Professional golf may be the only sport that rates its players on being “nice when no one is looking.”
That’s a pretty good definition of character, too. Especially when you consider PGA Tour players are expected to treat fans well, serve as a “good role model,” and treating the “little people” well. (Little people must mean the hundreds of people who work behind the scenes at every tournament to ensure that things go well for players as well as fans.)
Golf Digest gives an award for being a “Good Guy.” The quotes above are criteria for this award. This year’s winner is Jordan Spieth, who in his 23 short years has already racked up 10 wins, including two Majors. And yes he’s the same Jordan who suffered a meltdown Sunday afternoon at the 2016 Masters losing his lead after going 4-over (including two balls in the pond) on No. 12. Spieth never lost his cool.
Being nice is inherent to golf. Along with its onerous rules — which by the way are being loosened for 2018 — players are expected to police themselves, including calling penalties on themselves for infractions no one would see. Honesty is the by-word as is treating your fellow golfers respectfully. Competition does not preclude courtesy.
Arnold Palmer, the man who launched golf into the modern age on television, was unfailingly polite on the tour. He was quoted as saying that he would have won more tournaments if he had not stopped to acknowledge all the people who cheered for him as he walked up tournament fairways. No matter Arnold won 95 times worldwide, including 7 Majors. And he earned hundreds of millions, thanks to his geniality that made him an advertising sponsor’s go-to guy.
But niceness is not about cashing in. I define niceness as being available and approachable. Golfers unlike many other professionals are readily accessible if only for the reason that that they walk every round of every tournament (at least 6-and-half miles) where the only thing separating from crowds is a thin rope line, if there is even a rope at all.
Fans know the good guys from the not-so good ones. The ones who smile and make eye contact, and will pose for selfies or sign autographs, are fan favorites. The one who won't aren't. Pretty simple.
Arnold Palmer took pride in making his autographs recognizable. "What's the point of signing something," he said, "if the person can't read it or later can't even remember who it was?"
What we non-pros can learn from such behavior is how to behave in public. And this is important for leaders, especially. Why? Because leaders like golfers are always on stage, even in their off hours. For this reason, making nice is not a “nice-to-do” (pun intended) it’s a must-do.
The boss who blows off employees, tells off-color jokes, and leers at the opposite sex is not someone who is acting maturely. The boss who makes time to listen, offers encouragement to employees, and asks how you are is not a saint; he is a human being.
One senior executive I know of took time to get to know more junior members of his organization whenever any of them would make a business presentation to him. Before they began, the CEO would first engage them in small talk. Where were they from? What were their interests? It was the CEO’s way of putting the younger person at ease. Nice, eh?
Now no one is perfect. Bosses like golfers lose their cool but like the nice guy golfers they apologize for their behavior. They also seek to make amends by acting more nice (polite, courteous and approachable) the next time.
And guess what? You will nice in return. At least most of the time. And if you don’t, well, then suck it up. After all, not everyone plays by the same rules. But good guys always do.
