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July 11, 2007

More on business golf therapy

deals%20on%20the%20green.jpgJames Cayne's golf therapy prompted this interesting article over at The Economist on the deeply engrained nature of business golf:

The central role played by golf in business life is under-reported—except maybe in Japan—perhaps because journalists can’t afford the green fees let alone the membership dues of the swanky clubs to which chief executives belong. Nor are bosses exactly rushing to draw attention to yet another perk.

Yet, “no matter how sophisticated business becomes, nothing can replace the golf course as a communications hub”, argues a new book, “Deals on the Green”, by David Rynecki. “It’s where up-and-comers can impress the boss and where CEOs can seal multibillion-dollar deals. Its no coincidence that many of the most admired people in business—Jack Welch, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Sandy Weill—always carved out time in their busy schedules for golf.”

Mr. Welch, arguably the best golfing chief executive ever, is the “patron saint of corporate golf”, argues Mr Rynecki, . . . Mr Welch . . . regarded golf as a key part of his managerial armoury, which he deployed with great success during his long, glorious reign at General Electric (GE). The firm was already known as a “golf company” when he took charge. But under Mr Welch, “golf became an essential tool for any manager looking to move up”. Golf “was a litmus test for character. It showed whether a person had the guts to work in Welch’s GE.”

Not everyone is convinced. The other week, two veteran Wall Street tycoons railed against the game. Hank Greenberg, the former boss of AIG, complained that golf was a distraction from business: “A lot of people like to get away from their work. You have to wonder about whether they like what they’re doing.” Carl Icahn, the legendary corporate raider, sees golf as a symbol of all that is wrong with the clubby higher echelons of American business: “These guys would rather play golf, slap each other on the back. I want a guy running a company who sits in his tub at night thinking about the challenges he faces. The guy who can’t let it go. The focused guy.”

Read the entire article. I bet Mr. Cayne will do so, maybe even before his afternoon tee time. ;^)

Posted by Tom at July 11, 2007 4:20 AM

Comments

I found that out of all the classes I took during law school, the golf lessons I took off campus my third year were the most valuable to me during my career. In my job, a lot of the clients I worked with were not used to female attorneys advising them. Playing golf with them let us get to know each other better.

It also helped with job interviews. (Though it was pretty funny one time when a partner called apologetically to say we couldn't play at R.O. because the day he scheduled they didn't allow women that day. We played Braeburn instead). One of the reasons I chose not to work at one particular firm was that one of the partners I was going to work for was an absolutely unpleasant person to play golf with.

It's easy for bigtime rich guys to rail against golf because they already have piles of money. But for someone who wants to do business development and to do well in their company, knowing how to play golf is an imperative.

Posted by: Stephanie Stradley [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 11, 2007 9:31 PM

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