As part of the agreement, CoachNow becomes a ‘Coaching Software Supplier’ to the CPG and will assist PGA Professionals and coaches across its network with the running of their coaching businesses through preferential product access and pricing, as well as educational content and resources on the business of coaching.

Ian Randell, Chief Executive of the CPG, said: “Evolving the way golf coaches engage with their clients towards a more relationship-based model is key to driving long-term success for golfers and coaches. We fully believe in the tools and capabilities provided within the CoachNow platform to achieve that progression for every golf professional and coach and thus furthering their position as golf’s ultimate influencer.

“We are therefore delighted to be expanding our longstanding partnership with Golf Genius to now embrace CoachNow, supporting our efforts to innovate and provide world-class learning and business opportunities to PGA Professionals and coaches, and urge those interested in developing their coaching businesses to take advantage of this exclusive offer and access to the CoachNow platform.”

Trusted by the world’s best coaches, academies, and national programmes in 140 countries worldwide, CoachNow is a technology platform that helps PGA Professionals build successful coaching businesses with enhanced athlete collaboration, communication and coaching tools.

Craig Higgs, Managing Director of Golf Genius International, commented: “CPG are a key partner in the game of golf who drive standards in the business of golf coaching across the globe. We’re really pleased to be working with them, their Member Country PGAs and consequently, their PGA Members to drive world-class coaching through technology. Our entire team is looking forward to an innovative and industry-evolving partnership.”

Exclusively available to PGA members and coaches of the CPG network, the member offer includes 4-month’s free trial access to CoachNow Pro, followed by a discounted price on all plans after the free trial period has concluded.

Any interested and eligible members can find out more at coachnow.io/cpg or by contacting emea@coachnow.io.

Christiane spoke to the CPG direct from Paris during the Olympic Golf women’s competition about her experiences as a Rules Official during the week, the electric atmosphere at Le Golf National, and her valuable advice for PGA Members early on in their careers looking to develop themselves.

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The Olympics so far have been amazing, and, knowing that I would come here, I’ve watched a lot on TV. Obviously the crowds were amazing for the men, but I have to say that it’s as good for the women. Especially the French girls have been supported massively, but so have the entire field – the fans have been amazing.

We could hardly move anywhere with buggies, which is always a good sign because it means that a lot of people are there to watch.

The atmosphere is amazing and it does feel different than a normal tournament because you just have far more people involved. People are really cheering each other along and they’re playing for their country rather than for prize money, which does give a bit of a different atmosphere.

Especially on the first tee when the players tee off – there are so many people cheering for every player and it is absolutely amazing.

My role this week has been as a rules official, but we do change the official assignments every day. Some days I’m assigned to a specific zone where I am responsible for any rulings popping up in that area. But on other days I’m assigned to be a rover, in charge of managing pace of play, and I could be either on the front nine or back nine, or as general rules, or keeping an overall picture.

To be part of the Olympics as a rules official is just amazing to be honest. It is always nice to be part of a big team, and we only get to meet the officials from the other tours where we do majors usually. So when we share tournaments it is always nice to meet up and collaborate. We have our colleagues from the LPGA but also we have people here from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, The R&A, and USGA so it’s always really nice to be involved together and see what happens on the different tours and exchanging things.

The core setup this week is a little different to what we do on normal weeks on the LET, and much closer to what we do in major weeks. It is a bit tougher than the average LET tournament – the main differences are the course is playing slightly longer and green speed a bit faster. Plus we have an entire agronomy team here besides the local greenkeeping team and supervisor.

So there’s just more resources involved than what we normally have, but otherwise the standards are similar.

If I talk from a rules perspective, then if I’m just a rules official at one of our tournaments, then it is absolutely similar to what we do here. The only difference being that we have more referees out there than what we normally have. Normally we have around 6 – 8 rules officials out there – this week we are fortunate enough to have one rules official covering two or three holes, so we just have more staff on the ground.

My best piece of advice for a PGA member early in their career…? I started off with teaching and I really enjoyed my time doing that, but I think it is all about exploring what prospective options you actually have. Most people think it is purely teaching or maybe being a club manager, but there are so many options around what you can do as a PGA Member. Explore your options, try different things, and then try to find something that will inspire you to do it for the rest of your career. There is nothing wrong with doing one thing throughout your career at all but I am sure many would like to try different things along the way too.

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For more on the 2024 Olympic Golf  visit igfgolf.org/olympic-games/2024/paris.

Inside the Ryder Cup with CPG Chief Executive, Ian Randell, and Jeremy Snape.

The CPG Business Club hosted a live forum with Founder and CEO of Sporting Edge, Jeremy Snape, interviewing Ian Randell live from Whistling Straits, host venue of the 2020 Ryder Cup. Visit the CPG Business Club and find out how you can join future events: https://cp.golf/CPG-Business-Club​

THE WINNING MINDSET

This article is available in The Insider by CPG magazine, click here to download your digital copy.

The similarities between sport and business are often discussed, but there are few people better placed to shed light on the subject than former England cricketer Jeremy Snape. Here, he tells us what the two worlds have in common and what they can learn from each other.

CPG: You were a successful sportsman and changed tack totally on retirement. Why was that? 

Jeremy Snape: I had always considered myself a journeyman pro. I had 19 years as a professional cricketer, starting at Northants with an incredibly talented team with the likes of Allan Lamb and Curtly Ambrose and a squad full of legends that did not win a huge amount but had a great time. And then I moved to Gloucestershire, who were always underdogs. Everyone fitted together into this tight unit, and we surprised so many people, and ultimately redefined one-day cricket during that period, winning five or six trophies around the turn of the century. And that gave me the springboard to go and play for England. I was man of the match on my debut, but I guess I did not always find I was naturally confident. I was hard on myself and quite analytical – I remember playing a game in front of 120,000 screaming people in India but the loudest voice was in my head, and it was the one that was saying, “Are you sure you are good enough to be here?” I let the emotions divert me from my gameplan and no one had ever coached that, and I suppose it sparked a fascination for me in psychology and mindset and how leaders create a high-performance environment. So that is what I turned to.

CPG: I guess whatever we do we can all empathise with those doubts creeping in…  

JS: Yes, absolutely, and I have spent more time trying to understand this now over the last decade or so but often the highest performers are the ones that have the most doubt and insecurity because they have built up so much and they have got so much to lose. And part of that mindset is actually continually testing the boundaries, which means you are living on the edge and you are out of your comfort zone. Elite performers can actually find comfort in that uncomfortable space and they keep going there because they know that if they can overcome those fears, then that is where their proudest moments come from, and their best achievements.

CPG: And you studied this formally?

JS: Yes. I did my Master’s degree at Loughborough University while I was still playing actually, and there was a moment of epiphany, in the final of the Twenty20 Cup in a tight game at Edgbaston, when I needed to hit a boundary to win, and I used some of these skills that I had learnt from my Master’s degree. In India I had been so focused on what the newspapers and the media might say the next day that I forgot to watch the ball in front of me. Here, I was so focused on my breathing and my routine that I played an instinctive shot, and won the game for us.

So I saw the power of these techniques personally in my own career. I wish I had learnt them earlier but that is the way it is, and that gave me the passion to become a performance coach and help people to understand how they can use their mindset to give them a competitive edge rather than be a hindrance. And that led on to coaching in the IPL with Shane Warne’s team, the Rajasthan Royals, coaching South Africa as they went from number four to number one in the world, and then joining the League Managers’ Association (LMA), supporting the leadership development for the Premier League managers and below.

CPG: And you set up Sporting Edge. What was the aim there?

JS: Sporting Edge is ultimately about going inside the mind of champions, elite performers from sport, the military, academia, best-selling authors, futurists, and trying and find out what is it about this high-performance mindset and this high-performance leadership style that can be broken down into tangible tools that business leaders around the world can use. For me the mindset of high-performance in elite sport and in business are exactly the same. We are trying to get the best out of ourselves and to overcome those doubts, we are trying to get the best out of our individuals that are around us, and we are trying to bring an organisation together and help them to navigate change. The lessons absolutely translate across perfectly and we have proven that with thousands of executives around the world, using our digital library of video insights to fast-track their success.

CPG: Do business leaders need to be selfish to succeed?

JS: As a professional athlete you need to be self-focused. Not necessarily selfish but definitely self-focused, and that can lead into selfishness. The team dynamic is all about selfless performance – what can I give to my team? What does my team need of me now? And we tend to think more selflessly and longer-term in a team situation, whereas when we are under pressure we tend to think about survival in the short-term in our own career. I guess in golf that is where that incredible resilience of living in the moment and being able to build a strategy for your tournament or for the day or the round that you are playing and then be able to break it down into these tight routines. So, for example, if you are playing golf for four hours you are actually only playing golf for 23 minutes and it is the transition between the downtime when you are walking up and down the fairway, what you are thinking there, and that ability to really dial up your focus onto the next shot. You have got to be able to forget the last shot, whether it was a brilliant shot and you feel euphoric or whether it was a terrible shot and you have ended up in the woods. You have got to be able to stop that last shot from contaminating the next one, and that is one of the key mental skills that golf demands.

And it relates into business in that you might be a salesperson who has had three bad sales calls but the fourth call, you cannot afford to go into with low energy, low mood and a negative mindset, because that fourth call might be the one that actually transforms your business. It is that ability to reframe and reset yourself every so often rather than just seeing it as a whole day at work or a whole round of golf. Elite performers have that ability to break the game and the day down into focused units of performance.

CPG: The idea of an individual focus is really interesting but what about when golf becomes a team game?

JS: It is very interesting, I did an interview with Paul McGinley about his leadership at the Ryder Cup, and I think there were a few key elements there. One of the things he tried to do was build this emotional connection with the team. So, clearly all the stars are incredibly successful, they are financially secure, there is nothing that they really need but this team culture has the opportunity to be the thing that they are most proud of in their career and Paul McGinley leveraged this in a couple of ways. First of all he connected them back into the emotional history of the Ryder Cup, so all the players that had gone before them in that lineage. They used really powerful, emotive imagery of people like Seve Ballesteros and tried to bring some of that mindset, almost like the ancient wisdom of these forefathers was speaking to them, that they wanted to be part of this community. And then he, sort of, fast-forwarded it again and asked the players, you know, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if we were sitting in a pub in 15 years’ time when we were old and grey and we could look each other in the eye and say we did it, during those few days, we were the ones that absolutely sacrificed and delivered and we stayed true to the team spirit.”

McGinley was one of the first people to use data in an analytical review. For two years before the Ryder Cup he was looking at the course profile and the pairings and match-ups. He had got really strict rules around meetings only being 30 minutes, so he had to make sure that in those 30 minutes he had got their attention and their focus. And then he made sure he understood different people’s requirements so, for example, some leaders would have mandated a team meal every day at a particular time whereas McGinley had a rolling buffet because he knew that some of the Scandinavian golfers might have wanted to eat early and go to bed early whereas some of the Southern European might have stayed up later and gone to bed later. Having that ability to flex the environment for individuals to be at their very best meant that they did not feel as if they were fighting against the team, they were bringing their best as an individual into a team environment. And then because they had been supported as an individual, they could give as much as they could.

I have also interviewed a lot of Olympians who have spoken about individual performance being great but actually what really make them proud are when they have played their part in something bigger than themselves. Because that is not just a test of skill, but being part of a high-performing team is a test of character as well.

CPG: Are there attributes that these elite athletes, and by extension business leaders, share?

JS: Elite performers need certain core attributes, without a doubt. What I have learned from interviewing some of the world’s elite performers is that they have got this ability to visualise the endgame in high definition. They can imagine what it is going to feel like. And they can see themselves on the podium, they can build this incredible vision of what it is like and that is what motivates them. But they are also able to break that down into the behaviours and processes that are going to help them to do that. And then, more importantly than anything, they can set out a strategy. The discipline to be able to stick to these basics day after day after day is what sets them apart. So, we all see the Olympians on the podium, we all see the Tour de France cyclists in the yellow jersey, but what we do not see is them hacking up the mountains in the rain for four hours a day, for five years in a row.

The other thing I think is really important for entrepreneurs and elite sports stars is the ability to create a high-performance team around them. They rotate their hitting partners, physios, biomechanists, psychologists, nutritionists around them depending on what their game needs at the time. One of the challenges when you become successful is you get an echo chamber around you of people that just want to say that you are doing really well and they do not want to challenge you. What you actually want is a group of advisors who are going to support you and challenge you to be the very best you can be, to give you honest critique to keep you on track, and that could save you years of making the same mistakes.

CPG: Moving away from the absolute elite level, what would you say to the 12,500 professionals who are part of the CPG?

JS: The analogy I often use which is relevant here is that we are all the CEO of our own performance company. It is very easy when you are part of a big organisation to feel like you are another cog in the machine but actually when you run your own business it is critical, every decision that you make about how you communicate, your marketing outreach, the customer service that you offer, the risks that you take with the events that you are putting on. I think having real resilience is absolutely critical, having that optimism is absolutely critical, and we have needed both of those things over the last couple of years with COVID. But I think it is also important to have some kind of strategic roadmap of where you want to be.

One of the experts in digital strategy that we interviewed spoke about three time horizons being critical for leaders. The first time horizon is what’s your email inbox and your to-do list for the next few weeks or the next quarter. And then he spoke about horizon three being this disrupted future which is maybe five to ten years out where technology might have a different role to play. And the most important place to focus on is horizon two, which is this middle ground between our to-do list and this crazy world that may be very different in the future. Having that ability to plan some of these skill developments or entrepreneurial activities where a golf pro may be learning new skills or setting up a website or building some digital courses, they might seem like they are nice-to-haves in the future but if we are constantly just focused on navigating the short-term and surviving, we never build that business model in horizon two, which could be the thing that completely transforms our business.

CPG: Do you believe that golf is the sport of business?

JS: I do. First of all you get to meet lots of new contacts. If we get to play golf with a friend or a business partner and their colleague or client, then that sort of proximity is already a trusted relationship. And as the game unfolds you get to see what people are like under pressure, when they are losing, when they are winning. You do not often see that on a zoom meeting or sitting in a business meeting. Seeing somebody’s emotional profile as they go through pressure I think is a fascinating tell of what that person’s character is like. And again, you are spending a long period of time, maybe three or four hours, out in the fresh air, you are getting plenty of exercise. You are able to be creative because you have got the blood flow and your brain’s switching off from a lot of the analytical processes and often that is when our best ideas come.

In so many of our social interactions there is a power hierarchy, isn’t there? This person is a more senior leader than me, this person is a multi-millionaire, therefore we defer to their power. But in golf, you could have a multi-millionaire who is rubbish at golf and a young buck who is playing off scratch and those power hierarchies are inverted, and you get a pretty good sense from the way people interact with each other what they are like in business. So yes, I would say golf provides a great shared experience and is very much the sport of business.

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Unlike its publicity-courting cousin, running, walking is rarely associated with leadership and success. There are relatively few examples of Fortune 500 CEOs ‘powering through’ a 20k stroll on their way to work, nor prime-time comedians ‘sauntering’ through the Sahara Desert for their latest charity/publicity drive. Walking is an also-ran in more ways than one.

And yet, a quick flick through the history books reveals enough famous walkers to more than rival their more fleet-footed counterparts.

From Beethoven to Steve Jobs and the Queen, walking has helped many a historic heavyweight to achieve success in their chosen field, even if they haven’t yet felt the need to brag about it to their favourite financial journal.

As scientists will attest, walking offers an array of benefits for regular practitioners.  Aside from the obvious physical perks of regular exercise, there are the various mental benefits to consider.

Walkers tend to enjoy lower stress levels, as well as increased cognitive function.  To add to this, a recent study by Stanford University found moving around led to an increase in creativity in 81% of participants who had previously been seated.

The only area where walking really falls short (aside from the crummy PR team behind it) is the obvious time commitment involved.  This may explain why it’s rarely the activity of choice among time-pressured modern professionals.

The flipside to this is that, contrary to more aerobically challenging activities, it can be crow-barred relatively easily into the working day.  As well as being the perfect option for a reinvigorating, yet sweat-free lunch break, it is a great way to put a new angle on interviews, one-on-one meetings, and brainstorming sessions.

The most potent pro-ambulatory argument, however, is perhaps the fact that walking is what we humans are originally designed to do.  Not pounding the pavement clad in lycra or expensive running shoes, or – worse still – wedged in behind a computer screen for 10 hours straight.

Walking may not win you any awards in the image stakes, but your body (and possibly career) will thank you for it.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: LinkedIn; Design School; Inc.com

The five attendees of IPE – Danilo Kraljevic, Luka Karaula, Robert Savic, Vladimir Efremow and Piero Mina, arrived in Holland representing various PGAs including Serbia, Russia and Croatia.

The week gave the students an opportunity to complete the first half of their required eight residential days (in which the last four will be completed in February), receiving information from tutors across various disciplines including golf coaching and club administration. By attending, the students have taken the first step into achieving their own professional goals in the golf industry, and the necessary qualifications to support their respective golf clubs and clients in the future.

Director of IPE Jim Van Heuven Van Staereling, commented on the week: “The students enjoyed their stay and went home with an open mind and probably more questions than when they arrived.

“However, facilitating this desire for further learning is the main aim of the first stage of IPE, and I very much look forward to observing their further development over the next few weeks and months”.

Haarlemmermeersche Golf Club was a perfect host for the week, providing perfect practice facilities, 36 holes of golf  (9 of which are flood-lightened) and a close proximity to the country’s capital, Amsterdam. This all enabled a seamless delivery of the programme and maximised the student’s overall experience.

Between now and February, students will undertake and complete an online portfolio – new to IPE, that is guided and assessed by IPE course tutors. This covers every element on the course specification and prepares each student for the final stage of the programme in February.

Upon successful completion of IPE’s learning outcomes, students will attain  ‘Apprentice Professional’ status and be well on their way to becoming a fully qualified PGA Golf Professional with their respective CPG Member Countries.

For more information about IPE, click here

Visit Haarlemmermeersche Golf Club

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There is a well-known phrase: ‘people leave managers, not companies’. Ensuring your organisation is made up of leaders with the right characteristics, level of self-awareness, potential and ability is fundamental in fostering an environment of high engagement and high performance, both of which are key drivers of business success.

Leadership goes beyond the successful delivery of projects or achievement of strategic targets; it’s about engaging your people on the journey towards realising a vision. We surveyed over 200 HR and business professionals on their views on leadership, engagement and talent, and a host of recommended actions from industry experts that you can implement in your own organisations.

This whitepaper aims to reflect on the relationship between leadership and engagement, covering the following themes:

• The role of leaders in driving engagement and performance through team values
• Psychological methods of defining talent and measuring potential
• The impact of employee engagement upon performance

Click Here to Download the Free Whitepaper [ThomasInternational.net]

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Reuben Conibear

Reuben has worked in the Marketing team at Thomas for just over 3 and half years. As Marketing Executive, Reuben’s core focus is to ensure a high quality experience for Thomas customers at all times. In his spare time, Reuben enjoys kayaking, bouldering and spending time with his friends and family.

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Fact File

Formed: 2002

Members: 36

Players: 1,222

Courses: 16

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“We literally built the first golf hole in Hungary during the early 1980s.” How many people can lay claim to such an achievement? Well PGA of Hungary Professional, László Tringer, can. Not only was László, his father and a few friends right at the sharp end of golf’s re-emergence in the former communist state around the time of independence, but he was also responsible for the creation of the PGA of Hungary at the turn of the century.

I caught up with László and Áron Makszin in a very cold and snow-covered Budapest in February. Why I agreed to go to Hungary at that time of the year is something that I have asked myself for the last few days. Even so, the cold exterior is more than made up for by the warm hospitality and of course the celebrated Goulash soup.

The reason for my visit was to deliver the Confederation of Professional Golf’s Tutor Training course to a group of Professionals who currently are or soon will be, delivering the PGA of Hungary professional education programme. Education is taken very seriously in this part of the world. The University of Sport and Physical Education, which emerged from the world famous Semmelweis University, is an education partner of the PGA of Hungary.

As is the case in many emerging golf markets, there are those who have lived each faltering step along the way. László and Áron are such people. I also caught up by Skype with PGA Professional, Damian MacPherson, who was out of the country during my visit.

Damian moved to Hungary 20 years ago and has since built a career and reputation that has resulted in an award from the government to recognise his services to the game. Thankfully all three were willing to share their experiences. Lived experience is often a subjective account of what actually has happened, but this potential weakness is more than made up for by the rich understanding that emerges from every ounce of their being.

For most of us, it is hard to imagine starting to play golf when there are no facilities, no equipment, and no access to knowledge. Imagine starting to play on an athletic field, or building your own hole. With no courses available, what would you do?

For László the answer was obvious – build one. Well, perhaps not a full course, but a least one hole and then another. Three holes later, these creations eventually became holes seven, eight & nine on the Kisoroszi Course, and once again golf was on its way.

Not content with his efforts, and after a period of training with the PGA of Germany, László returned to Hungary to form the PGA of Hungary. As the President, he has overseen every step of the development of the Association and now acts as Vice President.

Meanwhile, Áron was competing in the Decathlon and racking up two gold medals in the national athletics championships. Imagine his surprise when this seemingly simple game that involves swinging a club and hitting a ball proved too difficult to master. Áron says that the “challenge and the environment were the key drivers” for his involvement in golf. He found it hard to understand as an athlete who could easily control his body positions and copy from master teachers, that he was unable to do the same in golf. He was hooked. Áron is a lifelong learner and sees every situation as an opportunity to develop his knowledge or skill. Golf satisfied his thirst for continual exploration and learning.

Golf has been played in Hungary since the early 1900s, but it was football that was the major sport when under the Communist party rule. Golf was banned as it was thought to be a potential threat to the party and so the existing golf facilities were destroyed. The nation had success in other sports, swimming, water polo, athletics and handball, but surprisingly there has been success on the golf course too. Although the link to Julius Boros, the son of two Hungarian immigrants to the United States, is somewhat tenuous, ‘Boros’ as they simply call him here, won two US Opens and played on four USA Ryder Cup Teams.

Hungary is a very different nation today than it was just 30 years ago. In an economy that has zero unemployment, one might think that golf professionals might have an easy life. This is not the case for the 37 PGA of Hungary members who serve 1,300 officially registered players along with another estimated 500 nomad players. You can do the maths, but it clear that from a population of ten million people, golf is not likely to feature in the top ten sporting pastimes. Why so?

According to László, people like golf when they see it on TV. The Olympics he says has had a small positive effect – so why do more people not play? Many people try golf, but few are really grabbed by the shirt and bond to the game. Time? Expense? We have heard these reasons before and yet alpine skiing, sailing and tennis have all gone onto to enjoy a burgeoning appeal. Why then has golf not made this step?

Damian, who arrived in Hungary in 1998 with no intention to stay more than a year, is fully integrated into the Hungarian way of life with his family and friends. He has no intentions of going anywhere else. He has experienced the difficulties of getting golf to penetrate into the hearts of the Hungarian people. People try the game but rarely take the next step, “perhaps it is perception,” says Damian. “The government see it as an elite sport and when youngsters go home saying that they have tried and enjoyed golf, it is met with parental advice to forget golf and take up one of the more mainstream games.”

Áron, who is the Secretary-General of the Hungarian Golf Federation also makes the point, “perhaps the perception built up by the media is not helping”. Golf is no more expensive than alpine skiing and sailing, and it likely takes around the same or less time, so is there a misguided perception? The Hungarian people see the sport as elitist, for the rich, the powerful and the famous. Until now it is not a game for the people, or so they think, he says. The Federation together with the PGA and golf facilities, of which there are now 18, are all behind a project that will help newcomers have an experience that is inexpensive and entirely inclusive.

Even after more than 20 years, László, Áron and Damian still have the passion to help the Hungarian people get into golf. Typically Áron sees education as being an essential tool for the professionals and says that all professionals now, more than ever before, need to have great communication, personal relation and coaching skills.

All three agree that Hungary needs more players, to which László adds that they also need a good player, someone who can make it on the European Tour and perhaps win a tournament. A dream? Perhaps. But a dream that the professionals in Hungary will keep working for.

Click to Find Out More About the PGA of Hungary

But it’s not just the oldies among us that are affected; millennials are frequently hit with these ‘senior moments’ too. Perhaps there’s an argument for mandatory name-tagging for everyone? Alternatively, there are a number of simple tactics that can help ward off this most socially awkward of conditions. Here is a selection of the best ones to try:

1. Concentrate

Most name blanks are created at the initial meet and great stage when people tend to be distracted by all the other thoughts running through their mind. By listening and fully engaging you stand a much better chance of recalling specifics such as names.

2. Repeat

Having registered the name, the trick is to consolidate it with as much repetition and reaffirmation as possible. Asking your new acquaintance to spell it out in full will help lodge it firmly within your temporal lobe. Warning: this may make you look odd if their name is John Smith. But you could try “John with an ‘h’?”

3.Write it down

For those with a visual rather than aural learning style it’s helpful to write down the name at the earliest convenience. You might even look to carry around a note-pad for this very purpose, though this could also make you look like an undercover detective on a bad day.

4. Name association

Similar to the popular word association drinking game but with more names and less drink, this tactic involves creating links and patterns between the person’s name and those of celebrities or people you know. Always keep your workings to yourself to avoid causing offence.

5. Address it head on

If after all this your new connection still remains nameless, your best bet is to meet the situation head on and own up to your forgetfulness. Do this early while your forgetfulness is still easily brushed aside. Waiting until the office Christmas Party could make things awkward, especially if Secret Santa is involved.

With several potential tricks up your sleeve, compensating your name-blanking tendencies is easier than it seems. Don’t start reaching for the nametags just yet.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

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As Thomas International continues to roll out the High Potential Trait Indicator (HPTI) worldwide, a vast amount of data is being collected and analysed alongside a great deal of data about workplace and leadership outcomes.

These results were presented in a symposium at the 2018 International Test Commission Conference in Montreal [read more about it here]. This represents one of the largest HPTI studies done to date, including nearly 10,000 participants.

One of the defining features of the HPTI is it’s optimal trait levels for leadership. The HPTI goes beyond identifying personality traits and provides clear guidelines for identifying high potential leaders based on their personality traits. The recent studies confirm and reinforce the importance of personality traits for leadership.

The Process

Good scientific research involves thorough testing to build on theories and collect large amounts of data. This helps to confirm findings and improve the knowledge and understanding of the topic under investigation. Thomas International have been testing and validating the HPTI with workers around the world to ensure HPTI results and reports are valid, reliable and useful in workplaces around the world.

This process ensures the HPTI is a scientifically validated tool, and allows the continuous development of additional knowledge and resources to improve the utility of the HPTI in practice.

One of the papers presented at the 2018 International Test Commission Conference in Montreal looked at the results from a study of nearly 10,000 participants. Alongside the HPTI, various workplace outcome variables were also examined. The results demonstrated that the theoretical underpinnings and psychometric properties of the HPTI are valid and useful for North American populations.

Key Findings

First, the items and personality traits tested by the HPTI can be used in workplaces in North America. This research also involves a localisation process for the HPTI, so population norms and optimal levels of traits tailored to North American workers, leaders and businesses.

Second, this is the largest study to date examining HPTI traits at different levels of leadership. The results show very significant differences in HPTI traits at the different levels of leadership. The results confirm the importance of HPTI traits for leadership, and show the importance of HPTI traits increases with leadership seniority.

The chart below show increasing levels of each personality trait in each leadership category. This is a clear pattern which shows how important optimal HPTI trait levels are in leadership, and senior leadership in particular.

The results also show a greater spread between some traits. For example, those not in leadership tend to have average Ambiguity Approach levels. Senior leaders show substantially higher Ambiguity Approach which is essential for the level of complexity and uncertainty they face in their work.

Competitiveness, on the other hand, shows a relatively narrow spread. Although Competitiveness rises slightly higher at more senior levels of leadership, the differences are relatively modest. This is consistent with previous findings that extreme levels of competitiveness can be counterproductive in leadership positions.

Overall, this clearly shows the importance of HPTI traits in leadership and highlights that the HPTI traits are even more important in senior leadership. As HPTI research is conducted around the world, the research results clearly and consistently demonstrate how important HPTI traits are for leadership potential.

Implications for Business

HPTI personality traits are incredibly useful in assessing high potential at work for three reasons (discussed in more detail in High Potential: How to spot, manage and develop talented people at work).

1. Personality is stable

Personality traits are relatively stable from early adulthood into later life. It is a consistent pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving. This means personality is a very useful early indicator of potential at work.

2. Personality is rooted in the brain and biology

Personality comes from neurological processes and structures. That means personality is essentially hardwired in the brain, and very difficult to change except in cases of extreme psychological intervention. Unlike factors such as motivation which can change day-to-day or year-to-year, personality is a useful long-term predictor of both performance and potential.

3. Personality traits interact

Personality traits do not exist in isolation. The traits interact to form a whole, overall personality structure. Having high or low levels of one particular trait will influence how all other traits are experienced and expressed. This means it is important to look at all the HPTI personality traits in combination. The research described earlier in this article reinforces how important all of the HPTI traits are for overall leadership potential.

Getting a full picture of a person’s personality traits provides important information about making decisions related to identifying, managing and developing high potential at work.

Read more about each of the 6 traits of high potential in leadership and how the HPTI can support you in recruiting and developing your (future) leaders.

To find out more about the real-life applications of the HPTI, please get in contact on info@thomas.co.uk or call us on +44(0)1628 475 366.

——————————————————

Ian MacRae

Ian has been an organisational psychology consultant for over a decade and is the director and co-founder of High Potential Psychology Ltd. He is the co-author of High Potential: How to Spot Manage and Develop Talented People at Work and the High Potential Trait Indicator (HPTI), a measure of leadership potential, which is available to Thomas clients.

When team members work well together, there is little they cannot accomplish. Looking at the bigger picture when it comes to your teams, such as their behavioural and emotional preferences and the impact they have on each other, can greatly increase your chances of developing a high performing team.

Patrick Wright from the Rugby Business Network (RBN) uses Thomas assessments to do just that. Thomas tools allow them to gain a deeper understanding of an individual’s preferences, something the RBN have used to develop athlete performance, enhance transition programmes and ultimately deliver results.

Developing self-awareness in the USA 7’s Rugby team

Mike Friday, Head Coach of the USA 7’s Rugby team, has been working with Patrick at the RBN to embed Thomas assessments into the team’s training programme in the lead up to the Rio Olympic Games, in order to improve consistency in performance through greater self-awareness amongst team members.

As a high performance sporting team where effective communication is crucial to successful performance, the team needed to develop their understanding of each other. As a result, they implemented Thomas’ Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) to identify their strengths, limitations, motivators and communication preferences; helping team members and coaches to tailor communications to individuals, so as not to misinterpret them and stifle learning.

The PPA compatibility report was also used between players, coaching staff and the management team. The reports uncovered a number of potential challenges to effective team relationships, which allowed them to put timely strategies and development plans in place to help individuals to modify their behaviour to the preferences of others.

The players also noticed an immediate impact after implementing Thomas assessments. Madison Hughes, player and captain of the USA 7’s Rugby team comments, “The Thomas PPA helped the team take a different perspective on communication with each other. In particular, it helped us realise the different ways people see things and therefore that with each individual, different approaches are necessary.

Mike concludes, “it has been very insightful working with Thomas International. It has encouraged open communication within the squad and has created a foundation for us to create winning performances on the pitch and to be a more united squad off the pitch. I would highly recommend teams looking to find the edge in high performance to explore this approach.”

For more information, visit ThomasInternational.net.

Photos provided by Mike Lee/KLCFotos

And we have been doing so throughout history. Stories have allowed us to pass on information from one generation to the next in the form of books, visuals and the spoken word. Some cultures rely heavily – or solely in some cases – on oral storytelling to pass on traditions, values and beliefs. Members of the Native American Abenaki tribe, for example, have traditionally told their children stories as a way to teach them right from wrong and so instil core values in them. Fairy tales have done the same for many cultures for hundreds of years.

So why stories? What makes them so valuable?

First and foremost, stories allow us to make sense of the world around us. The way this works is quite simple: our brains are hardwired to look for patterns, i.e. finding links between cause and effect. This is how we learn from a young age. For example, if we touch something very hot and it hurts our hand we make the causal connection between the two and learn not to touch that thing again. The end result of this thought process is a story, which we can then share with others to spread our knowledge.

Stories can touch us in any number of ways. They can open our minds to new perspectives, inspire and persuade us, help build our confidence, grow a sense of inclusion and incite change. Ultimately, they can be used to shape our values and beliefs. Think, for example, of how stories are used within religion and politics to influence how people think and what they believe.

A story’s power comes from its narrative form, which draws us in much more than dry facts ever could. Evidence from neuroscience suggests that when we listen to a story our brain patterns start to mirror those of the speaker, allowing us to connect on a deeper level. The way a story is structured – with a clear beginning, middle and end – also helps to maintain our engagement as we long to hear the outcome.

Being a great storyteller is an incredibly useful skill for any professional to have, and a relatively easy one to master: after all, it’s something that we practise almost every day. However, to perfect the art there are some ground rules to keep in mind:

1. Make sure you understand your audience and how best to best to engage them.
2. Your story needs to be easy to follow with a clear structure.
3. Don’t forget the power of delivery: your tone of voice and body language can influence engagement levels.

Evaluate your own storytelling skills: how comfortable do you feel telling a story? How good do you think you are at engaging others when you speak? Then start practising those skills. Whether it’s at your next networking event, during a presentation, or a meeting with your boss or a hiring manager: tell a story about you, your career or the project you are working on. Chances are whoever’s listening will remember that story over anything else.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: Abintegro; The Guardian; The Health Foundation

Reviewing your CV is something you should do every so often, thinking critically about what should be included and what is better left behind.

Here are our tip 8 CV errors to avoid this year:

1. The words “CV”

Avoid planting “CV” or “Curriculum Vitae” at the top of the page – at this stage, anyone reading it will have a clear idea of what it is they’re looking at. Include your name at the top instead.

2. Photos and personal information

Unless you’re an actor or model, there’s no need to include a photo of yourself. The same goes for personal information (other than your basic contact details).

3. Personal aims and objectives

Employers today don’t particularly care what you want – it’s all about their needs. If you do decide to reference what you’re looking for, make sure that it’s an exact match for what they want.

4. Jargon and buzzwords

Recruiters appreciate plain speaking, so there’s no need to litter the page with industry jargon, especially if it’s not relevant to the sector you’re hoping to work in. The same goes for “best-in-class”, “synergy” and all those other generic buzzwords – they’re not going to impress anyone.

5. Everyday hobbies

The fact you enjoy “reading, gardening and socialising” isn’t exactly going to make a recruiter swoon. The interests section can really make you stand out, but to do so it needs to add another dimension to who you are. This is a chance to show your passion, the diversity of your interests and skills. If you can’t think of anything besides going to the cinema consider skipping this section altogether.

6. Political affiliations

Avoid references to memberships or affiliations with polarising (or arguably any) political groups, unless these are specifically relevant to the job.

7. Fluff

Unless you’re going for a role as an artist or graphic designer it’s best to keep the frills – infographics, wacky fonts, fancy headers and footers etc. – to a minimum.

As eye-catching as they are, they’re also likely to distract from the real “meat” on your CV and may also confuse the applicant-tracking systems that many employers now use. Stick to a simple, modern font like Arial.

8. “References upon request.”

It’s clear you will provide references (otherwise you wouldn’t apply for the job), so either include the names and roles of your references or de-clutter your CV and remove it.

When it comes to your CV there’s one overarching rule to keep in mind: don’t include information that doesn’t directly pertain to landing the job. Less is always more – so before sending your CV out into the big wide world do a double take to make sure everything on there is relevant to the person who’ll be reading it.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: Huffington Post; National Centre for Biotechnical Information

Composite Graphic Credit: Flatart / Freepik

What this example demonstrates is the power – and danger – of negative thinking. Research into negative thoughts has shown how they lead us to dissociate from the outside world and turn our focus to one thing only: the thing that is making us feel angry, scared or bad about ourselves. As a result, we stagnate.

Positive thoughts have the opposite effect, opening our minds to see a whole range of possibilities and therefore welcoming new ideas and perceptions. Barbara Fredrickson, a professor at the University of North Carolina and researcher of positive emotions, believes thinking positively can even have long-term benefits. In her ‘broaden and build’ theory she describes how the broadening of our sense of what is possible generated by positive thoughts can lead us to develop new skills and so progress in life.

For some of us, looking at things from the bright side is something that comes easily; others find it harder. That doesn’t mean all hope is lost, though: thinking positively is something that you can train yourself to do.

First of all, you’ll need to start making a conscious effort to not give in to negative thoughts. Recognise when you start dwelling on the bleaker side of things and put a stop to it by asking yourself what you could do to make the situation better. Then start setting actionable goals for yourself – reaching them will empower you.

The next step is to foster positive thoughts. Easier said than done? Not necessarily. While positive thinking creates positive emotions, this process also works the other way around. This means that doing things you love, that bring you joy, can help you to think more positively. Think, for example, of a time where you engaged with something you are passionate about: perhaps you went to a concert or saw a film you really loved. Did you feel inspired afterwards? Perhaps it even led you to actively pursue a goal related to that passion?

Or you can try something new. Meditation has been proven to help cultivate positive thoughts, while a study published in the Journal of Research in Personality showed that writing about positive experiences can have the same effect.

Thinking positively means getting out of your head and looking for solutions. It’s something you may have to practise to get better at, but ultimately it can open doors that you may otherwise have walked right past.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: Huffington Post; National Centre for Biotechnical Information

Composite Graphic Credit: iconicbestiary / Freepik

Fred observes that hospital patients judge their experience not only by the way they are treated for the disease but also, and more importantly, by the way, that they are treated as a person…

If Fred is right, and incidentally I think that he is, and if this concept transfers across into golf, which I think it does, then the ‘how’ is perhaps more important than the ‘what’? This is an essential point for all, coaches, managers, and leaders to recognise. By the way, the great ones do; that is one reason that they are great.

Content, or perhaps we should call it knowledge, can be learned. In fact, content can be learned by almost anyone on almost any subject. Certainly, there is always content to learn or be updated on, that is the nature of progress. Often people have a fascination for content, and yet they have a hard time sharing that knowledge in a way that can make a difference in the life of someone else. I believe that it is possible to learn enough content for whatever role you have in a short period of time to become good at almost any subject. Learning to share that knowledge however is altogether different.

Back to Fred Lee and his five behaviours. Fred conveniently created the acronym S.H.A.R.E. Essentially these behaviours boiled down to the following values: using initiative, being part of a team, understanding the customer’s feelings, treating them with courtesy and making sure that communication is open and honest.

• S – Sense people’s needs before they ask (initiative)
• H – Help each other out (teamwork)
• A – Acknowledge people’s feelings (empathy)
• R – Respect the dignity and privacy of everyone (courtesy)
• E – Explain what is happening (communication)

So if the ‘how’ is so important then how can golf focus more on how to share experience and knowledge so that it is relevant, timely and useful? There are many answers to this question, and I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

You need to make sure your efforts are being mirrored in the results you see, which means having a system in place to allow you to understand what’s working and what isn’t. Here are our top 10 tips for a systematic, successful search:

1. Take some time out

Start by giving yourself 24 hours off from your search to create some space in your head to start organising yourself. A small time investment now could save you hours in the long-run.

2. Create a workspace

Having cleared some space in the temporal sense, set aside a room or desk that’s clear and clutter-free. Doing this will automatically make you feel more focused.

3. Clarify your goals

Draw up a list of your main goals: what kind of position do you want, when do you want it by and what salary are you willing to accept? Then have an alternative plan in place for each of the above.

4. Have a set schedule

It’s been said that the difference between a dream and a goal is a deadline. Commit a certain period of each day to working on your applications and stick rigidly to this.

5. Sharpen your search materials

You need to be ready to roll with your application at short notice. This means maintaining an up-to-date CV and cover letter template as well as keeping your professional profile ticking over on sites such as LinkedIn.

6. Soup-up your inbox

The email account is the jobseeker’s command HQ. Sorting your emails into different categories – jobs applied to; open positions etc. – will help you stay on top of things.

7. Create a system

Alongside this, you’ll need a tracking system that lets you know where you are with each application at quick glance. It needn’t be an elaborate spreadsheet, but should have all the information you need clearly laid-out.

8. Then use it

The best data management system in the world is no use to you unless you keep it regularly updated. Make sure your version includes a ‘next step’ section to encourage you to follow up on any developments.

9. Map your networking

Monitoring your informal job enquiries is no less important. Stop trails from going cold by keeping a note of any meetings or encounters you have while setting reminders for when to follow up.

10. Review your progress

Taking stock of your search is more important now than ever. Review what’s been working well and what hasn’t. Then decide how you’re going to improve things.

Job hunting can be a relatively painless business or it can be a long, hard slog. While there are usually a number of factors involved, often some simple organisation and forward planning can prove the difference.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: Graduate Fog; Quint Careers; Business Insider

“I think women’s golf has a great future if it can market itself correctly. For me it’s as exciting watching a ladies’ tournament as it is watching a men’s tournament. Sometimes people get a bit drawn to how far the ball flies and they attack impossible pins and take on impossible shots, but the ladies play really clever golf too.

“I was at the Evian Championship last year and what I saw was very impressive – they had a very professional attitude and were really focused on the range so there’s no difference between them and the guys. I would like to see ladies get much more TV time and more acknowledgement for what they are doing.”

Interview Highlights:

00:29 – How Marie got into golf…

01:39 – Entering a golf club as a young girl golfer…

02:21 – The changes in golf in Austria…

03:23 – Marie now works at the same facility that she started her golf career at…

06:25 – Being driven by those that originally discouraged her golf…

08:23 – Getting the Austrian National Team Coach job…

09:20 – Becoming involved in ‘Communicology’…

11:25 – Using ‘Communicology’ to break things down and not get lost in the detail…

12:10 – Key learnings from Marie’s career so far…

14:19 – The difference between teaching & coaching…

16:00 – What changes has Marie seen over the time she worked with the Austrian Girls squads…

18:49 – Working as a National Coach is a 24/7 role…

19:41 – What is the future of girls’ golf…

20:48 – The challenges face in women and girls’ participation…

23:01 – The difference between girls and boys’ sport …

24:26 – What are the mistakes most beginner golfers make…?

28:15 – Who is the best lesser-known coach Marie has worked with…?

30:19 – What advice would you give your 25-year-old self…?

31:09 – Marie’s views on who she feels are ‘successful’ people…

32:05 – Marie’s favourite book…

33:01 – The advice has Marie found beneficial up until now…

35:01 – What might surprise listeners about Marie…

35:19 – The golf equipment that gives Marie the most joy…

35:55 – Marie’s dream Fourball…

36:34 – Advice for aspiring PGA Professionals…

Find out more about Marie at www.functionalgolf.at and at functionalgolfat on Facebook.

Find out more about the Confederation of Professional Golf Golf Development Team at http://eur.pe/GolfDevelopmentTeam

On the one hand this pertains to language, i.e. whether or not you speak a second or maybe even a third language. More importantly though, it’s about understanding and accepting that customs, standards, and values differ between cultures, and being willing to learn and adapt to them.

Research undertaken by the British Council showed that employers value intercultural skills just as much as they do formal qualifications. The Council surveyed employers from nine different countries operating within the public, private and non-profit sectors. When asked about their reasons for valuing intercultural skills, they stated that employees who successfully display these skills were more likely to secure new projects, worked better within diverse teams and were more successful in representing the company brand and reputation.

In fact, a lack of intercultural skills was perceived as a risk to the company, possessing the potential to seriously damage client relations, team productivity and ultimately the company’s reputation.

While there might not be a straightforward way for employers to test your intercultural skills in an interview, they might ask you questions like: have you ever worked abroad? Do you have experience working in a diverse team? Do you speak any foreign languages?

They can also learn a great deal from how you communicate throughout the application process and during the interview: are you easy to talk to? Are you able to see things from someone else’s perspective? Are you willing to learn from them?

Ultimately, intercultural skills are something you show. Simply listing it on your CV won’t do; you’ll have to convince people you possess the eagerness to learn and the ability to adapt. So start doing: read, travel, learn a new language, talk to different people and, most importantly, be curious.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: British Council; Skills You Need

With Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia on the rise, ‘brain-training’ is very much in vogue among retirees and younger whippersnappers alike. As game developers have been quick to appreciate, preserving healthy cognitive function means maintaining sharpness across all the right areas, from memory and recall to problem solving and planning. There’s enough there for a bi-annual upgrade and then some.

Video games aside, there are plenty of equally as efficient but less costly ways to keep your grey matter firing on all cylinders. Here are some top tips for successful cerebral conservation:

1. Learn something new

Be it the cello, Ancient Greek or Chinese calligraphy, teaching yourself a new skill is a great way to keep the old brain cells ticking over. A recent study of retirees showed that a challenging mental activity one a week reduced the risk of dementia by 7%.

2. Get physical

Work the rest of your body while you’re at it. Research suggests that 30 minutes of exercise three times each week can reduce dementia by 40% and cognitive impairment by 60%. The secondary benefits should also be obvious.

3. Food for thought

You don’t need a PHD in nutrition to know some foods are better for the brain than others. Indulge in vegetables, nuts and fish – staples of the Mediterranean diet that promote blood-flow to the brain. Drink plenty of water and stay off the junk food!

4. Take a load off

From catching enough ‘Z’s each night to meditative techniques, giving your brain some much-needed down time is essential in reducing wear and tear. It will also help you maintain skills such as problem solving, concentration and memory. Aim for 7.5 to 8.5 hours a night for optimum brain function.

Whether happily retired or gainfully employed, whatever your age, looking after the stuff upstairs should be a top priority. The good news is that keeping your neurotransmitters nimble needn’t cost the earth and can slot fairly easily into your day-to-day lifestyle.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: Forbes; NPR.com; Time

Interview Highlights:

01:14 – Early beginnings in golf…

04:38 – Alastair’s first golf coach…

07:58 – How has the way Alastair learnt golf shaped his coaching style…

08:48 – Turning Professional…

12:58 – Working at Hintlesham Hall Golf Club in Ipswich…

16:16 – An increased in development and working as a County Golf Development Officer…

22:24 – Taking an interest in gender disparity in clubs and golf in general, creating an interest in women’s golf development…

23:54 – How did Alastair create a women’s participation-led programme…

27:37 – Barriers to developing women’s participation programmes…

29:06 – How will female participation help the industry in general?

30:32 – Learning from the stories and communities developed at ‘Park Runs’…

33:12 – What changes have you seen in golf across your career?

35:00 – What’s the main mistake golfers make when taking up the sport?

37:05 – What would you tell your 25 year old self?

38:57 – Alastair’s favourite books…

39:34 – What might surprise us about Alastair Spink?

40:21 – Alastair’s dream fourball…

Follow Alastair on Twitter at @Thegolfcoach and find out more about Love.Golf at www.love.golf.

Find out more about the Confederation of Professional Golf Golf Development Team at http://eur.pe/GolfDevelopmentTeam

Kelly Global Workforce Index – August 2014 (230,000 people across 31 countries participated)

• 57% people agree that career development discussions are beneficial in terms of the opportunity to acquire new skills
• Only 38% had these discussions with their employer in the past year
• Only 29% are satisfied with the career development resources provided by their employer

With global employment trends changing all the time, the need to keep and develop staff should be at the top of an organisations agenda.

Whether the organisation is a school, SME, Not for Profit or Corporate, many seem frightened to invest in the career management of their staff, they think staff will be unsettled, leave, or want more than they can offer. Some work very well with their staff, helping them manage their careers and reap the reward. The reality is that staff who feel valued and invested in are more likely to stay with an organisation and be motivated to work harder.


“Managing human capital is a misnomer. Humans are ‘beings’. We want to be known and valued for who we are, and our aspirations and ambitions recognised and seen as important. It’s a missed opportunity for an employer not to attend to these needs and thereby reap the productivity gains that accrue from more motivated, loyal employees”

(Talent, Careers and Organisations, What Next? Corporate Research Forum)

The value an organisation can reap when investing in their staff:

• Staff are more settled and less distracted as they have plans for their future
• Organisations can plan their future if they know what their staff want and plan to do
  • Demographics
  • Succession planning
  • Recruitment
  • In house development of staff
• An organisation planning what will happen with regards to its staff must be more cost effective
• Fewer surprises
• Less need for interim, agency or contract staff
• Better ongoing communication between staff and employer
• Staff more likely to say if they are looking for a new role
• Organisation able to deliver a more structured handover if they know a member of staff 
is/wants to leave
• Employers who cannot afford financial rewards/bonuses, can support the development and 
career management of staff, which can be a cost-effective reward process.

The ability to manage your career and future is a life skill, if organisations don’t invest in their staff to give them these skills, how can they then pass on these skills to the people who work for them and to the next generation who they might educate and/or influence.

There are many processes for managing careers and these can be integrated into a workplace environment, below is a cycle often used to develop process that works within different organisations, depending on what is needed and required by the organisation and their staff.

Often employees find it easier to have these conversations with someone external first.

“My volunteers felt better placed to plan an effective conversation with their manager once they’d been coached, which is a win-win for the organisation”

(T Delamare, An action research study on the barriers facing women developing their careers and how they can be supported using a coaching framework. MA Dissertation, Oxford Brookes University, 2016)

“Internally focused workplace development opportunities are likely to ensure that a particular employer realises investment in development for the organisation. Yet, the worker might not have the skills transferable to other organisations. This is in contrast with the premise of the type of ‘deal’ where enhancement of employability is the key value derived from the employment relationship by the worker. Instead, they may be receiving only the development that is relevant to their current employer, without the promise of job security.”

(CIPD – Attitudes to Employability and Talent, Sept 2016)

Here are some good examples of where you could make more of an investment career-wise:

1. Build relationships. Create your own circle of influence; find a mentor. Make time to make connections, pay attention to and nurture meaningful relationships.
2. Do the career management thing: make a plan, devise some goals. Take time to review your objectives and challenge your own commitment levels daily.
3. Recognise what you are good at and get better at it. Spend time observing yourself and your colleagues in meetings or just day to day and notice what you uniquely bring. Then invest some time and money getting better at it.
4. Be prepared to take a step backwards. It may be that to move forward long term you need to forego some short term gratification. A lower salary now could mean great things in the future.
5. Get a qualification/attend a course/learn something new.
6. Build your online brand. Create a webpage to showcase your work or simply keep your social networking profiles updated and constantly be on the lookout for anything that could be perceived as negative.
7. Raise your professional profile. Spend time on a committee or board or take on a challenging new project. Find ways to gain valuable, marketable experience.
8. Ask for feedback. And learn from it.
9. Take a risk. If you don’t really have to think about risk it probably isn’t the life changing or breakout move you were looking for.
10. Make time for that which balances you: your family, your friends, your hobbies. They will offer you perspective, different experiences and a much needed escape from the world of work.

If you think about it you probably invest more time and money in your choice of holiday than you do in your career. Given that you spend two-thirds of your waking life at work and your career goes a long way to determining your quality of life, it may be worth reassessing your investment portfolio.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: Forbes; HBR; LinkedIn; Investopedia

With job security and a standard career path less and less attainable across many industries, a capacity to handle uncertainty and adversity has never been more important (or in demand).

Such is the case that many employers will try to find out about your resilience through interview questions on how you’ve handled stress, pressure and failure in the past. Additionally, job hunting itself can be an incredibly demoralising experience if you let it. Focussing on building your resilience can make all the difference to your inner confidence and success rate across many areas in your life.

This might be easier said than done though – to achieve resilience means possessing the right blend of self-awareness and inner strength, and the flexibility to adapt to changes in circumstances and surroundings. It’s rather like a palm tree: a strong, firmly rooted base supporting an element that’s far more flexible and able to cope with being blown around by different winds.

Here are three key building blocks that can help you towards developing a resilient professional persona:

1. Positivity

Having a positive view of yourself and the world around you is the basis for developing resilience. Pay attention to the messages you send yourself throughout the day. If you find yourself making negative assumptions about yourself or anything around you, consciously switch to a positive thought. With practice this should become automatic. That will keep you grounded, rooted like a tree, and give you the stability you need for a positive mindset.

2. Commitment

Get to know yourself and recognise what is important to you. Have a clear idea of your future aspirations and where you want to go in your career. You need to be willing to commit to your goals and invest in making them happen. Knowing what is important to you and being committed to your goals strengthens you in your core. Don’t forget however, that even the best-laid plans can sometimes go off course or need to be abandoned altogether. Make like a palm tree and allow yourself flexibility to go with the flow when things don’t go to plan.

3. Control

Control means being aware of the situations or areas in your life you can influence as well as recognising those that you can’t. Being able to distinguish between the two will allow you to focus your energy on the things that are most important or achievable. It will give you the flexibility to prioritise your goals and adapt to different circumstances.

Remember that in order to be resilient you also need to be healthy in mind and body so pay attention to your general well-being, take proper breaks, eat well, and look after the relationships that support you. When it comes to resilience it’s about knowing that you can’t stop the waves, but that you can certainly learn how to surf them.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

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Read the entire story behind this here from James Clear.

Will’s first suggestion – The Ivy Lee Method

1. At the end of each work day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.
2. Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.
3. When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.
4. Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.
5. Repeat this process every working day.

Read the entire story behind this here from James Clear.

The biggest killer of everyone’s day is opening up emails first things in the morning.

Everyone is always asking “how” questions. What really matters is the “why”.

Take some time to improve your business / sales skills if it’s something you struggle with and go outside of the typical education / certifications. Give yourself permission to try some new ideas out with the framing of an experiment or challenge.

3 Morning Questions:

• What happened yesterday?
• How do I feel about that?
• What am I working on today

Will’s past episodes on coaching programs:

Group Coaching Q&A part 1
Group Coaching Q&A part 2
Working with Groups

Links / Resources

Charles M. Schwab productivity story – Ivy Lee Method
2017 Coaching Workshop in Orlando
Will’s Consulting Company RGX
BJ Fogg – Tiny Habits

In nearly two decades of working in golf with PGA Professionals and elite players I hear a lot about pressure and see where coaches and players become overly worried about their ‘reputation’ rather than knowing and trusting in their own ‘character’.  Here I witness the limiting beliefs people have about themselves and the perceived consequences of poor results.

Often players will underperform because they feel pressure about how they might be viewed by others if they fail.  This can also affect coaches as they sometimes feel their own reputation is determined by the performance of those they coach, when in reality performance has so many variables, and the coach only contributes in specific ways.

In essence being overly concerned about your reputation creates instability as it is not under your control as it involves the perceptions of others.

Knowing the impact of limiting beliefs should give you the motivation you need to change them for yourself or to help players when you sense this is an issue. A healthy belief puts you into the right frame to have the best chance of success. It is also true that negative beliefs and thoughts have a huge impact on performance, so if we find it difficult to be positive then we must at least learn ways of managing negative thinking to keep it to a minimum and hence give ourselves a chance.

In the previous two articles I have written about the need for effective listening in coaching. Particular words to look out for are must, should and got. For instance, ‘I must make the cut; ‘I should beat this opponent’; or ‘I’ve got to win’. These words reveal very rigid, inflexible beliefs and create unnecessary pressure as they result in patterns of ‘all or nothing’ negative thinking.   It is much better to frame performance beliefs with a prefer approach.  For example, ‘I’d prefer to make the top ten’.

Often these beliefs hinder players’ views of themselves, their golf, and of their potential success.   So in future improve your coaching by listening carefully to the words your players use. They will reveal much about their thinking patterns and the performances that follow.

We all do. It’s the way our brains work. We look for patterns, use our previous experience and rely on what we already know works. It’s an efficient way to work…most of the time.

Sometimes however, we need to trip our brains up and remind them to look beyond the obvious patterns, outside of what we already know works and not expect one situation to turn out pretty much like the last one. If we don’t occasionally abandon our preconceptions there is a chance we may miss opportunities or changes in customer needs or market demands.

For example, what’s your first answer to this question?

Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?

Most people will reply June. Be honest. Did you? Of course if you re-read the question you’ll realise the answer is Johnny. But how many times do you make assumptions (that fit a known pattern) like this at work?

Try these three:

1. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
2. How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet by four feet?
3. If you were running a race and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?

You know by now that these are trick questions so it’s unlikely you assumed the first answer you thought of was correct i.e. K2, 24 cubic metres, 1st place, for example. That’s the first step in realising that what your brain expects to see may not, in fact, be the right answer.

Think about the words that are used: ‘before Mount Everest was DISCOVERED’; ‘How much dirt in the HOLE?’ The third one may require you to actual visualise yourself overtaking the person in SECOND place.

You may face questions like these at an interview because the hiring manager wants to see if you can think calmly, logically and perhaps differently from other people. They may want to see if you will take the time to read the question a little more carefully and think long enough before blurting out the first answer that comes into your head.

There are loads of these questions online to try and even if you’re not going for an interview, it’s good to tease your brain occasionally and get it to look at things differently. These questions are designed to challenge your critical thinking abilities, and to test specific skills like creativity and logic. The more you practise, the better equipped you will be to deal with and find solutions for tricky questions and situations that might come up at work.

P.S. The answers are Mount Everest – it was still there before it was discovered; None – because it’s a hole – and 2nd place – you’re still behind the person in first.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: Forbes; The Muse

Not surprisingly, there is a strong technology bias to the list, with 19 out of the 25 competencies listed carrying a clear tech focus. The upper-end of the list, in particular, is dominated by cutting-edge technical disciplines including cloud computing, software development and online security.

The more traditional skills of previous years have been bumped down to make room: marketing campaign management, SEO/SEM, and channel marketing were in high demand among employers going into 2016; however, most have since fallen out of the top 10.

Without further ado, the top 10 skills (according to LinkedIn) are as follows:

1. Cloud and Distributed Computing
2. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining
3. Web Architecture and Development Framework
4. Middleware and Integration Software
5. User Interface Design
6. Network and Information Security
7. Mobile Development
8. Data Presentation
9. SEO/SEM Marketing
10. Storage Systems and Management

You could be forgiven for assuming the skills listed above are reserved for those from an IT or computer science background, but, nowadays, technological proficiency is now a key requirement across most industries and roles.

For example, analysis by PayScale, suggests that HR workers familiar with Workday software can expect an additional 10% in their pay packet each month.

The good news for those coming from a non-technical background (eg your typical arts or humanities graduate) is that achieving a good level of proficiency in these areas is not as far-fetched as it might seem.

LinkedIn now offers its own learning portal, with 5,000 different course options on offer, catering to the whole spectrum of technology users, from digital novices to IT specialists. This platform is just one of a growing selection technical courses that today’s job seekers can avail of, either online or offline.

To be sure, regardless of how and where you ply your trade, the need for technically-proficient workers is only going to grow and grow over the coming years. For those willing to broaden their skill set, a blend of technological and business-friendly competencies – such as critical thinking, problem-solving and communication – can prove a potent, career-boosting combination. If you’re stuck for a new year’s resolution to focus your efforts on, you could do a lot worse than invest in a spot of upskilling.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: We Forum; Business Insider; Time; Laser Fiche

Our PGA Professional Spotlight is cast over Adam and we find out more about what he gets up to on a day-to-day basis and how he got there…

IGPN: How did your career as a PGA Professional first begin?

Adam: Following my years of representing the Greek National Team as an amateur, and having completed a BA(Hons) degree in Golf Management at the University of Central Lancashire, I was approached by Costa Navarino to take on the role of Assistant Professional and to also grow the game in our local region.

IGPN: How did you end up in your current position?

Adam: I got a job offer from Costa Navarino to work as the Pro properly – I was lucky as my reputation as a player was known and then my qualifications from the UK with the PGA of GB&I.

IGPN: Explain a bit about your business that you run now…

Adam: As the PGA Pro at Costa Navarino I cater to giving lessons to customers, as well as organising club competitions and other operational needs of the club.

I am also in charge of the ‘Costa Navarino Junior Golf Academy’ – a scholarship programme aimed at developing local kids into elite golfers. After 5 years, the programme has reached 55 junior members.

IGPN: What does being a PGA Professional mean to you?

Adam: For me a PGA Professional is an ambassador for the game in every sense. Things like dress code, behaviour, playing ability, attitude and work ethic are things that being a PGA Professional is all about and I’m very proud to be able to say I am a PGA Professional.

IGPN: How important is it for PGA Professionals to strive to continually improve their skills, knowledge and development in general?

Adam: It’s important to stay up to date with the ever-developing trends and skill-sets in today’s job markets. Being up to date with social media trends, equipment news, technology, like Trackman or FlightScope, and CPD, like workshops, are important to add value to your profile as a PGA Professional.

IGPN: What would the biggest top you could give a PGA Professional looking for a news job or trying to develop themselves and their skills?

Adam: Attention to detail – and make sure the service you provide is the best possible.

IGPN: What would your advice be to someone looking to work abroad?

Adam: Do your best to adapt to the local way of life and try to learn the local language – both of these things help you integrate more with colleagues and customers and ultimately you will enjoy yourself more and get more from it if you can do that.

For more information about Costa Navarino visit www.costanavarino.com.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.

In a way, it is good advice (to start with anyway) because once you are a specialist, you have authority, can build a reputation and are likely to be paid more.

For the modern PGA Professional this makes perfect sense, we have seen a trend over the last 20 years towards specialist players, coaches, golf psychologists, retailers, club-fitters, club managers, corporate event organisers etc and away from the traditional club professional model – although, of course, that quite rightly still exists.

So how do you maximise your opportunities as a specialist?

It might seem contradictory but my solution was to specialise and THEN diversify.

The day golf finally met business for Jeremy Dale

I am quite certain that no professional golfer ever set out to become a trick shot artist.

Everyone dreams of playing for a living BUT, when you see a new opportunity, it is a good idea to explore the potential.

My big chance came in the summer of 1991 at the Rijswijkse Golf Club in The Hague when Head Professional John Woof unwittingly gave me the opportunity of a lifetime – an opportunity that quite literally presented me with a fork in the road of my career.

Find yourself a business model (or mentor) BUT make up your own version

As an assistant, I saw a really good future business model in John.

He was earning from a few different areas of the golf business but was really well known at that time in Holland for the quality of his play.

As well as winning tournaments (both nationally & internationally) and making the PGA Cup team, he was also a successful coach, had some sponsors and, importantly for me, he performed a really good trick shot golf show. It was the first one I had ever seen and I liked the combination of entertainment mixed with a high level of skill and accuracy.

John also ran events (for his sponsors & featuring his show), sometimes took them on private outings to famous courses, and later in his career, despite being a foreigner, he became a golf commentator on Dutch TV.

It was especially obvious to me that John was able to carry over his reputation for tournament golf into everything else he did.

I concluded that to have a good career in golf, you should be really good at one thing (whatever your speciality might be) but ALSO diversify your range of products AND be good at selling them……..by the way, don’t forget that last one!

(If you are a coach read Ian Clark’s excellent blog on making sales and creating a client base)

Look out for a life changing opportunity

I decided that I needed to put together a golf show………….….if I could become really good at that then it would do for my business what playing had done for John.

The problem was that I did not want to copy anyone, I needed a USP of my own and was well aware of the importance of being my own person.

I had no idea what that could be until that day at Rijswijk in 1991 when John asked me to give a lesson to one of his sponsors, who happened to be left-handed.

After the lesson, I asked if I could have a go with his club since I had never hit a shot left-handed. It felt quite good and I was very surprised at the quality of my best shots so I spent the whole evening on the range.

This did not have to be a life changing moment, but that is exactly how it turned out.

I decided there and then that I was going to relearn the game left-handed so that I could put together a switch-hitting golf show, something that, unsurprisingly, had never been done.

I was about to find out why.

Left-Handed Golf – my hard won USP

John said: ‘’Give yourself two years’’ and (cryptically) ‘’You never know’’.

He was right on both counts.

My father always used to say ”We never give in’’. He was only partly joking, it’s great advice.

Everyone else thought I was nuts and looking back, I can see what they meant.

My good friend and co-assistant at the club, Michael Unsworth, had seen almost every shot of my left-handed experiment, from hitting air shots to making cuts in Dutch PGA events.

I knew I was making progress when he said to me:

‘’When you started playing left-handed I would always hope you’d hit a good shot off the first tee……..now I kind of hope you don’t!’’

It was a frantic time. Somehow, within two years, I learned to speak Dutch fluently, made the required scores in professional tournaments (left-handed) and passed the exams with the Dutch PGA. Later, having contacted Lawrie Thornton at the Confederation of Professional Golf, I passed the British PGA exams too.

I was all set for a career in golf as a trick shot artist and did my first proper show in April 1994 at Golf & Country Club ‘t Sybrook in the Netherlands.

You never know!

Wind the clock forward and these days people assume that switch-hitting was just something I could always naturally do but nothing could be further from the truth.

It had seemed impossible to me that I would make a living from golf but it has somehow happened.

So far I have performed my show in 39 countries in front of business people and top golfers from all parts of the globe. I have also met and performed with many of the great golfers I grew up watching on TV. Gary Player, Seve, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Tony Jacklin, Padraig Harrington, Ian Woosnam and so the list goes on.

Specialise in one thing – but diversify your business too

What I have also done is (like John Woof) use the golf show to develop other areas of my business.

Here is a list of the other things I have done in the last 20 years in golf:

• PGA Coach – individual coaching, golf schools and golf holidays
• TV presenter
• Organiser and Promoter – World Golf Trick Shot Championship
• Writer
• Charity event organiser
• After Dinner Speaker
• Brand Ambassador
• Master of Ceremonies
• Agent
• Charity Auctioneer
• Business and Marketing Consultant for other PGA professionals

I even won a trick shot competition in America in 2015 and finished No. 2 in the World Golf Trick Shot Championships in 2005.

Specialists really do get paid more

My advice to any golf professional is to find the thing you do best and specialise.

Work hard to gain the knowledge and expertise you will need – invest in yourself, go on courses, ask other PGA Members and read everything you can find on your subject.

It does not matter what your specialist area might be. As long as you are (and are seen as) one of the market leaders, you’ll have an advantage you can really use.

Being an expert gives you credibility and a chance to make a reputation that you can THEN exploit into other areas.

I think it is a winning formula.

IGPN spoke to Craig to find out how he built his career and how what he learnt is now shaping how he employs people and advances his business.

IGPN: How did your career as a PGA Professional first begin?

Craig: I started as an Assistant Professional at the Fancourt Resort in South Africa in 1992, under Jeff Clause, the American Director of Golf there. After moving to Germany in the mid 90s, I did the PGA of Germany program, which was a very thorough experience and one that I am very glad to have done.

IGPN: How did you end up in your current position in Germany?

Craig: At Fancourt we had many German guests staying in the hotel. They were always telling me how the game of golf was booming in Germany (Bernhard Langer had won the Masters in 1985) and there was great potential for Professionals who wanted to teach or run golf clubs.

The owner of a driving range was a guest at the hotel and after we had spent a round of golf or two together he asked me if would consider coming over to Germany and working for him. He didn’t have to ask twice and six weeks later I was on a plane to Germany.

IGPN: What was it like moving to, and working in, a new country where you had to learn about the culture and the language?

Craig: A lot tougher than I was expecting, that’s for sure! The language was tough and the German attitude and way of doing things was very much more structured than in South Africa.

The weather was also a shock. I will never forget the moment I walked off the plane (in February) and was “hit” by the coldest wind I would not even have been able to imagine. And then realising that it was a typical winters day!

IGPN: What was the biggest challenge you faced when deciding to work in another country?

Craig: Leaving the country you have grown up in is about as tough a decision as you’ll ever make. Not being able to speak the language properly in the first year or so is very tough and your self-confidence takes more than its share of knocks.

IGPN: What would your advice be to someone looking to work abroad?

Craig: It’s great if you have someone there that can help you in the beginning. Going to a governmental department to go and get yourself registered when you cannot speak the language is an experience you either take with humor or you’re in for one hell of a day!

If you are moving to country where they speak a language you can‘t then I strongly suggest doing a language course as soon as possible, maybe in your own country before leaving.

Being able to communicate in your “new” country is THE most important tool to getting ahead in everything else. You need to get integrated as fast as you can make friends from your “new” country as fast as possible, which as a golf Professional is normally quite easy to do.

IGPN: Explain a bit about your business that you run now.

Craig: I always had the dream of building my own course (what golfer doesn’t!) and in 2007 I managed to get the piece of land and found an investor to finance the building of the course.

In September 2009 we opened West Golf (www.west-golf.com) and we had 300 members even before the course was opened. It’s a public facility, where golf is not expensive and we cater to a younger crowd, making it also attractive to families.

I manage the facility and also run the Golf Academy, which turns out about roughly 350 new golfers every year, where we then get most of our members.

IGPN: What do you look for when you are hiring PGA Professionals?

Craig: I have had several Apprentices and Professionals come through the Golf Academy and to be honest, the most important thing I look for is that someone truly loves the game. Everything else takes care of itself after that. I have never had the feeling of having an actual job; I just love what I do and get to do it everyday if I want to.

I also look for someone who is keen to learn, willing to take advice and spend time learning from the best teachers, not thinking that what they do is “good enough” for the people they teach.

Being able to communicate and thoroughly enjoy people is also very important. If you have to pretend to be friendly then teaching golf is going to be a tough business!

IGPN: What would be the biggest tip you could give a PGA Professional looking for a new job or trying to develop their skills?

Craig: You have to sell yourself! What can I offer this Golf Academy? Am I good with kids? Not all pros are. Can I teach better players? Can I teach teams? Do I just want to teach private lessons?

Everybody has their strengths and when hiring I look for someone who can give me something that I don’t have.

I also like having different personalities in the Academy, some people like a Professional who talks a lot, others are happy the less they say. Some Professionals are great with groups and entertaining people, others are happy to go the whole day just having one student per hour in front of them. There is a niche for everyone and you just have to find it.

For more information about Craig and West Golf visit www.craigwest.de or contact office@west-golf.com.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.