Take Dead Aim!

There is a famous mantra from storied golf teaching professional, Harvey Penick, that he used with his students: “Take dead aim!”

This meant to focus on the most specific target possible.  To aim small.  To not just aim for a fairway or green, but to focus on the most specific spot on the fairway or green that you wanted to hit.  Of course, Mr. Penick also taught his students the technical skills needed to succeed, and the practice techniques required to hone those skills.  Yet, he understood that clarity and specificity of target, or taking dead aim, was the key to achievement. My experience has been that, like golf, the proper combination of skillsets, mindsets, and systems/strategies become the formula for hitting your target.

I use the analogy of an arrow to demonstrate how skillsets, mindsets, and systems work together to achieve personal or professional objectives.  The tip of the arrow, or the arrowhead, represents the skillsets that are needed to penetrate your target.  The tail of the arrow, or the fletching, represents the mindsets that keep your arrow on course.  The shaft of the arrow represents the systems/strategies that you use to  connect your skillsets and mindsets, and completes the arrow.

In Mr. Penick’s business, he asked his students to “take dead aim” on a target, and then use the skillset of their golf swing, the mindset of confidence in a specific target, and the strategy of proper practice systems to achieve their desired objectives.

In business, we build teams of people (skillsets), a culture and value system within our business that drives us toward our objectives (mindsets), and systems of proper business practices (strategies) that connect our skillsets and mindsets, and completes the arrow.

So take dead aim!  But, make sure that you are working daily to build the necessary skillsets/people, fostering the proper mindsets/culture, and training the systems/strategies that allow you, and your team, to achieve the desired results.