One thing that I am not good at is sports. Like most women, I dislike perspiring heavily, losing my poise and looking a wreck. Golf was something I gave up and stayed away from for eight years. Then, two years ago, someone reintroduced me to the game. Now, I'm addicted to it, no matter that I'm still not that good at it.
Golf is the only sport that can keep four or five people playing together - not just watching or cheering - for more than five hours. With the handicap system, you can play golf with anybody: it doesn't matter that you may not be as good as they are. No wonder people do business over a game of golf.
As a rookie in golf, but with more experience as a businesswoman, I have learned that similar rules apply to both worlds. Golfers need to know the characteristics (features) of each club, and how and when to use each one, whether iron or wood. You cannot putt with a 3-wood (although Tiger Woods probably could), or drive with a putter. This is similar to the business world, where you need to know the skills and talents of your staff very well, and know how to best utilise their strengths and where best to place them. It would be disaster, for instance, to have "number crunching" people working in the investor relations or public relations departments, where highly talented communicators are needed.
In my working career, I always believed in working hard before working smart. How can you be smart without experience gained from hard work? The same philosophy applies to golf. The quality of one's golf game starts from practise, and we have to continue practising regularly to maintain the standard of our game. One of my best friends usually plays golf very well, but he moved house over the past three months and his golf started to go south. He tried many ways to lift his game, such as changing his coach and changing the way he held his clubs, but nothing worked. I pointed out to him one day that his old house had a small chipping and putting green that he used to practise every day after work, and asked whether his new house also had one. He has since built a small chipping green at his new house and his golf game is heading north again.
As I said, I am a golf rookie. One of my friends, Khun Surapon Vongvadhanaroj, the CEO of Surapon Foods, shared his golf motto with me one day when we were playing golf together. After four holes I was getting upset with my game, and he said to me nicely: "Pratana, my golf motto is: "Don't get upset (with your golf game) more than your own talent". After hearing that, I have enjoyed my golf games a lot more. Just like in life, after we do our best, sometimes we should simply enjoy what we have.
As golfers, we need to know which "shot" is the most important. Is it the tee-off shot, the fairway shot, chipping or putting? Can you guess which? All good golfers know that it is "the next shot", because you cannot change the past, no matter how much you might want to. But you can improve your future. That holds equally true outside the golf world!
So, let's tee off and have a nice game.
Pratana Mongkolkul is group chief financial officer of Minor International. She may be contacted at pratana_ma@minornet.com. Follow her articles in Hi! Managers on every fourth Wednesday of the month.