I hate to beat a dead horse, but I have been thinking about Tiger. He has been hanging out with the wrong people. Clearly this is true, but I am talking about from a communications perspective. He continues to get some very bad advice. From the beginning of this entire ordeal until now, the way in which this situation has been handled will be a case study in Communications and Public Relations classes on how NOT to deal with the public during a personal crisis.
I have some tips for Tiger should he ever find himself in a situation like this again:
1.) You are a public figure. You must remember this simple fact. What you do in private will become public. Work on staying above reproach.
2.) Come out early. Offer truth. You don’t have to tell everything you know but you have to say something. The fact that you hid in your home for several days before posting something on your website was ridiculous. It made everything worse for you.
3.) Stick to what you know. You know golf. You play it well and people love you for it. You aren’t a rockstar. You aren’t even a basketball player. For some reason in our world, there are double standards. Own this fact. What is okay for one athlete (and the ever fickle public) is not okay for another and really what you did is never okay for a husband or a spouse.
4.) I am not sure who told you that you “owed” the public an apology for cheating on your wife. I am a pretty conservative person and yet I don’t really think you owe me anything. You can even play a crappy round of golf and you still wouldn’t owe me an apology. You do owe your wife many apologies and should be working on that at home.
5.) If you had asked me, I would have told you to say this to the public,
“My wife and I are going through a very difficult time that has been self inflicted by my own previous selfish and destructive actions. I am terribly regretful about the events that have transpired leading to this situation. I own it. I did it and I am taking full responsibility for it. I expect that you will appreciate our privacy as we work through these issues. After today, I plan to offer no further explanation or discussion on this topic except with my wife whom I have hurt in more ways than I could ever think possible I would like to say to Elin in front of the world that, I am deeply sorry for hurting you and our family. I put our family in jeopardy and will forever regret my behavior and the fact that I have hurt you so terribly and done so much damage.”
6.) Contact your sponsors directly. Do some fundraising on your dime. Show up. Make a difference not for public opinion, but because it is the right thing to do. Be passionate about something that helps others.
5.) Get back on the golf course as soon as possible. This is where you belong. This is where people like to see you. Which leads me to . . .
6.) Why in the world did they put you in a suit with a podium in front of a blue curtain???? All you needed was a Presidential Seal behind you. Things aren’t going so well for the government these days, so I would have tried to stay away from being associated with anything politics. Next time, put on your golf shirt and have a press conference on a golf course where the sun is shining and the grass is green. People like you there and it’s where you need to be.
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