Articles

Lessons from the Best
by Bob Gibson

As many of you know through my speeches and seminars, golf is a pastime for me. I'm not a great golfer, but I enjoy the game and follow it from my home in Northern California. Last week the Senior Tour had their final tournament of the year: The Charles Schwab Cup at Sonoma, just a few miles up the road. Being a golfer, I wanted to see how the "big boys" did it, so I spent a few days watching the best in the world play the game of golf.

They live in a different world! As I watched them on the practice tee and the course, I felt immense relief that there are other ways to make a living. If I had to feed my family by my golf skills, people would say, "There goes Bob Gibson. He's got the skinniest kids in the world."

As I watched them on the practice tee, I noticed that many had coaches instructing them. Some were working on their swing, some on their timing, and some on set-up. I was watching the best in the world, and they were working on the fundamentals of their game. They were perfecting the same things a beginning golfer works on!

It's my observation that the best in the world in any endeavor - whether it's golf, or selling or managing, or negotiating, simply perform the basics better than others in their field.

There they were, the best in the world, still working with a coach. When I go to my local club, average golfers don't work with coaches. They do what they've done before, and hope it will get better. They think they can figure it out on their own, but few do. Many people think the pros have a coach because they're the best. I'd say part of the reason they are the best is because they have a coach!

In business, coaching is not for beginners or those who can't make it. It's for successful business professionals who want to be even more successful.

Visit http://www.negotiationresources.com/consulting.html and see how coaching might help your next negotiation.

Bob Gibson is a negotiation strategist and the president
of San Francisco-based Negotiation Resources
He may be reached at 800-572-8005.

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