On golf and a road not taken.

I think I lost out on a job one time because I didn't play golf. It was just as I was graduating from college in 1976. I was interviewing for an entry-level communications position. It was with a city-wide association of electricians and electrical contractors. The interviewer and I were hitting it off. The vibes were good, and the prospects for being offered the position seemed strong as the interview wound down. Then, as we were doing our wrap-up pleasantries, almost as an afterthought he dropped this bomb on me: "Oh, by the way, do you play golf?"

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Uh-oh. I didn't play golf. How to answer?

The only way I've ever played things in life is being completely straight. So I said, "No, I don't." Result: No job offer. Maybe my not playing golf had no bearing on the decision. I don't believe it for a second. Any professional association of business executives does its fair share of associating on the golf course. I should have known that.

I get a lot of mileage out of this story in the class I teach at Temple University. My students are in their final year, very focused on getting job interviews. I use my tale as a "what would you do?" case study. One frequently suggested scenario has me saying, "Yes"--and immediately running off to the nearest golf course for a proverbial cram course. Hmmmm ... not quite sure about that strategy. Another contingent would want to respond by saying, "No, but I'm willing to do what it takes to learn." Not bad. Still probably puts them out of running for the job, but at least they are being honest.

In the end, my advice to the students is "Be yourself ... and play it straight." In one of those "roads not taken" speculations that we all likely do, I sometimes wonder how my career would have played out if I had taken this particular job right out of school.

I'm guessing that, had it have been offered and accepted, it would not have put me on the track that I got on to become editor of this journal. Honesty has its own rewards. My reward for saying "No" has been a career more in tune with my intellectual and creative bent--with nary a nine iron in sight.

Nonetheless, as much a nongolfer as I am, I am pleased to publish "Getting the Best Out of a Golf Outing" (page 51), which I actually invited the author, Maureen Ryan-Fable of First Protocol, to do. And what a good job she did with it. While it may seem to be a bit of a diversion from our standard fare of briefings on governance best practices, it offers important recommendations for making good things happen for yourself and your company. Come to think of it, that is at its core the mission of Directors & Boards. It's a mission that I've been in position to lead as the journal's editor for 25 years--thanks, perhaps, to an honest answer to a simple (yet tricky) question a long time ago.