Go Tiger, More Power to You!
IPCC aside, say the words reputational crisis or scandal, and Tiger Woods comes to mind. While I avoid wherever possible making a judgement call on individuals’ reputations, Tiger is in and of himself, a business. It is easy to pick apart and deride the strategy (if there even was a strategy) in the days that followed the drama of the car accident with the luxury of hindsight. And despite the ongoing errors of judgement in how Tiger has handled this situation (note to Tiger, please change your advisers), I don’t believe his now public sexploits will sink him.
Unless of course there is more to come: more sexual partners, stranger bedfellows, and more shocking antics. God forbid! And if there are Tiger, perhaps you could write a “how to” book (any book for Pete’s sake), before your groupies, honeypots and hookers do.
My straw poll of Aussie blokes (feel the pain my foreign girlfriends) have Tiger’s stocks rising. “Go Tiger, more power to you” was pretty much the verbal consensus. Perhaps the only reason he hasn’t confirmed a return to Australia for the Open this year is his fear of some strapping yob shouting “Hey Tiger, show us your wood!” on the 15th hole – or worse. His people should at the very least expect that – and more – from the Australian public. All in good humour of course.
This is not to make light of the situation. None of what has been revealed in the press is pretty. But what he did (so far as we know of what he did) was not illegal. Sex in and of itself is not a crime. That he did not meet with the police (we have a choice?) did more damage to his credibility than the initial story about the accident. That was just plain dumb. Everything thereafter was first shameful, and then, well, almost funny. In this country, anyway.
Tiger’s failings are acutely human. They are incredibly private and from a professional public relations viewpoint this is a painful unravelling to watch. He is in many ways a victim of his own success; of our idolization; of his own stage-managed public persona. The higher the standard claimed, the harder the fall. Reputation management is inextricably linked with managing expectations.
But with this story, the aggrieved parties are his publicly humiliated wife, his (and her) mother, children, and sponsor companies. That he has become the butt of jokes makes the recovery (and associated reputational fallout) more challenging, but what he does next will dictate the degree, speed and sustainability of that reputational recovery. And the first thing he should do is take control of the story.
So what are the three key things to do in the event of such reputational crisis?
- Step up immediately to admit wrong and apologise. Do it early, do it authentically and do it often.
- Do the rounds. Talk to the press at the earliest possible opportunity. Tell them you screwed up. Give them the story they want and then ask for space and time to fix the wrong. Most credible media organisations – having run a good story – will respect that.
- Do whatever it takes to fix it and move on with humility and grace, and do a follow up story on the recovery.
Yes, public humiliation is painful. Yes, admitting to failings is hard. Going through this process publicly is challenging, but life is today more public than ever – especially as a celebrity sports star, but also as the CEO of a public company, a politician, and even as a large corporation or NGO. Swallow the medicine. It will get better.
What do you think? Can he recover from this?
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Category: Reputation Management, Sin & Spin
