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The Playbook With David Meltzer

The Power of Purpose-Driven Leadership

The Playbook With David Meltzer

David Meltzer, Entrepreneur.com

Entrepreneurship, Business, Careers

4.6 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In today’s episode, I sit down with David Abeles, the CEO and President of TaylorMade Golf, to explore the core values driving one of the most loved companies in sports. We unpack how originality, competitiveness, relatability, and a made-up word, “golftimistic,” have shaped TaylorMade’s identity and fueled its innovation. David shares how these principles are embedded in every hiring decision, every product launch, and every moment with his 2,200-person team. We talk about what it means to lead with intention, how he manages expectations in a dream job setting, and why staying grounded in purpose has helped TaylorMade thrive across decades of transformation.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to Office Hours. I'm David Meltzer, and I am super excited about our next executive spotlight here on Office Hours.

0:06.7

He's a man who I look up to. I wish he would run for president or at least accept one of my offers to be the CEO and president of one of my companies.

0:15.5

But to be honest, I can't afford him for good reason because he's the CEO and president of Taylor Made Golf.

0:22.3

The incredible David Abelies, welcome to office hours.

0:25.0

Great to be back, David.

0:25.9

You know, I think the only reason you look up to me is because I'm slightly taller than you are.

0:29.5

That's the only reason.

0:31.0

That is not true.

0:32.6

One of the reasons, because there are so many that I do look up to you is that I believe in community.

0:38.4

And in order to build a community, you have to build a culture. In order to build a culture,

0:43.7

you have to be firm on your values. You have to be able to articulate daily practices for a

0:49.2

collective. And you have to execute on those. And as leaders, that is not an easy ask, especially today with

0:58.9

remote working, all of the noise and sounds in the social silos that exist within not only

1:05.3

personal lives, but professional lives as well. For you, what have been some of the key ingredients

1:10.8

to build

1:11.5

such an amazing culture at Taylor Made where I think you've won best culture of a company

1:16.9

for three consecutive years. Yeah, thanks. First of all, creating a culture anywhere, in my

1:25.4

opinion, takes a bit of a village. I mean, certainly a leader has to identify

1:28.9

what those values are that are important to the individual and ultimately the broader organization

1:35.9

over time. We call it identity at times, not just culture. I think they're similar in nature,

1:42.1

and we can unpack that a little bit in this discussion.

1:45.8

But yeah, for the last three years, we have been recognized as one of the most loved workplaces

...

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