building leadership skills
through golf.
The FairWays to Leadership® program helps navigate a round of golf, to demonstrate six key leadership traits—curiosity, adaptability, empowerment, integrity, mindfulness, and strategy. Co-authored by Anna and Eric Boyd, FairWays to Leadership®: Building Your Business Network One Round of Golf at a Time is specifically designed to explain how golf can create business opportunities for young leaders.
our fairways story
In June of 2020, as we were all coming to grips with the long-term realities of the pandemic and facing a racial reckoning that was long overdue, Eric and I extended a simple invitation to students at UCF to help facilitate an honest dialogue and explore new ways to navigate the future.
That invitation led to FairWays to Leadership, a transformative leadership development program offered through the frame of golf serving diverse students in multiple universities. Most of our students have never had a golf club in their hands. For many, it was an elite game, distant and unavailable. Our intention continues to be to make the invitation, provide the environment for success, and support their ongoing development as leaders.
how the program works
We couldn’t be more proud of how FairWays to Leadership continues to grow in exciting new ways to reach even more young leaders. The book is a way for everyone to experience our vision – advancing a society where all individuals have fair access to leaders and leadership opportunities – and skills learned through the program.
leadership academy
Online podcast series using case studies of leadership moments on the golf course to teach leadership traits, including mindfulness, adaptability, integrity, curiosity, empowerment, and strategy.
executive forum
Online speaker series allowing students to learn from leaders representing various industries about what is required to be an effective leader and the role of golf in their professional careers.
golf academy
On-course golf lessons providing students with an immersive learning experience used to develop their leadership and networking skills.
praise for fairways to leadership
I wish I could get this book in the hands of every young female leader I know I come to know. Chapter by chapter it reads like a “how to” in living a good life as a person that others would enjoy being around and there is one sure thing about leadership: People really enjoy being around “good leaders”.
Benita Fortner, Retired Director, Supplier Diversity at Raytheon
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Fairways to Leadership has been an excellent opportunity for our women in STEM to learn more about leadership principles while gaining a skill they can use for personal enjoyment or professional development. Many of them knew nothing about playing golf and the value it could add to their lives nor would they have been exposed to this experience without Fairways to Leadership. This book makes sharing the model with everyone possible!
Dr. Melissa Dagley, Executive Director, iSTEM Initiatives in STEM, University of Central Florida
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Having worked with FairWays to Leadership and Eric and Anna for multiple years, I’m excited to see their philosophy come alive in book form! Anna and Eric’s innovative approach to addressing the needs of young people through the sport of golf can be applied by companies looking to truly make an impact in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Julie Kae, VP Sustainability and DE&I, Executive Director of Qlik.org
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why this book matters
Based on a program developed by the Boyds’ eponymous Orlando-based nonprofit organization, FairWays to Leadership® explains how to navigate a round of golf, to demonstrate your six key leadership traits—curiosity, adaptability, empowerment, integrity, mindfulness, and strategy.
Conveniently organized from the first tee to the “19th hole,” or clubhouse, the book teaches both advanced and novice golfers the rules of the game and how to use the game to develop leadership skills, expand business networks through the prolonged face-to-face interaction that golf provides, and thereby set the stage for long-term professional success.
You will learn how to identify special playing partners, recruit mentors, and make lasting bonds—both personal and professional--on and off the golf course. The book is ideal for first-time golfers, emerging leaders, and organizations; it is intended to be read and used by golfers as they practice and perfect the strategies and techniques herein.