Climb The Corporate Ladder with Your Clubs

by Barbara J. Gutstadt (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)

On the way up the corporate ladder, women continue to struggle to compete with men for positions in leadership. We’ve made strides in some areas—closing the gap in holding middle-management positions, for one—but women still struggle to reach that elusive top rung. According to a 2013 report by the nonprofit research group Catalyst, only four percent of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies are women.

It begs the question of what factors are keeping women out of the highest leadership roles. Over the past 30 years of my career, I’ve experienced and witnessed the challenges of advancing my career in the corporate world dominated by men. I’ve served as the upper-level executive as a CEO and President of a national healthcare company that I founded and later sold. I have sat in the boardroom as one of two female executives along with thirteen male counterparts.

To say that we need to level the playing field is an understatement. I learned early on that in order rise to the top, I had to “seize the day.” I closely evaluated the habits and performance of my male counterparts. There became a very noticeable difference in how we developed our client relationships. My male associates spent time on the golf course nurturing relationships with prospective clients. I spent time attempting to do the same—but in an office setting or out to lunch. Their golf-to-client ratio topped my client-to-meeting ratio. They spent four to five hours with a client on the course and I spent about an hour with the client.

The realization that golf in the healthcare insurance industry was a game changer was my “ah ha” moment. I had uncovered the knowledge that I too should play golf to attract, capture and retain clients, but there was a
problem. I didn’t know how to play the game. I had to learn how to play the game—and quickly.

While women currently comprise one fifth of the 25.7 million U.S. golfers counted in a 2011 survey by the National Golf Foundation, I operate under the premise that if more women played corporate-golf we’d see a direct correlation of more women moving up the corporate ladder into leading roles. Here are the three steps I implemented to jump-start my corporate golf career:

Get Noticed From Within
I spread the word that I was now playing golf (even though I was definitely a beginner). When there are promotion opportunities, women are often overlooked due to one simple factor: access. Having the opportunity to spend time with high-level executives is paramount in them getting to know you and your values. However, that opportunity is not always readily available. You can be sure that your male counterparts are seizing that opportunity through the game of golf—by playing in the company’s tournament or being asked to take a large client or prospective client out to the county club.

Golf is a perfect way for your direct boss or higher-ups to get to know you better—whether playing in a charity tournament or playing in a foursome. That doesn’t mean you go out on the course to talk about your sales figures or boast about new business you’ve snagged. Simply getting out there enables decision makers to learn more about you—from your ability to remain calm and composed to something as telling as honesty in scorekeeping. These subtleties matter.

Join A Women’s Golf Association
It may sound cliché, but golf can help you network your way to the top. Successful women CEOs know the struggles you face every day. By joining a women’s association, you are connecting to a sisterhood. There are multitudes of opportunities for professional growth in a women’s club—from getting paired with a successful executive who inspires you, to finding potential clients.

As a financial advisor, I joined the Executive Women’s Golf Association,(EWGA), to network with other like-minded women. I quickly found many doors opened to me that I wasn’t even aware existed. I started utilizing golf to enhance my career by incorporating golf strategies within the golf association rather than actually playing the game. I signed on as a sponsor with the local chapter and one of the perks was that I was invited to speak to the golf members and chose the topic of women and retirement planning. I sponsored Hole In One contests and provided golf gifts imprinted with my company’s logo as giveaways at tournaments. I used these strategies throughout the year until I was comfortable enough to actually play a game of golf. Within that first year, I enjoyed numerous new client relationships and continual referrals. Golf grew my financial services practice hands down!

Take Lessons
Many successful executives live by the mantra “failing to plan is planning to fail” and for good reason. In business, releasing a product to market before the kinks have been worked out is a recipe for disaster. The same is true in golf. Before you set foot on the tee box, start by taking lessons from a local golf
professional.

It’s not about how well you can play the game. You need to learn proper golf etiquette, golf lingo, proper attire, and the rules of the game. Playing fair and showing proper etiquette will show clients that you are trustworthy and fair. That’s a key opportunity that many people overlook. It’s not just about playing the game of golf—it’s about building trust.

As I’ve learned throughout the last three decades, playing golf has proved beneficial in all aspects of my life by helping me stay physically fit, making new friends, adding a new dimension in my personal life and enjoying golf experiences while on a vacation. However, the one facet of my life that has been impacted the most with the game of golf has been the successes I’ve enjoyed in my career. I’m confident that as other businesswomen realize why
and how golf can help them climb the corporate ladder, we’ll see more women make it to the top rung of success.

For additional information, visit Barbara Gutstadt’s profile on LinkedIn.