There are always some stories that are told and retold because they are so pertinent and meaningful to our own lives. One of my favorites is about Tiger Woods after he won the Masters Tournament in Augusta Ga. Arguably the pinnacle in the golf world, most people would revel in their success and rest on their laurels. Not Tiger. As the story goes, he went to Michael Jordon to discuss how he stays at the top if his game. The two of them agreed that constant and continuous improvement was the key. Tiger then took some time off from golf; not to vacation, not to go on the speaking tour, and not to spend time with his family. He took time off to completely revamp his swing! The best golfer in the world takes time off to revamp the best swing in the world. The rest is history.

We all work at many things and continuously practice some as well but not all practice is necessarily good. Most of us work to a level of proficiency that is acceptable or even respected and then plateau. Studies show that the level of performance does NOT correlate to the number of years in the field! How many people do you know with 30 years of experience compared to those you know with 2 years of experience 15 times over? Maybe even you!

In order to improve in our chosen endeavor, hopefully that includes running your business, you need to follow Tiger’s lead. Don’t just keep practicing the same actions but take your game apart. Get better at each piece and part. In the case of golf it might be keeping your elbow tucked into your side during your swing that is practiced for a month! In your business it might be your hiring process, your negotiation skill, your performance review process or the hundreds of other individual activities that you do every day.

Another aspect of Tiger’s approach is important too. Tiger, again the best golfer in the world, would not have tried to improve his game without his coach at his side. The coach provided feedback on his every move. The coach prevented Tiger from developing and practicing bad habits. The coach challenged Tiger’s thinking to help him arrive at the best way to improve his game.

If you really want to improve your abilities beyond the plateau you reached long ago, you need a coach that understands your challenges and your business. They don’t need to be the best player but they do need to be a great coach! In our case we not only use a coach, but the entire coaching team impacts the business. Conference calls are important to give other inputs and challenges. On site visits by the consultant is important to help the owner and the steering team improve their game.

Tiger’s success is proof positive that meaningful continuous improvement works. There are many others. Your’s should be among them.