imapMyTeam Blog

 Lessons from the Ryder Cup

If you follow golf closely you likely watched the Ryder Cup last weekend. If you do not watch golf, stay with me anyway- because last week’s competition was ripe with lessons on leadership. Part of what makes the Ryder Cup a magnificent event is that a great captain can galvanize and energize his team so that every player would do anything for that captain to win. You probably feel the same way about great leaders that you have or currently work for.

What happens when the opposite is true? What happens when a leader’s well intentioned approach is disconnected to the needs of their team?  

Pairings in a Ryder Cup become a hot topic because the event transforms a highly individual sport into a cooperative effort. The captains of the U.S.A. and European squads must consider playing styles and personalities for their lineups. The captains become the center of attention.

However, other than the Ryder Cup and some other selected events, professional golfers enjoy a great deal of autonomy and largely decide themselves [or with their caddy] how to plan for and play the course over a tournament. They are not looking to a captain to make those decisions on their behalf. They simply play a round or tournament in less strokes than their competitors and they win, regardless of how they got to that outcome.

As I watched some of the post-match evaluation it was interesting to hear players report that the TeamUSA Captain, Tom Watson took a more hands-off leadership approach. Rather than discussing the possible pairings with his players or asking for their views, he allowed his vice captains to assign the pairings. Professional golfers are not used to being managed in a hierarchical way. Mr. Watson’s choice to distance himself from the players in his style of leadership probably seemed like the best approach to him at the time. However, it did not produce the results he was hoping for.

TeamUSAs leaders did not use a collaborative approach and did not solicit the opinions of the individual player’s thoughts on pairings.  One can speculate that the leadership style that was employed is counter to the culture that a professional golfer typically experiences and would expect.  Perhaps they needed imapMyTeam.

The tale of the 2014 Ryder Cup plays out in business regularly. Leaders change, the new leader brings a style that may be their own and plays to their strengths, but does not work in the culture and environment for the team. If that leader is unaware, unable or unwilling to adapt to the needs of the team, that team, despite all of its talent and all of its strategies, will likely fall short of its goals.

Adaptive leadership combined with team execution puts you in a position to win every time.

imapMyTeam® is designed to enable ‘willing’ leaders to adapt their behaviors to fully inspire and engage the talents of the team against the demands of the competition.