I don't do golf.
It's about as hierarchical as it comes.
In the corporate world, golf is still a major part of fiefdoms. It's a problem. Think about it. Four individuals get to spend somewhere between four and five hours walking around a golf course whacking a ball without interacting with anyone else. Golf tournaments, requests to golf, schmoozing through golf, and golf as a form of recognition are prevalent in business. It's not that I'm against networking โ you must know me by now โ but golf creates a form of elitism that exacerbates the 'us versus them' of an organization.
"Where's Ted?"
"He's golfing with the boss."
"Where's the C-Suite today?"
"They're out golfing at a tournament."
It reminds me of a horrific quote attributed to President Lyndon B. Johnson:
"When things haven't gone well for you, call in a secretary or a staff man and chew him out. You will sleep better, and they will appreciate the attention."
What, you don't think the two are related? C'mon.
I'm not against golf as a sport, but please -- as many vendors/partners have found out over the years -- don't ever invite me to golf on business time.
It smacks of old school trickery, hierarchy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Invite me to a peloton where we share the load ... any day.
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We are so proud to have had you at our event. Your talk was a big hit. It moved us. We canโt thank you enough.
Malin Bjรถrnell, Salesforce
Dan challenged us to have clarity of purpose, both as individuals and as an organization. He related inspiring stories drawing on his experience in business, technology and academia. As he said, โThere is no ownership without belonging.โ
Christian Pantel, D2L
Fantastic engaging talk for our global partner summit. Thank you so much, Dan!
Barb Kinnard, CEO Response Biomedical Corp
Dan not only brought his presentation to life with his charisma, but also content, style and presentation finesse. Our members were especially interested in his thought provoking and top of mind topic on the future of work and how weโre going to be leading the next generation of leaders.
Cheryl Goodwin, CPA
Dan is a conference organizerโs ideal speaker. Not only did he inspire and energize our group, but he also masterfully adapted his content so it resonated with the audience and our conference theme. As a bonus, Dan is able to nimbly navigate to adjust to a reduced time slot when other speakers went over time without sacrificing the impact of his session.
Director and General Counsel
Dan accomplished what we set out to do, which was not only to be inspirational, but also to leave everyone with tools and food for thought / self-reflection to improve their personal and professional lives.