Playing with the Boss

A CIO who is invited out for a day on the links by the CEO, CFO or other senior executive had better be prepared for anything. After all, those executives may be thinking about promoting him or testing his psychological makeup, or maybe they simply want to get to know him better. "If you're ever invited to go and play with the boss, it's a job interview," says Roger Ham, former CIO of the Los Angeles Police Department and a veteran of many corporate and business outings. "That three-foot putt is the longest yard in business, and it will show them your skills, your tenacity, whether you have good sportsmanship, and whether you can lose with grace and win with grace."

An old golf adage says that golf matches are won and lost on the first tee. Translation: Perceptions are everything on the golf course, and CIOs need to be aware of their body language - whether you're having the best or worst day of your life. "You do form opinions of people on the course," says Guzman. "Are they confident and comfortable with themselves? Are they extraordinarily nervous or calm in a stressful situation? Are they too hard on themselves?"

One thing business golf experts universally advise against is tanking a match in an effort to land in your boss's good graces. "If you get caught throwing the game, it will be more embarrassing to yourself and more career-damaging," says Bill Storer, president of Business Golf Strategies, a company that sets up golf outings and seminars for businesspeople. "You ought to be worried about what your CEO is thinking at all times." Besides, Storer adds, if you are a great golfer, most people would want to play with you and see you score well - as long as you're humble about it.

If You Cheat, You're a Cheater

While it's OK to exaggerate or underestimate your golf skills, outright cheating is just plain wrong. Many knowledgeable golfers have a sense about how many strokes you have taken per hole and can spot a cheater early on. "People think they're being subtle about cheating," says Guzman. "And cheating may be an indicator of how they will behave in other circumstances." CIOs who witness cheating by a member of their foursome shouldn't hesitate to bring it to the attention of others in their group, so long as the group consists of peers. However, Woo advises CIOs to think twice if the cheater in their midst happens to be a CEO, CFO or other senior executive; cheating is indicative of some degree of dishonesty, so CIOs might wonder how trustworthy their bosses are.

Lose the Mobile Phone

The current hot-button issue in the golfing world is mobile technology. While some golf courses have banned the use of mobile phones on the course, many golfers still take and make calls between shots. "If you think of it as a business meeting, it's incredibly rude," says Woo. Perhaps you have to make an important call, especially if you're golfing during normal business hours. The best bet, says Woo, is to warn other players in your group that you may have to use your mobile phone, and then try to do so when it's most considerate - such as at the snack bar often located at the ninth hole. Above all, common courtesy dictates turning off your mobile's ringer so that it doesn't sound at inopportune moments - such as when your CEO is attempting a match-winning putt.

Scott Hicar, CIO of storage vendor Maxtor, finds other devices such as BlackBerrys to be equally distracting. He once watched in amazement as a playing partner (a fellow IT exec) at a charity tournament spent most of his time on his BlackBerry. "On the tee box, he was clicking out e-mails, and his thumbs were twiddling away as we were hitting," says Hicar. If you're that attached to your BlackBerry - and the office - what's the point in even playing? Your miserable day will ruin the experience for everyone else.

The key to any successful business golf outing lies within the participants and their willingness to use the time to solidify friendships and enjoy social relations in a relaxed atmosphere. But don't presume you'll discover business nirvana simply because you're on a picturesque golf course on the company's tab. "You should never believe or behave in a way in which you think you are owed business because of a golf outing," says Guzman. "This is an investment in your relationship regardless of whether there are any immediate business results."

And just because you've heard "business gets done on the golf course", don't bother with the game if you detest it. The investment of your time and psyche is just too great. "You won't be able to get away with saying you love it when you are hating every minute of it," says Woo. Which is the reason why golf bonds businesspeople like few other interactions. "You know each other's pains and each other's victories," says Woo.

Vices Everywhere

Complimentary drinks and cigars, which are often a part of corporate outings and conferences, can be a hard-to-turn-down temptation. CIOs and business golf experts urge caution and moderation. Like the office holiday party, business golf is another event where you don't want to drink more than you can handle and make a fool of yourself. "A business round of golf is not your weekend round," says Suzanne Woo, founder of BizGolf Dynamics. Scott Hicar, CIO of Maxtor, adds a more practical reason: "I'm a terrible golfer, and those things make me worse," he says. The alcohol-fuelled tales of golfing shame are everywhere. Woo and Bill Storer, president of Business Golf Strategies, relate the stories of the CEO on a par-three hole who got so mad that he threw his club into the woods and got it stuck in a tree. Or the hotshot sales guy who had a few too many, took a sharp corner in the golf cart and dumped his client out of the cart and right into an ambulance, and then kept playing the round. (He was fired later that day.) "With alcohol, too many stupid things can happen," says Storer.

And the drinking and smoking vices can sometimes involve a third: gambling. Woo, for one, is against it. "The goal of the round is about relationships," she says. "If you start betting, it becomes a 'he versus me', or 'them versus us' thing." Storer is not completely opposed to a $5 or $10 bet per round, but he cautions his clients that taking money from customers - at least in the recreational setting of the golf course - just isn't a smart thing to do. And David Guzman, former CIO and now chief research officer of The Yankee Group, who dislikes wagering on the course, will only join in if everyone else wants to do it for fun. "You don't want to be a prude," he says.