The Power of Belonging

The Navy Alumni Golf Weekend has been held for a few decades. It looked different this year as I viewed it from a leadership coaching perspective.

I walked down the second fairway with an attendee who had flown in for the event, paid for two nights in a hotel, and stepped away from the pressing demands of raising young children. I asked him why he came. He said he felt connected to the team and to the people who made it a team. Despite the demands of his current phase of life, he made the investment to reconnect with others.

Wisdom and perspectives were shared among people who, just hours earlier, had been perfect strangers. A mid-grade Marine walked the fairway with a newly commissioned Marine, sharing insights from his experiences. Later, the Marine joined a former golf teammate and fellow Marine at the 19th hole to answer questions from a midshipman who hadn’t played in the event but was interested in pursuing the Marine Corps.

While a few of us had played together on the same team, we could all relate to the shared experience of competing in a sport while meeting the academic demands of the Naval Academy. Those experiences bonded us, whether we were 23 or 63 years of age.

It’s easy to get caught up in the crush of the present. There’s value in stepping out and stepping back to rekindle past relationships and form new ones.

I thought the event was about golf. It was really about belonging.