Life, Work and Lessons from Golf

Project Manager Works for LaserShip

But Lives to Play Golf

  In tournament play, LaserShip Project Manager Justin S, doesn’t see the beautiful green of the golf course, there is too much pressure; “you feel under the microscope,” he says, “with hundreds of people watching your every move, ready to praise or criticize your every swing of the club; playing golf, even as an amateur, at the professional level is extremely stressful.”

   It is a lot like the stress felt in our offices each day, observes Justin:  Getting all the packages underway, keeping them moving and the entire effort under the microscope of customers who are quick to either praise or criticize.  

   Although ranked as an amateur, Justin qualifies for and plays tournaments and has earned money from his playing.  He has even reached the regional qualifying tournaments to play in the U.S. Open golf tournament. 

   Playing at a high level—even as an amateur—requires some raw talent, but it also requires an equal amount of work.  Justin has a passion for golf; it is what drives him to leave work and spend the next 4 hours hitting balls. 

   “It is work,” says Justin, “but it is satisfying work especially when reaching the point of overcoming something that has held you back.”

   “When a ball is hit wrong in a tournament,” comments Justin, “two things immediately kick into play:  How do I recover from this, but also, after the fact, how did I get the ball into that situation in the first place.”

    Listening to Justin speak of his golfing experience is to gain insight into our own business. It too is an act of passion, it requires work to improve and when something goes wrong our first impulse must be to recover from it, but also to understand what we did to get so far off course so that we do not repeat the same mistake twice.  

   When Justin was even younger than he is now he learned some important lessons about winning.”   “I was ahead in a tournament, my play was dominant, but in the final three holes I completely blew it,” recalls Justin, “I choked in front of the crowd and my sponsors.  Nothing in life prepares you for the final three holes, you have to experience it and learn from that experience.”

   “I stopped having fun,” remembers Justin of that day.  

    It was his dad who pulled it out of him; he asked Justin:  “Do you still love it.”  

   Justin still did love it, he just needed to get past the experience and learn from it.  “In golf (like other things) you get good by the experience of your failures.  I discovered that when I choked I was just trying not to lose, but what I needed to do was try to win.  You really have to believe that you can do great if you are to win.”