Sink Your Putt
It’s been a while, but I received a new email blast from “Always On” the other day. I love their snippets of news especially Guy Kawasaki’s column. His stuff is always…well, on! If you are unaware of the newsletter, check it out. I always try to read and learn from a variety of topics from a variety of places, not just the “leadership” stuff. I urge you to do the same. It’s good for the brain cells.
It turns out that Guy’s column, for me, was about leadership from his usual entrepreneurship point of view. (If you’re not familiar with Kawasaki, check him out here.)
In his column, he shared a news item about some scientists from the University of Virginia who discovered, in two studies, “that when golfers who had good days perceived golf holes as larger than the players who had bad days.” In other words, they found it easier to sink their putts.
His question was, “did this difference in perception cause the player to have better days or did the day’s performance cause the players to perceive the holes as bigger?”
He also shared some information about a third study at Vanderbilt University. They found that imagination affected perception. You can read about all of the studies here.
Kawasaki wrapped up his column with the comment: “Maybe if entrepreneurs imagine that their market sector is larger than what it is, they’ll do better. This is an unscientific leap of reasoning, but entrepreneurship requires unscientific leaps of reasoning.”
From my personal experience, perception, imagination and action are keys to great entrepreneurship and I would submit leadership.
Every company I have had the opportunity to create or be a part of the creation had its share of naysayers. However, with the usual cast of strong people around me, we were able to “perceive” how it could be done, “imagine” what it looked like and what “actions” to take to get started. Each and every time, what we imagined manifested and many times far greater than we projected.
Every great leader I am familiar with, from the well-known to those “unknowns” who have wandered through my life, all viewed their world in a more positive light. And since change is constant, they use their imagination to create visions and share vision stories that motivate others to join with them to conquer the obstacles. They always take action and encourage others to get involved.
So, to paraphrase Kawasaki, perhaps, if you imagine your opportunity as larger than what it is, you’ll do better. (And, I add, the obstacles smaller). This is an unscientific leap of reasoning, but leadership requires unscientific leaps of reasoning.
By the way, did you receive my newsletter a few weeks ago? If not sign up here. And be sure to get involved in my Vision Story Challenge. Learn more here.
Until next time, don’t forget to “let your leader out to play”.
