Take Me Hire!
Wanna know a bullet-proof way of learning about what makes a job candidate really tick? Well, all we need to do is have a look into their subconscious. Easy? How on earth do we do that? Well, a mate of mine back in the ‘80s offered this advice: before appointing any new employee, take them for a round of golf. He assured this would lure more intel than any psychometric testing or focus group could ever yield. It mattered not one bit their gender, whether playing off a ten-handicap or they were picking up a club for the very first time. Having seen this in action, I’m pleased to report I think he’s right. So, how come?
Well, it’s all about what yields subconsciously with three traits: morals, sportsmanship, and temperament. In the normal course of hiring staff these things can be tricky if not impossible to assess – being susceptible to candidate ‘fudging’ and largely subjectively measured. But a game of golf can change all that – each trait more obviously revealed and objectively measured as the game goes on.
Now, you might be thinking a job candidate accepting an invite to play golf with a prospective new boss would be crazy to not be on their best behaviour, but regardless playing golf has a funny way of laying one’s soul bare in no time at all!
So, judgement is reserved on a new hire till we’ve seen how they play. Great, job done.
But hang on…let’s spend a bit of time exploring temperament.
All golfers PGA to pauper struggle in this area (just ask Rory McIlroy!) and recently re-witnessed playing locally with a chap exhibiting mild slice-frustration on the 4th fairway, morphing to an irate (and rather sandy) gorilla in a bunker on the 8th, to finally erupting with undiagnosed Tourette’s on the 18th tee – after lofting a third ball straight out of bounds!
To any accompanying player temper tantrums in any sport or vocation may initially be quite entertaining – if only us being thankful it’s not us – but when this behaviour persists or escalates it’s ultimately horrible. Bad behaviour such as kicking golf carts, shrub crucifixion, club throwing, bag-bashing, ground-denting, and sandwich-chucking is not good. Further, these are often accompanied by third-person outbursts like ‘You… are… an… absolute and complete moron!’ Get the picture? Which brings us to the crux of the matter. In some psychology circles internally-directed dialogue as illustrated here is referred as stinking-thinking, or negative self-chatter – which is not just unhelpful but more seriously may lay an unsteady foundation for our inner-self – that being our subconscious-mind and our soul. Negative internal dialogue is considered fuel for a bad temper, and, if left unchecked can spill over to other parts of one’s life. Answering why we tend to put ourselves down as such can’t be adequately explored here, though the steps toward a solution can. And these are much simpler than we might imagine
Here’s how it works. Let’s take a hypothetical golfer, Steve. Steve swears on the golf course. Loudly, and lots. Most expletives relate to his own bad shots, but sometimes also following the better shots of accompanying players – a sort of a double-beat-up. Steve suspects his golfing mates have had enough, and he seeks to address the matter. Steve is lucky enough to get some good advice. He is encouraged not to directly focus on his undesirable behaviour – as may be assumed or coaxed – but instead on the exact opposite, which of course is a desirable future using appropriate golf course temperament and etiquette. Steve is instructed to create a simple short statement for his vision. He is then advised he needs to own his vision. And this owning bit is critical. How does he do this? By reprogramming his subconscious. This might sound rather deep and require professional involvement, but it’s pretty straight forward, and won’t cost a cent. Steve draws on one of human civilisation’s most successful (though one might say boring) learning techniques – that of using repetition of a simple statement. This statement is referred as a self-affirmation.
Now, for some the thought of working like this may conjure up squeamish negative throwbacks, but it is precisely the basis of how we all learned things like the alphabet, numbers and counting, spelling, maths, and dozens and dozens of rudimentary (yet essential) life skills. Steve’s has come up with a statement, ‘I’m always watching my mouth’. He is happy with that and now works to sink this into his subconscious. Style along with repetition does play a role to help drive the message home (which we can cover another time) but quite soon his efforts begin asserting themselves toward his desirable new behaviour. If Steve is diligent, he may also see additional and automatic spin-offs such as developing healthier internal conversations with himself (positive-self-chatter), or his golf game improves – without any extra effort or practise. Perhaps he also notices his home life taking a turn for the better. And, for any golfers cringing out there, Steve’s technique is no different to hitting a rubber tee a thousand times at the local driving range.
Variations of Steve’s statement could be, ‘Everyone enjoys my golf” or ‘My golf is relaxed and balanced’. These ordinarily might not feel to offer any more value to Steve’s first statement – in fact they may feel to even drift away from his specific goal, but indeed they would offer more. Study and research continue to support these ideas. While the associated concepts of using positive affirmations, repetition, mind-imagery and assumptive outcomes are not new, they continue to rise in academic acceptance and are finding new boltholes in the scientific community. A hot topic sweeping our post-covid world is that of Resilience, which for Steve could also enjoy a boost. All this with him just addressing his swearing like a trouper on the golf course!
So, for any or all frustrated or angry golfers (and of course, prospective job seekers!) give some consideration to what’s going on in your own grey matter: your subconscious. How might your ‘stinking thinking’ be affecting your golf? Or other stuff? You may just end up thinking yourself to a lower handicap, and a better future.