant. He/she is guide, philosopher, and friend.” — Henry Longhurst
The Masters golf championship at August National offers perhaps the most challenging and tension-filled test of skill for the professional golfer.
Unlike all other major championships, The Masters is played at the same course with essentially the same layout year in and year out. As a result, competitors have intimate knowledge of every twist, turn, and undulation they encounter. And yet, nary a year passes where we don’t witness the gut-wrenching meltdown of one of the world’s premier golfers.
In this sense golf is a terrific metaphor for business. Though you are all too familiar with the marketplace, customer behaviors, and changes in the competitive landscape, there is an ever-present nervous anxiety and irresistible temptation that can lead to loss of focus. To allow oneself a brief indulgence in fantasizing about outcomes rather than carefully planning and committing to your next shot. And losing focus, even if for one fleeting moment, is the difference between winning or losing — predictable outcomes or unexplainable variation in results — earning a handsome pay day or carving up the losers share of the pie — between a long enduring brand legacy or an all too brief and soon forgotten moment at the top of the leaderboard.
In 2007 Zach Johnson won what many consider the most challenging Masters of all-time. Unusually fast and firm greens made for an extremely intense and grueling physical and mental climate that year. Johnson’s +1 winning score proves that out. Especially when you consider the average winning score over the past ten years is –10.
It comes as no surprise that Johnson would excel in the harshest of conditions. Each year he assembles a team of trusted advisors that includes his agent, swing coach, sports psychologist, statistician, financial adviser, caddie and wife. Team Johnson, as the group has come to be known, gathers to discuss results from the previous year relative to precisely defined goals and objectives. At the same time the team of experts offers recommendations on how Johnson can improve performance in the coming year. Johnson told Golfweek he met 7 of 12 goals the group set for the 2014 season.
Golfweek’s Jeff Babineau quotes Johnson as saying, “I just feel like, you know what, this is my business and I know I’m the head of it, or my wife and I are the head of it, right?” Johnson said. “We need to have a bunch of people we trust and that trust us so we can attack this as such, because they’ve invested in it and I’m invested in it. And I’d say the motivation and goals are the same.”
Team Johnson is indeed a multimillion-dollar enterprise. As of January 2015 Johnson won 11 times on the PGA tour banking nearly $36 million in prize money. Those earnings place Johnson at number 11 on ESPN’s All-Time Money Leaders list.
But prize money is just the beginning. Team Johnson also generates some $3 million off the course according to Golf Digest reports. Many sports marketing experts believe that figure is undervalued by 20 to 30 percent.
“So what” you say. “What the heck does what a golfer earns have to do with my business?”
There are three areas of focus where Team Johnson is maximizing performance and earnings that underscore the value of trusted advisors for business leaders: Technical — Psychological — Experiential. In the end, these three areas are critical in committing to a strategy, sticking with it, and optimizing the mental climate of your organization — which leads to meaningful client and employee engagement.
If you are like most business leaders concerns like keeping pace with innovation, process redesign, investing in the right technologies, resource development, and engaging clients and employees emotionally, intellectually, and behaviorally are keeping you up at night. But where do you begin? Having a team of trusted advisors close at hand, objective eyes and ears to give you unbiased insights, may well mean the difference between winning and losing.
As you watch The Masters this weekend think about what it would take for you to win the tournament. Who do you need on the team? Why? How will you leverage their skills, insights, and talents to ensure the best possible outcomes? How can you capitalize on the victory to elevate your brand? And most of all, think about what you are going to do with all that money.
Are you truly committed to your go-to-market strategy? Does the entirety of your organization share the vision? Is your execution focused and flawless? As your trusted advisor MindMeld provides guidance, proven methods and processes, and open and honest consultation in developing and executing business strategies that engage clients and employees alike. To learn more contact Doug Knuth at doug.knuth@mindmeldmarketing.com.