Effective leaders must have good leadership skills, just as good golfers must practice good course management skills. In both of these scenarios, the skills can be compared to emotional intelligence.

As Daniel Goleman stated in his book Emotional Intelligence, there are four basic dimensions in Emotional Intelligence (EI):

• Self-Awareness: the ability to monitor one’s emotions, thoughts and behaviors.
• Self-Management: the ability to adapt to change, regulate disruptive emotions, reach for self-improvement, act with integrity and act on opportunities.
• People Radar: the ability to understand others, recognize and attend to customer’s needs and culture within an organization.
• People Skills: the ability to inspire, mentor, initiate change, work effectively with others and collaborate toward common goals.

Good golfers, like good leaders are not born. Leadership is not a birthright, it can be learned. Good golfers and good leaders exist as a result of some natural talent and lots of practice, or some enormous talent and a desire to improve. Leaders don’t go around talking about emotional intelligence; they practice it by demonstrating passion, empathy and intensity. Good golfers and effective leaders have sound judgment, emotional intelligence and wisdom.

They understand the importance and critical role of emotion. The key is not to let emotions control you. Otherwise, you will lose the balance essential to maintain maximum effort. It is critical to be aware of your emotions as well as those of others.

If you hit a bad shot into a sand trap, tall grass or into water and lose control of your emotions, you will lose your focus. Wise course management will allow you to adapt to your current situation, give rational thought to what your best club or shot is to minimize the damage and respond in a controlled, unemotional manner. There is nothing you can do about the bad shot so you might as well put it behind you, learn from it and proceed with your next best move.

As Don Sanders states in his book Go for the Green, in order to play difficult holes effectively, one must tune in to the emotions of the moment, just as leaders depend on effective interaction. Constantly evaluate how you deal with the emotions of others and remember that empathy is a powerful communication tool. Leaders recognize the power of wisdom and use power wisely. Don’t run away from power; embrace it but use it wisely. Be passionate about your goals and let people know you care.

Golf teaches us that winning is as much about course management as it is about power. It is as much about how we play from a difficult shot as how we play from a perfect lie. In leadership we equate course management to judgment, emotional intelligence, wisdom and the careful use of power.

When one coaches executives and small business owners, emotional intelligence is a critical function of the coaching process. When my clients are aware of their emotional intelligence they make better choices, pursue the right opportunities and allow their emotions to guide them, not hinder them.

Emotional intelligence can manifest itself in:

Effectively dealing with difficult situations.
Maintaining self-control under pressure, both internally and with employees and customers.
Persuading others to achieve their goals and the goals of the company or business.

Let me know if I can be of service to you or your employees. See you on the 8th tee next month when we’ll talk about character. In the meantime, if you want to change the way your employees think, don’t tell them what to think, give them the tool of coaching.

See you next month on hole #8, where we’ll talk about Character.