A few years ago, I changed my career path and decided to dedicate myself to something that I am passionate about. After switching from teaching and finishing my Masters of Education, I initially questioned if I had made the right decision.
It did not take long before I knew that I had made the best decision for both my wife and myself. She jokes and tells people that I cannot stop talking about my work and that she has never seen me more excited to go to my job, which is on a golf course, everyday! It is true, I love what I do and I truly enjoy learning new things each day about this new career.
None of this would have been possible if it weren’t for the management at the golf course, especially the superintendent and the assistant superintendents. Like Northouse (2016) mentioned, the management truly embodies and maintains the big five personality factors everyday, this creates an environment that is positive and refreshing. This is truly impressive if you consider that more often than not, the weather and uncontrollable factors often work against the agenda at the golf course.
Of the big five personality traits, the trait that is most apparent each day is “conscientiousness.” The management is always thorough, organized, and extremely dependable all while maintaining flexibility and a team-oriented environment. I see their examples each day and I work toward following their mindset and attitude.
While still being new to the industry, I believe that I have been spoiled by having such a fulfilling experience but I am confident that the examples that I see everyday will truly create a benchmark for all of my future endeavors because the examples are honest, authentic, determined, and intelligent. The golf course is lucky to have such focused and caring leadership.
References:
Northouse, Peter. “Leadership: Theory and Practice.” 2016. Los Angeles. SAGE Publications.
Adam John Swain says
Anthony,
First of all, congratulations on the career shift. My goal is to one day, have a job where I can be outside doing something that makes me happy as well.
I reopened the lesson on the FFM to make sure that I was familiar with the other factors. I think you probably are right that conscientiousness may be the most important and prevalent. I can’t even to begin to imagine the amount of work that goes into maintaining a golf course, so it makes sense that this is the trait that you keyed in on.
Without knowing specifically what it is that you do, and from an outsiders perspective, I would think that the four are fairly prevalent as well. Agreeableness scored high, according the lesson, because of the amount of teamwork and cooperation, which I’m sure occurs often on the course.
Neuroticism, I’m sure is important too. I’d imagine that if someone makes a mistake, it could hamper operations for some time. Having a calm head and finding a solution can minimize the impacts and make sure things go back on track.
The last piece that I thought was valid was extroversion. Because golf is a competitive sport, I’m sure that it bleeds over throughout the employees as well. I think that keeping things light and having lite competition is team building and keeps everyone engaged, at least it has in my experience.
Congrats again and thanks for bringing this up.
Adam