Golf As a Tool for Executive Leadership Development
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Pepperdine Digital Commons Pepperdine University Pepperdine Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations 2014 Golf as a tool for executive leadership development Dawnet Beverley Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd Recommended Citation Beverley, Dawnet, "Golf as a tool for executive leadership development" (2014). Theses and Dissertations. 449. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/449 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected] , [email protected]. GOLF AS A TOOL FOR EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT _______________________________ A Research Project Presented to the Faculty of The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management Pepperdine University ________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Organization Development _______________________________ by Dawnet Beverley August 2014 © 2014 Dawnet Beverley This research project, completed by DAWNET BEVERLEY under the guidance of the Faculty Committee and approved by its members, has been submitted to and accepted by the faculty of The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT Date: August 2014 Faculty Committee Committee Chair, Darren Good, Ph. D. Committee Member, Miriam Y. Lacey, Ph. D. Linda Livingstone, Ph. D., Dean The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management ii Abstract This study examined executives’ subjective experiences playing golf to identify what they have learned about being leaders from playing the game. Twenty executives were interviewed. Participants reported that golf strongly enhanced their leadership. They reported developing approaches, attitudes, and skills that enhanced their ability to manage themselves, manage others, and react to changing conditions. Participants noted that golf had transformative aspects and that it could be adapted for leader development, team building, and relationship building purposes. Based on these results, it can be concluded that golf is an effective tool for leader development. Leaders are advised to begin playing golf as a means for cultivating their own leadership abilities, and organizations are advised to support their efforts in doing so. Organization development professionals and the golf industry are advised to design innovative offerings using golf as a leader development tool. Additional studies are recommended to confirm these findings. iii Table of Contents List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures.................................................................................................................. viii 1. Introduction......................................................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study................................................................................................4 Significance of the Study.........................................................................................4 Researcher Background ...........................................................................................5 Organization of the Study ........................................................................................6 2. Literature Review.............................................................................................................7 Executive Leadership...............................................................................................7 Executive leadership competencies .............................................................9 Adoption of golf by executives..................................................................13 Summary....................................................................................................14 Leader Development..............................................................................................15 Development process.................................................................................17 Summary....................................................................................................20 Golf ........................................................................................................................21 Accessibility of golf...................................................................................21 Principles and philosophies........................................................................22 Behavioral and psychological ingredients .................................................27 Golf as leader development .......................................................................32 Summary....................................................................................................33 iv Summary of the Literature.....................................................................................34 3. Methods..........................................................................................................................36 Sampling Procedures .............................................................................................36 Data Collection Procedures....................................................................................39 Data Analysis Procedures ......................................................................................40 Summary................................................................................................................41 4. Results............................................................................................................................42 Impacts on Leadership ...........................................................................................42 Skills and Attitudes Developed..............................................................................44 Applications ...........................................................................................................51 Other Findings .......................................................................................................55 Summary................................................................................................................57 5. Discussion......................................................................................................................58 Conclusions............................................................................................................58 Shifts in leadership thinking and behavior.................................................58 Personal and leadership outcomes of golf .................................................60 Applicability of learning golf for leadership development........................62 Implications............................................................................................................65 Limitations .............................................................................................................68 Suggestions for Continued Research .....................................................................69 Summary................................................................................................................72 References..........................................................................................................................74 Appendix A: Study Invitation............................................................................................81 v Appendix B: Consent Form ...............................................................................................82 Appendix C: Interview.......................................................................................................84 vi List of Tables Table Page 1. Types of Leadership Theories......................................................................................12 2. Participant Demographics............................................................................................38 3. Impacts on Leadership .................................................................................................43 4. Approaches Developed ................................................................................................44 5. Attitudes Developed.....................................................................................................47 6. Skills Developed ..........................................................................................................47 7. Outcomes Achieved.....................................................................................................49 8. Applications for Leadership Development ..................................................................52 9. General Applications ...................................................................................................54 10. Other Findings .............................................................................................................56 11. Proposed Design for Golf-Based Leadership Training................................................68 vii List