Recruiter’s Corner
Columns by Elaine Boyd, as seen in CU Business Magazine

It has been called an excuse for carrying unconcealed weapons and having Scotch breath.  It has also been said that golf is not a sport; it is rather "men in ugly pants…walking."

Golf is a time honored tradition among executives, but not everyone is overjoyed about this classic Scottish gentlemen's game.  In fact, some people might prefer a day under the dentist's drill than to play 18 holes.  Is disliking golf a career killer?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Michelle (fake name) a senior executive of a huge credit union, quizzed me about this.  Her CEO and a few of her colleagues enjoy their golf time: lots of it.  Particularly during the summer, where they might play several times a week.  They're out there on the golf course strategizing.

"Elaine, do you think women are hurting themselves professionally if they don't golf?"  Michelle is not sold on the value of this time, but she's also haunted by thoughts that she is missing something by not participating.

Her question is a good one, and non-golfing men have similar concerns.  There are plenty of women and men out there who don't play…or who do play, but dread it.  The endless walk.  The sense that you could instead be doing something more productive.  The sherbet-colored print pants with little yellow duckies on them (if you lit those pants on fire, they'd melt).

You also have the golf devotees, otherwise normal people who are nearly fanatical in their love for this game, which is really not so much a game as it is a religion.  The accoutrements, the verdant turf, the camaraderie, the beer;  these people are committed, as you can tell by any golf joke:

Joe and Frank golfed every Saturday.  Foul weather or fine, they never missed a game.  One day near the edge of the course, a funeral procession passed.  Frank stopped, put down his club, and held his hat over his heart until every last car had passed.  Joe was moved by this display and softly said, "Why Frank, I didn't realize you had such respect for the dead."  To which Frank, with a tear in his eye, responded, "She was a good wife for 40 years."

If Frank is any indication, there are a tremendous number of diehards out there who adore the game, but what if you don't?  Once and for all, is that a measurable detriment to your career?

I checked in with some highly successful people for their perception and feedback on the importance of golf in their careers.  The responses were illuminating, intriguing, and generally fell firmly into on one side or the other on whether golf is, or is not, critical to a career.

Kathy Hooker Burress, President, Symitar/Jack Henry & Associates:

I've tried golfing a few times, but quite frankly, I never had the time—or the talent—to develop it into anything more.

I know some people swear by doing business on the golf course and maybe 15 or 20 years ago it was more important than in today's business world.  I mean, think about it for a moment - nobody is going to base a million-dollar decision on who plays the best game of golf. If you're the right person with the right product at the right price, you'll get the deal, even if you can't tell a sand wedge from a ham sandwich.

And as far as climbing the corporate ladder, I have never had a boss or mentor who had the time to really play enough golf to get good at it and I just don't think it has ever mattered.

Pete Sainato, CEO, Justice Credit Union, Chantilly, VA

Golf is only a real value for CEOs that are babysitting their credit unions.  For the CEOs who are really making things happen, golf offers little value and there's little need for it.

John Sanfilippo, Symitar Marketing Manager, and former editor of CU Business Magazine:

Any plans I had to take up golf were abandoned three or four knee surgeries ago. However, I believe a good Dominican cigar, for example, can be just as effective for connecting with business associates. The key is to find common ground—some experience you can enjoy with other people, be it golf, a good cigar, or something else.

 "Lisa," top executive at a major credit union vendor:

Disliking golf isn't the problem it once was.  I don't care for golf, and fortunately that matters less all the time.  I've seen the industry shift toward dinners and drinking as a vehicle for relationship building.  Food is totally inclusive.  For me, tons of business gets done over long, sumptuous dinners.  It's the martinis!  Sorry to say it, but it's true.

"Ralph," well known, influential VP of IT of a large credit union:

I don't feel like I have to play, because there are others in the organization who do.  I have a subordinate who loves the game, and he goes in my stead.  If I didn't have a resource like that, I would feel pressure to golf.  Has preferring not to golf hurt me professionally?  No. 

The feedback above is from people who have certainly "made it" as successful executives, without needing to wield a 5 iron.  Does this put an end to the discussion?  

Tune in next month when we will hear from some dedicated folks on the other side of the golf cart, those who extol the virtues of the game.  Learn why one upwardly mobile executive describes when taking a call on the golf course is an enormous error, and how another executive believes it was golf that helped her to break the glass ceiling. Until next month…  

Read part 2 of this article - See the entire catalog of articles by Elaine Boyd  

Elaine Boyd is president and founder of CU Executives, Inc., a recruiting organization   specializing in executive-level and IT talent for credit unions.   Contact her online or by phone at 619/269-6464.

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