Pope Benedict, take note
Q: As the de facto leader of Golf Inc., how did Tiger Wood perform at Monday’s pre-Master’s press conference? What did he need to accomplish to resuscitate his brand? What lessons could other embattled leaders, such as the Pope and GOP chairman Michael Steele, draw from Tiger’s handling of the press?
Watching Tiger Woods’ April 5 press conference before Augusta National, I was struck by how many leaders today could improve their companies’ image by taking a play out of Tiger’s book. If they acted like Tiger did, we might feel differently about other recently challenged leaders and their organizations such as the Catholic Church, banks and Wall Street firms, or commercial airlines that awarded executives millions while furloughing employees, slashing wage and benefits, and cutting the most basic of flight amenities for travelers.
What exactly did Tiger do? First of all he seemed genuinely appreciative–appreciative of his fans, fellow players, family, sponsors, supporters in general and, perhaps most important for our example, the opportunity to compete. He talked about “wrong thinking,” “bad decisions,” being “in denial” and how he now realized “it’s not about championships; it’s about how you live your life.”
Imagine, for example, if Pope Benedict had used the occasion of an Easter address to express appreciation for his community’s devotion to his Church, while also publicly acknowledging the decades of pain that poorly supervised pedophile priests have caused thousands of children worldwide.
If he, as the symbolic “father” of the Church, had taken the opportunity to accept responsibility for the Church’s denial, wrong thinking and bad decisions of the past, rather than deflecting criticism, imagine the strength of character and ethics he would have demonstrated.
And what if executives–who often seem overly fixated on their own remuneration–expressed appreciation for the taxpayers, employees and customers who bailed out their organizations after poor managerial decisions and thanked all those whose support allowed their companies the opportunity to continue to compete in American markets and abroad?
When arrogance and entitlement is replaced by a genuine appreciation for the opportunity to serve, when denial gives way to acceptance of responsibility, and when reflective “right thinking” supplants business-as-usual, then real leadership is displayed. Instead of covering up or trying to minimize mistakes, leaders need to stand on the principles they want their organizations to represent.
As Tiger said, “Nothing’s changed” about competing; “I’m still going to go out and try to win this thing”. And we would expect nothing less.
