In Their Words: Leadership Lessons from Professional Golfers

Next week, the Master’s Tournament, one of the biggest tournaments in professional golf, takes place at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA. Golfers from around the world will compete to take home the legendary green jacket and have their names engraved on the Master’s trophy.

Augusta National is a notoriously difficult course to play and even the best golfers in the world regularly succumb to its idiosyncrasies and challenging features like “Amen Corner” or the “Eisenhower Tree.” In fact, golf legend Jim Furyk said of Augusta National: “There’s going to be places where you can attack the golf course and there’s going to be times where you’ve got to kind of bite your lip and play conservative and hit to certain spots on the green, get out of there with a par and move on.”

On the golf course, one bad shot can throw even the most skilled players off their game. And how they respond to that shot can be the difference between making the cut or going home early. In the workplace, we often encounter challenging situations that, despite all the hard work and planning that took place beforehand, can throw a project or new initiative off track.

As legendary golfer Ben Hogan said, “I have found the game to be, in all factualness, a universal language wherever I traveled at home or abroad,” here are 10 motivational quotes from some of the best men and women to ever swing a club that apply just as well to the workplace as they do to the golf course:

  • “Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You’ve got to believe.”
    – Jack Nicklaus
  • “Concentration comes out of a combination of confidence and hunger.”
    – Arnold Palmer
  • “Keep your sense of humor. There’s enough stress in the rest of your life not to let bad shots ruin a game you’re supposed to enjoy.”
    – Amy Alcott
  • “I’m about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That’s the distance my left ear is from my right.”
    – Ben Crenshaw
  • “I get to play golf for a living. What more can you ask for, getting paid for doing what you love.”
    – Tiger Woods
  • “If everything was given to you, it wouldn’t feel as good when you achieve it.”
    – Annika Sorenstam
  • “If you worry about making bogeys, it makes the game that much more difficult. You put more pressure on yourself without even noticing it. It makes a difference to take it easy when things aren’t going right.” – Sergio Garcia
  • “It’s not how fast you get there, but how long you stay.”
    – Patty Berg
  • “If you don’t enjoy it, then putting in the long hours is going to take their toll.”
    – Karrie Webb
  • “Golf is about how well you accept, respond to, and score with your misses much more so than it is a game of your perfect shots.”
    – Dr. Bob Rotella
  • “You don’t have the game you played last year or last week. You only have today’s game. It may be far from your best, but that’s all you’ve got. Harden your heart and make the best of it.”
    – Walter Hagen

What are some of your favorite quotes about golf that you can apply to the workplace? Let us know in the comments section below!

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