Delvin R. Chatterson's Blog, page 9
March 14, 2017
Stick to the plan
Calm and confident pays off
[image error]Business is like golf. Consider the challenges faced by Canadian Adam Hadwin on the final round of the Valspar Championship on Sunday.
This is his third year on the PGA Tour and Hadwin had recently attracted attention with the rare and remarkable achievement of a 59 on a par in California, finishing second and winning his first major prize money of $626,000.
Last week at the Valspar Championship in Florida, he had played three flawless rounds and was leading on Sunday by four strokes at 14-under-par. His playing partner in the final group was Patrick Cantlay at 10-under-par and the other challengers were further back. So Hadwin’s strategy was “to just hit fairways and greens” and count on his putter to get him an occasional birdie to retain the lead for his first win on the Tour. He had admitted before starting that staying focused would be difficult, knowing that a win would move him to fourth place in the FedEx Cup standings, give him a two-year exemption from qualifying on the PGA Tour and earn a much-coveted invitation to the Masters in April. He had already committed to getting married in two weeks, but his fiancée, who has been coaching him on keeping calm instead of occasionally ‘losing it’, had already agreed to change honeymoon plans if necessary, to go to Augusta for the Masters. It was a lot to ignore while trying to win his first tournament.
So how did his strategy work out? Not exactly according to plan.
Patrick Cantlay came on strong and maintained the pressure until the end. He also had a backstory and was out to prove that he belonged among the young American stars of the game, playing only his second event on the PGA Tour. He had been a top-ranked college player and World #1 amateur for over a year, ahead of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, and Daniel Berger, all of whom had surged into prominence on the PGA Tour during his absence of almost three years due to a severe back injury. During that time, he also suffered the tragic loss of his caddie and long-time friend, Chris Roth, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while walking right in front of Patrick. It was a lot to recover from and get back to playing professional golf at a high level.
Cantlay had a run of birdies to reduce Hadwin’s lead to only one stroke after the first twelve holes. Then on the long par three 13th, Cantlay hit it within five feet for another likely birdie to tie for the lead as Hadwin’s ball was lying over 50 feet from the hole. But Hadwin reversed the pressure and drained the putt! Cantlay stroked his ball confidently into the hole for birdie, birdie. On to the 14th for par, par. Hadwin was still leading by one.
At the par four 15th, Cantlay hit his approach shot into the greenside bunker and missed the sand save by hitting it well past the hole and needing two putts to come back for bogey. Advantage to Hadwin with another par. He was back on cruise control, “just hit fairways and greens”, with a two stroke lead at 15-under versus Cantlay’s 13-under and only three holes left to play.
Surprise! Off the 16th tee, Hadwin hit a wide curving fade into the lake on the right side of the fairway. “I don’t know where that drive came from,” he said later, “after four days without a bad drive.” With a one stroke penalty, a layup and two putts on the green, he left the 16th with a double bogey six. Cantlay had a long drive down the middle and made an easy par four. They were now tied at 13-under.
Two pars on the 17th followed by two good drives, left them still tied with no advantage and looking at the 18th green from 150-yards away.
Is your business this exciting? Would you be able to focus and make the shot? The pressure makes a difference. Nerves jangling, adrenalin pumping, a caddie offering advice and surrounded by excited spectators. Don’t think about winning or losing, or the consequences. Not the $450,000 difference in prize money between first and second, not the FedEx Cup standings or the two-year Tour qualifying exemption and not the invitation to play at the Masters. Just make the shot. Hit it close and one putt to win or maybe two to continue in a playoff. Forget all that. Just focus. Make the shot.
Cantlay was first. He hit it slightly right of the green and his ball rolled down the slope and into another sand trap. Hadwin hit his ball to the middle of the green, but it rolled to the back across the fringe and up against the longer grass. More challenges for each golfer.
Cantlay again failed to hit it well out of the sand and this time it stopped short, leaving a fifteen-foot putt for par.
Hadwin decided to hit through the grass with the blade of his wedge on the centre of the ball. The commentators agreed it was the right technique for the awkward lie, but difficult to execute, especially under the pressure to get it close to the hole. Still calm and confident, Hadwin hit it perfectly and rolled the ball to within 18-inches.
Cantlay missed his putt and Hadwin finished with a par to win. Happy honeymoon! Easy to make new plans with the $1.1 million in prize money.
You can extract the lessons that suit you from this dramatic round of golf, but Cantlay learned he has to improve his play from the sand traps and Hadwin reinforced what he had already demonstrated with his round of 59. Stay calm and confident, focus on the task right in front of you and block out the distractions.
Good strategies for your business too, don’t you think?
Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson
Read more articles like this one at: Business is Like Golf Blog
Friendly Competition Inspires Everybody
Stories behind the headlines
Match play: Beating one competitor at a time
Visit LearningEntrepreneurship.com and join our mailing list for more ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.
Check out Uncle Ralph’s books, Don’t Do It the Hard Way and The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans. Available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.
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March 9, 2017
Performing past the obstacles
Dustin Johnson keeps calm and gets the job done
Dustin Johnson won again last weekend at the World Golf Championship event in Mexico City. He held off the challengers on Sunday and finished first, in spite of losing one ball in a tree, hitting into the water and stumbling on a couple of holes to suddenly fall from four ahead to one behind as rookie Jon Rahm had an eagle and two consecutive birdies.
But Johnson kept his calm, playing solid golf to the end including a difficult long bunker shot on the 18th that found the centre of the green for two putts to win by one stroke.
Johnson always appears to be one of the most relaxed, loose, emotion-less players on the PGA tour, even though he admits to nerves and in the past has blown some likely wins with mistakes on the last holes. But his recent successes and the resulting rise to World No. 1 are proof that he now keeps his cool and can recover from costly errors, rule anomalies and bad luck to focus on meeting the next challenge and making the shot.
That attitude and approach are important to you and your business too. Consistency and strong performance are hard to maintain and disappointments can happen. Mistakes will be made, the competition will surprise you and conditions may add to the level of difficulty, but keep your focus on the goals and play to your strengths.
Don’t let the obstacles distract you from your game and a high level of performance.
Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson
Read more articles like this one at: Business is Like Golf Blog
Friendly Competition Inspires Everybody
Stories behind the headlines
Match play: Beating one competitor at a time
Visit LearningEntrepreneurship.com and join our mailing list for more ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.
Check out Uncle Ralph’s books, Don’t Do It the Hard Way and The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans. Available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.
The post Performing past the obstacles appeared first on Learning Entrepreneurship.
March 2, 2017
Take a break
It’s spring
I know it’s blowing snow and -7C in Montreal today, but all the kids and parents are talking about Spring Break, so let’s take apply the concept more generally. Take a break.
Take a break from all the distractions that keep us from making progress on improving our lives, achieving our business objectives, supporting family and friends and making a difference in the world.
Take a break from exaggerated news headlines, from outrageous political rhetoric, from ranting celebrities and activists of all stripes and briefly set aside your concerns for the victims of terrorism, natural disasters, racism and systemic discrimination. Take a break from the business issues that demand attention. Stop trying to manage everything for a week or so, let nature take its course and the markets run where they will. Try not to watch.
Take a break and turn your attention to thoughtful and intelligent commentary from sources you do not normally have time for. Reflect on your own assessment of the big issues. (Then check off a few of the small things you have been neglecting so that you can feel better about accomplishing something useful during the break, instead of just worrying about everything.)
Take a break to assess your personal priorities and time commitments, then re-align your plans to get on track.
I highly recommend regularly taking a break.
Spring or otherwise.
Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson
Read more at: Learning Entrepreneurship Blogs .
The Seven Biggest Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Find the Exit before it’s an Emergency
When to Launch Your Business
The Four P’s of Salesmanship: “You wanna buy a book?”
Join our mailing list for more ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.
Click Here to check out Uncle Ralph’s books, “Don’t Do It the Hard Way” and “The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans” Both are available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.
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February 28, 2017
Alternative Facts or Alternative Conclusions?
Or alternative conclusions?
We seem to be learning from the current political debate that not only is it OK to invent alternative facts, (what we used to call lying), but that they are useful to explain and justify bad ideas. It may have proven to be effective in political campaigns, but it is definitely not recommended for subsequently making good management decisions.
In government and business, we will eventually have to deal with the real facts. Both those that help us define the problem and those that help us understand the consequences of our decisions and actions.
But even if we agree on the facts, the answers are not obvious. Alternative conclusions are still possible. And some people will be determined to ignore the facts and continue to rely on their pre-conceived notions.
There is a lot of research and commentary explaining our universal human tendency toward confirmation bias. That is, our consistent unquestioning acceptance of evidence that confirms our established beliefs and our equally stubborn denial of those that contradict our beliefs. Or as my mother wisely observed during my own brief venture into political campaigning over fifteen years ago, “There is no use in confusing them with the facts, they’ve already made up their minds.”
Important to remember though that the phenomenon applies to us all, not just those on the other side of the argument.
Arriving at agreed conclusions even from an accepted set of facts will always remain a challenge for leaders and managers. I had a memorable lesson in that principle early in my consulting career. I was responsible for an engineering work study to analyze a production bonus system that was unsatisfactory to both the union and management at a Canadian mining operation in Ireland. After thorough analysis, we made our objective fact-based presentation to each side and were astonished to hear them both conclude what they already thought before we started, “I knew those bastards were stealing from us!”
So for good management decisions and effective leadership, it is important to start with an agreed set of facts, then apply both rational argument and appeals to emotion, if necessary. Even then, some will not be persuaded until they see the results after the fact.
So how do we develop better solutions based on rational decision making? First, check that the facts are legitimate, verified and proven. Then accept that the selection and presentation of the facts is always biased by the source and their intent to support a particular argument or point of view. Consider your own biases and how they are affecting your assessment of the facts and the source. What are the alternative explanations and potential conclusions based on the same set of facts?
Then make the choices and develop your rationale before trying to persuade anyone else of your decisions and plans. It’s never as simple as “Just the facts, sir, just the facts.”
Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson
Read more at: Learning Entrepreneurship Blogs .
The Seven Biggest Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Find the Exit before it’s an Emergency
When to Launch Your Business
The Four P’s of Salesmanship: “You wanna buy a book?”
Join our mailing list for more ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.
Click Here to check out Uncle Ralph’s books, “Don’t Do It the Hard Way” and “The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans” Both are available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.
The post Alternative Facts or Alternative Conclusions? appeared first on Learning Entrepreneurship.
February 2, 2017
Business without politics
It’s not possible, never has been
There was an old idea that you should never mix business and politics. The concern was that it can be hard to stay friends and keep customers, suppliers and employees loyal, if you strongly disagree on political issues.
But it has always been a hopeless and futile mission to avoid politics in trying to appeal to everybody, in spite of their political views. It is also not a good strategy. In my opinion, long-term loyal and valuable relationships cannot be sustained by good prices, products and services alone, there has to be a mutual respect and sharing of ethical principles, values and beliefs, including basic political ideas.
Modern consumers and employees prefer to do business with companies that share common values of respect for people and the planet and are not entirely dedicated to the single objective of increasing short-term profit. Enlightened entrepreneurs also understand that long-term business value is enhanced by meeting their social responsibilities.
For business people to be politically active is entirely appropriate and in line with meeting their business objectives to build sustainable value and growth. It may even require objecting to bad government policy and decisions that do not align with your view of those social responsibilities.
Of course, when you’re opposed to the policies of a vindictive, impulsive, narcissist dictator in government, it may be necessary to be more cautious and diplomatic in your objections.
But take a risk, speak up.
It is not a secret what you think anyway, so don’t be shy to defend your beliefs, values and political views. You will lose more goodwill and loyalty from your supporters, if you give in to public pressure or criticism from opponents. Defending your values and beliefs will build more loyalty with the customers and employees that you really want to do business with.
Don’t give in, don’t suck up.
Stick to your principles.
Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson
Read more at: Learning Entrepreneurship Blogs .
The Seven Biggest Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Find the Exit before it’s an Emergency
When to Launch Your Business
The Four P’s of Salesmanship: “You wanna buy a book?”
Join our mailing list for more ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.
Click Here to check out Uncle Ralph’s books, “Don’t Do It the Hard Way” and “The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans” Both are available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.
The post Business without politics appeared first on Learning Entrepreneurship.
February 1, 2017
New top gun or one-hit wonder?
Justin Thomas has a great start to 2017
Justin Thomas suddenly won two tournaments in a row in Hawaii with total scores at 49-under par and set all-time records with a round of 59 at age 23 and the lowest 72-hole score in Tour history.
Who is this guy and where did he come from?
He has been on the PGA tour since 2013 and had won only once before in the 2015 season. This season he has won three times since October which was the most anybody won all of last year.
Clearly off to a great start, but you may know his good buddy, Jordan Spieth, better. Spieth was the young sensation of 2015, winning five times including the Masters, US Open and FedEx cup and achieving World Ranking #1. When asked by the commentators in Hawaii if Thomas had suddenly arrived or was this a one-time run, Spieth replied, “Neither, he has been playing at this level for years.” He will likely have many more good runs like this and we can expect him to push all the current contenders for World #1.
And there-in lies the lesson for your business.
Suddenly achieving notable success should not result from a short run of good luck. You cannot count on that ever happening. You should be building on dedicated preparation and hard work to sustain success for a whole career.
Even if you never achieve World #1 ranking you will be recognized as a winner for all the right reasons and be rewarded accordingly.
Keep at it,
Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson
Read more articles like this one at : Business is Like Golf Blog
Friendly Competition Inspires Everybody
Stories behind the headlines
Match play: Beating one competitor at a time
Visit LearningEntrepreneurship.com and join our mailing list for more ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.
Check out Uncle Ralph’s books, “Don’t Do It the Hard Way” and “The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans” Available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.
The post New top gun or one-hit wonder? appeared first on Learning Entrepreneurship.
January 27, 2017
Made in Mexico
You think bullying and bribery will work?
I’m thinking about President Trump’s approach to negotiating his new deals with Mexico. 
Sitting by the pool in Mazatlán, I’m surrounded by happy Mexicans working for $8-a-day and happy tourists spending $200 or $300-a-day. We’re all a little uncomfortable with the contrast, but the Americans are feeling even more uncomfortable and unwelcome here after 18-months of harsh rhetoric from their new President. They will find his isolationist, “America first,” trade and foreign policies equally unwelcome elsewhere. We are already seeing the early consequences.
Canadian snowbirds from BC to Quebec are buying timeshares and booking vacations here in solidarity with Mexico and in protest of Trump. The pushback has begun and negotiations will start by demonstrating the downside to his plans.
Trump is unlikely to change his tactics. He brags about his approach in The Art of the Deal. He got rich and won the presidency by bullying opponents and bribing supporters with access to his power and money. Those tactics have worked in the past with city councils, bureaucrats and regulators and worked during his campaign with angry, neglected voters and with anxious Republicans determined to dump the Democrats. They will not work with experienced executives, competent national leaders and knowledgeable diplomats.
I prefer and recommend the approach in The Art of Negotiation that requires more effort to understand the issues and the needs of both parties before negotiating towards a win-win solution.
Then there are the ethical issues: the lying and cheating, the unmitigated selfish greed and ambition that only work if you are an arrogant, ignorant narcissist. Definitely not the qualifications for enlightened entrepreneurship or management of any business and unlikely to deliver the security and prosperity that have been promised for America.
It will be hard to watch.
Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson
Read more at: Learning Entrepreneurship Blogs .
The Seven Biggest Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Find the Exit before it’s an Emergency
When to Launch Your Business
The Four P’s of Salesmanship: “You wanna buy a book?”
Join our mailing list for more ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.
Click Here to check out Uncle Ralph’s books, “Don’t Do It the Hard Way” and “The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans” Both are available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.
The post Made in Mexico appeared first on Learning Entrepreneurship.
January 20, 2017
Who are you listening to? Why?
Only very smart people. Because they agree with me.
But are you learning anything new?
Do they make you think or act differently?
That’s how you can tell if you learned anything.
It doesn’t seem to matter which mainstream news source we read, watch or listen to, they all seem to agree on what is important to us and what we should be angry about. Then they
insist on pushing the same story and analysis, over and over for days, with too much mind-numbing repetitiveness.
Whether it’s current affairs, politics, sports or business, it is hard work to dig deeper and get the whole story or find any thoughtful and perceptive analysis that goes beyond the initial impressions. But we need to do it, if we really want to have things change.
We need to be less passive and more selective in where we go for news, information and analysis. That means avoiding the easy choice of following those sources and analysts that we agree with or we have something in common with.
It also requires making an effort to listen to people that you don’t like or don’t agree with and avoid simply dismissing them as ignorant or evil. That’s not easy either. Especially when the tactic is so widely used to effectively stop discussion.
Remember: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey includes “Seek first to understand before seeking to be understood.” That is a much better process for seeking compromise and achieving agreed solutions.
Keep on the path for knowledge and wisdom and continue to learn, make changes and make a difference.
And thank you for including me among your resources.
Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson
Read more at: Learning Entrepreneurship Blogs .
The Seven Biggest Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Find the Exit before it’s an Emergency
When to Launch Your Business
The Four P’s of Salesmanship: “You wanna buy a book?”
Join our mailing list for more ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.
Click Here to check out Uncle Ralph’s books, “Don’t Do It the Hard Way” and “The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans” Both are available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.
The post Who are you listening to? Why? appeared first on Learning Entrepreneurship.
January 12, 2017
Mom had other plans
My last email newsletter and Blog post on December 15th were recommendations to enjoy the holidays.
Unfortunately my Mom had other plans. After a difficult few months at age 97 she was in palliative care and passed away quietly on Christmas Eve. She left us comforted by her three children and with the love and fond memories of her extended family and many friends.
Her last few moments, however, were a small Christmas miracle. I was playing a last game of crib with her and she was winning as usual, even though I was playing both hands, when there was a knock at the door and there was Santa! It was her grandson in his annual tradition of playing Santa and visiting her on Christmas Eve. He came in to say goodbye and a few minutes after he left, Mom gently passed away.
She was a sweet and gentle soul. She left us all with her good advice and memories of her humour, strength and good character every day. She was a self-employed piano teacher for over fifty years, so she was an entrepreneur too. I have shared with you in previous posts some of her influences on me.
In a tribute to Mom and as a reminder to appreciate your own mother, here are two favourites:
LISTEN TO MOM http://learningentrepreneurship.com/listen-to-mom/
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY http://learningentrepreneurship.com/happy-mothers-day/
Don’t wait until Mother’s Day.
Take the time regularly to turn off the loud and persistent rhetoric of the gurus and thought leaders pushing you to take their advice. Just think about what Mom used to say.
And continue to try to make her proud.
Your Uncle Ralph,
Del Chatterson
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December 15, 2016
Time for Happy Holidays. Again.
Share the love and the joys of life. ‘Tis the season.
Last year’s advice is still entirely appropriate:
Ignore the headlines, Donald Trump and the Middle East for a few days.
Set aside your worries about the economy and your business.
Find the time and make the space to celebrate the joys of life.
Focus on the people important to you: share the love with your friends, family and business associates.
It’s the time of year to recognize other priorities. Do not allow yourself to see the holiday season as an annoying distraction or temporary set-back to pursuing your business goals and personal objectives. Think of it instead as an annual opportunity to celebrate and confirm the more important elements of a life well-lived. It is more than a business or career well-managed.
Be creative. Take the initiative and show some imagination and enthusiasm to celebrate the season with friends and family.
After the holidays, you can get back to business as usual. You can be the boss again driving your staff to meet objectives and reminding them, “I am not your friend, I am not your mother.” But for the next two weeks, be more human and celebrate the joys of life.
And make plans to do that more than once next year.
Wishing you all the best for the Holiday Season and a very Happy New Year,
Your Uncle Ralph,
Del Chatterson
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