In the few short days since Europe retained the Ryder Cup much has been written about the winning formula.
With commentators largely in agreement that the teams were on a par in terms of ability, the margin of victory should have been tighter than it was. So what made the difference? Was it Alex Ferguson’s speech, the home turf advantage or the luck of the draw?
Whilst these are all contributing factors, the consensus of opinion is that it was Paul McGinley’s approach to the captaincy which swung the day for the European team. Writing on the BBC sport website Graeme McDowell summed up his captain’s leadership as being characterised by:
- Meticulous attention to detail
- Great communication skills and leadership
- Ability to delegate
- Positive attitude and creativity
- Ability to inspire
Hand on heart how many of us would claim that our own leadership style displays such characteristics? But, in sport or in business, these are typical of the exceptional leader, those who can carry their team with them and deliver game-changing performances which make all the difference. They say that sport reflects life. Perhaps in this instance we should ask that life starts to reflect sport and work at honing our business leadership skills to match those seen at the 2014 Ryder Cup.
