Club Inc: Use SWOT to Help Define your Goals4 min read

A series of monthly articles by Club Inc, golf’s leading recruitment experts and Confederation of Professional Golf’s Career Services Partners who provide invaluable career advice and services to member PGAs and their collective individual membership of more than 21,000 PGA Professionals.

Use SWOT to Help Define your Goals

SWOT Analysis is a useful technique for understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses, and for identifying both the Opportunities open to you and the Threats you face.

Used in a golf context, a SWOT Analysis helps you understand more about your golf game be it your swing, long game, short game, putting or mental attitude. Used in a personal context, it helps you develop your career in a way that takes best advantage of your talents, abilities and opportunities.

What makes SWOT especially powerful is that, with a little thought, it can help you uncover opportunities that you would not otherwise have spotted. And by understanding your weaknesses, you can manage and eliminate threats that might otherwise hurt your ability to move forward.

If you look at yourself using the SWOT framework, you can start to separate yourself from your peers, and further develop the specialised talents and abilities you need to advance your career.

Strengths

• What advantages do you have that others don’t have (for example, skills, certifications, education, or connections) outside of golf?
• What do you do better than anyone else in golf?
• What personal resources can you access?
• What do other people see as your strengths?
• Which of your achievements are you most proud of both inside and outside of golf?
• What values do you believe in that others fail to show at your club?
• Are you part of a network that no one else is involved in? If so, what connections do you have with influential people who can help you with your goals?
• Consider this from your own perspective, and from the point of view of the people around you. Don’t be modest or shy – be as objective as you can.

Weaknesses

• What tasks do you usually avoid because you don’t feel confident doing them?
• What will the people around you see as your weaknesses i.e. retail, teaching, playing?
• Are you completely confident in your education and skills training? If not, where are you weakest, accounting, presenting, and teaching?
• What are your negative work habits (for example, are you often late, are you disorganised, do you have a short temper, or are you poor at handling stress?
• Do you have personality traits that hold you back in your field? For instance, if you have to conduct meetings on a regular basis, a fear of public speaking would be a major weakness.

Opportunities

• What new Golf technology can help you stand out from the crowd i.e. Sam Putt lab or Trackman.
• The golf industry is growing in certain parts of the world i.e. China? How can you take advantage of the current market?
• Do you have a network of strategic contacts to help you, or offer good advice?
• Can you create something new for the golf industry
• Do your customers or suppliers complain about something in your club or driving range? If so, could you create an opportunity by offering a solution?
• You might find useful opportunities in the following:
  • Networking events, PGA educational classes, or conferences, webinars.
  • Is a fellow professional going on an extended leave? Could you take on some of this person’s duties to gain experience?
  • A new role or project that forces you to learn new skills, like event management, trick shot shows.
  • Do you have specific skills (like a second language) that could help you travel?
  • Also, importantly, look at your strengths, and ask yourself whether these open up any opportunities – and look at your weaknesses, and ask yourself whether you could open up opportunities by eliminating those weaknesses.

Threats

• What obstacles do you currently face?
• Are any of your colleagues competing with you for projects or roles?
• Is your job (or the demand for the things you do) changing?
• Does changing technology threaten your position?
• Does the club believe they don’t need to pay a retainer to a club professional?
• Performing this analysis will often provide key information – it can point out what needs to be done and put problems into perspective.

A SWOT matrix is a framework for analysing your strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats that you face. This helps you focus on your strengths, minimise your weaknesses, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available to you.

Remember it might feel like you have little control over where your career is heading. By calling Club Inc. you will find it really doesn’t have to be that way.

If you want to know more then listen to the webinar or feel free to contact Club Inc. Remember if you become a friend of Club Inc by simply clicking on our website www.clubincorporated.com you get a free coaching session providing you sign up by the end of our four session webinar series.