SPURspectives

I hate to say I told you so, but… Several weeks ago I wrote a blog post about transparency — telling your constituents what is going on, no matter how horrible you think the consequences may be, because they will invent something far worse on their own if you don’t tell them the truth. So, why am I saying I told you so? Tiger Woods.

For those of you who have just been rescued from a desert isle, Tiger Woods was in an auto accident over the weekend. The press and public have picked up on it due to some perceived unusual circumstances surrounding the event. Mostly, it is because Mr. Woods is remaining silent and sequestered instead of explaining what happened. Celebrity gossip is of no interest to me. I’m also not a golfer and have the pristine, yet dusty, clubs to prove it. So I have no ax to grind with Tiger Woods. I respect what he has accomplished and I am saddened by his current predicament. But it should serve as a learning moment for all. Here are three things we should all learn from this:

In a vacuum of information, people will invent ideas to fill the void. Their inventions will probably be worse than the truth.

This is now more important than ever since information Twitters across the Internet at the flick of a cell phone. Photos, videos, interviews, eye witness reports, and outright lies can explode across the planet in a matter of moments. There are no editors or fact checkers to filter the new common press — it’s just folks talking. You can’t control the message, but you can steer it by being open to providing information in a transparent manner as rapidly as possible.

Mr. Woods appears to be suffering from his silence. Honestly, I don’t care what happened. I don’t want to know. It’s none of my business. But there is a second lesson to learn from this:

There is no longer any separation between you as a private citizen and the brands you represent.

Mr. Woods is highly paid for endorsing a wide range of products. Good for him! He deserves everything he has worked to achieve. Unfortunately, he is now discovering the true cost of endorsement in this century. This is the age of brand-you. Your personal brand is your professional brand. If you choose to endorse something, you personal life is sold. The current state of communications and everyman journalism radically reduces our ability to remain private — sell your personal brand to endorse another and your expectations of privacy go out the window. Right or wrong, I believe this is the current state of our civilization — or un-civilization.

It’s surprising to see this happen with someone who has remained unscathed for so long. Mr. Woods has built a stellar reputation. His personal brand is reflection of his net worth. It is highly unlikely that he has been able to accomplish and manage this alone. He undoubtedly has wise counsel available to guide him as needed through very treacherous business terrain. Which brings me to point number three:

Expert advice only works if you take it.

This is particularly true in the fog of emergency or battle. Good business people seek out advice from experts. Great business people know to take that advice when their own thinking is impaired. I don’t know about you, but this has worked well for me. When I ignore the advice of my inner circle, I pay the price. In every instance I can recall, I ignored their advice as a result of my own cowardice. I justified my decision to myself in some other way, but inevitably was wrong. When you are frightened and confused, take the advice of the people you hired to protect you.

This all may amount to nothing for Tiger Woods. I sincerely hope that is the case. I’m thankful that I’ve been able to see this reminder about how to handle the minor incidents that I face as a point of comparison.

This image was originally posted to Flickr by Kevin has a camera at http://flickr.com/photos/86542064@N00/48930093. It was reviewed on 12:11, 3 April 2007 (UTC) by the FlickreviewR robot and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

Tags: marketing, public relations, social media, transparency