This past summer, I had a great trip to Atlanta, Georgia, while visiting Jasper County Schools (amazing people and an amazing school district!). I brought my youngest daughter, Tessa, along with her great friend Lucy. We had a wonderful weekend. We visited the Georgia Aquarium, visited the Olympic site & the new area near the sports stadiums, and our last stop before heading to the airport was Topgolf. Both girls had heard about Topgolf, but neither had ever been. Actually, neither of them had ever swung a golf club, so I knew we were in for some fun and adventure!
Trust me, I’m no golfer. I’m just glad I can get the club on the ball and move it a little bit, and the girls struggled at first too. We practiced a few times, then started playing one of the games where you try to get the ball into one of the targets. The girls laughed, had fun, and got better with each swing.
As we finished our second game, I noticed this graphic on the digital screen in front of us. “You are on your way, Lucy! & Getting better!” The girls both reacted with joy and smiles because it highlighted something positive about their play. How smart and thoughtful of Topgolf to make sure that regardless of how inexperienced the golfer was, there was an opportunity to find something positive to say!
Both girls were excited to see that and were eager to keep improving and play another game!
I was impressed that Topgolf did this, and it reminded me of when I was a camp counselor way back in college, working at an incredible University Basketball Camp UBC in Staten Island, NY. The camp directors, Greg and Gela Mikalauskas, would have us fill out report cards every Thursday night to give to the campers.
They read every one and trained us to make sure we always found something positive to say.
Did the child grow during the week? Did they have a good attitude? Did they achieve something they weren’t able to do on Monday or Tuesday? They challenged us to find the positive and make sure we highlighted it on the report card.
Little did I know, years later, this would become great training for my role as a supervisor of teachers and support staff. No matter the work we do in schools, we can always try to find something positive to say. Nothing good comes from being negative, and nothing negative comes from being positive.
Yes, we have areas for growth and need to have honest, hard conversations, but along the journey, we can make it a point to find something positive to say. Just like Tessa, Lucy, and I struggled to hit the golf ball on that special day in Atlanta, Topgolf responded with a positive comment.
As you begin your week, I challenge you to find something positive to say to those you lead—whether in school leadership, business, sales, or community support- find something positive! Keep surviving and thriving, friends.
And thank you, Topgolf, for finding the positive in the people who visit your place of play!
