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{{B}}Mixing Business and Golf{{/B}} It's no secret in corporate circles that golf and business offer a near-perfect match. Where else but on a course can executives spend a leisurely four hours in such a private, sociable setting? What the is better way to strengthen a relationship with a client than by lifting a glass together after a round? For all of the game's popularity, though, there's an art of mixing business and golf. How well you behave yourself over those 18 holes — balancing business and friendship, dealing with competition and success — suggests to others how you might behave in the boardroom or around the bargaining table. "If you're out playing golf with your partners, hey, have at it," says John Hansen, a former software-company CEO who now heads the Colorado Institute of Technology. "But when you're playing golf in a business setting — whether with employees, partners, or customers — man, you'd better be hypersensitive about how you act." For starters, team the etiquette. There's a set of rules in golf that includes not talking when someone is hitting, not stepping in the line of a putt, and treating the course with respect. Another key to success is engaging your playing partners but avoiding the hard sell. Less-experienced business golfers, says Hansen, think they need to come back to the office with something to show for all their time spent away. Just focus on the personal side, he says, "I am expecting that, by the 18th hole, you know the spouse, you know their children, you know the church they go to, you know everything about them." Regardless of how serious your partners take the game, don't try to impress. The golf swing is difficult enough when you're relaxed. Add a degree of tension, and it becomes even harder. As CEO of RDA Corp. , a software development outfit outside Baltimore, Don Await plays a lot of business golf. "I've seen cases where people get so intimidated," he says. "You know, they're whiffing or hitting the ball three feet." Actually, most people do not pay much attention to what you shoot; they're too busy focusing on their own game. What people will remember is how enjoyable it was to play with you. |