As shocking as this might seem to my peers in the automotive industry, I am not much of a golfing fan.  The game of golf is something I tend to endure as part of my job.  I wrote a blog recently about how changing your attitude can change your pathway to success.  I decided to heed my own advice and take myself in for an attitude check up.

After my attitude check up, I still am not known for being the player who is going to take it to the club house every weekend, but you can not count on me playing full out and making the event fun.  When I step up to the tee, I now like to announce as I point to the pin, “Let the Big Dog Eat!”  I close my eyes and do a little waggle, as I imagine myself making a h*** in one before I open my eyes and swing like I am going to make a h*** in one.  The long drive is still not my forte, but if we are playing closest to the pin, my teammates can count on my years of playing putt-putt and my lucky putter.  I will even ask them to create swing distractions so I feel like I am right back at Fiesta Village.  My point is, I know my weaknesses and I embrace them as I play up my strengths. 

It was the last golfing outing followed by a lazy Sunday on the couch watching Tin Cup,  that planted the seed for an epiphany into my thoughts.  For some people, golf is a career and to others it is part of the job.  The rules for the game of golf are the same no matter if it is a career or part of a job.  Although, the pay out if it is a career is better than if it is part of the job.  So, where does golfing cross over from being part of the job to being a career?  

Consider the differences between a career and a job.  A career is like a ladder, where each rung builds on the one previous.  You have to master each rung of the ladder to continue to progress upwards.  The rungs of the career ladder are endless and each rung seems just outside of your reach.  In a career, you build value in yourself by working harder and smarter on yourself than the task requires of you.  Being able to advance to the next rung in a career includes having the desire and the ability to educate yourself and those around you, with the understanding that you cannot advance until you replace yourself.  This selfless act means you invest in others by making a difference one moment and one person at a time.  Though this selfless act may have huge demands, the rewards out weigh a slide back down the career ladder.  A career is a game of strategy where you acknowledge and embrace your weaknesses and play full out with your strengths, but it is still just a game.  Playing a game does mean you will sweat, feel pain, face defeat and have to push yourself beyond what you once thought was possible.  On the flip side, playing a game also means you will find victories, hear the cheer of the crowd and enjoy those moments in life.  A job is less complicated.  A job simply is where you spend your time and collect a pay check.

With that said,  I had a paradigm shift and quit my job last week and began my new career.  I stood in front of my sales team and explained that I am not only the Marketing Director, but a member of the sales team and taking on the challenge of closing inbound leads generated by the marketing department.  As I pointed to the monthly sales goal chart, I exclaimed, “Let the Big Dog Eat!”

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