Don’t make it worse by doing something crazy: The only birdie I had today came after a lousy tee shot. After my drive, I was about 240 yards from the hole on a par 5. Rather than try a heroic shot over the creek to a heavily bunkered green, I hit a layup shot. My third shot, with my wedge, stopped 6 inches from the hole with the tap in remaining for a birdie. Now, what I almost did was play the 1 in a 100 shot with my 3 wood from 240 yards out. That would have been crazy. Don’t follow a bad leadership move with another one.
Don’t beat yourself up: This is harder than it sounds. When I missed an 18 inch putt today, hitting the ball 3 feet past the hole and then missed the putt coming back, it was hard to have a good attitude. 3 putts from 18 inches out!!! However, if you can’t let your mistakes live in the past, they will poison your future. Let it go.
Learn from your mistakes: In golf, there’s an old saying that has always helped me: The flight of the ball never lies. Translated, if you look at the flight path of the ball, you can be assured of where the club face was at impact. This provides a huge opportunity for learning. I never want to waste a bad shot – I try to learn something from every one. The same goes for my leadership mistakes; I don’t want to waste an opportunity to learn.
Focus on the next shot – not the last one: Just recently, someone asked me if I knew the most important shot in golf. I didn’t. They said, the next one. What’s the next leadership move/decision you need to make? After you’ve learned from your last leadership shank, move on to what’s next. Learn from the past – just don’t live there.
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