A divided life
To the extent that Tiger Woods crafts responses to accommodate his roles as husband, brand manager, and CEO of Golf, he will be perpetuating a divided life, not healing one. At the core of authentic leadership as a professional and as a human being is the necessity of ensuring that there is no material difference between one's on-stage life and one's back-stage life. When there is, even if no one ever finds out, it is corrosive to the authenticity from which leadership derives. And when the world does find out, as in this case, it is not only corrosive but explosive.
That doesn't mean that public figures don't deserve privacy. They do. The just can't exploit that privacy as a shield if they wish to lead effectively.
By
Bill Shore
|
December 7, 2009; 1:06 PM ET
Category:
Making mistakes
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Posted by: Philosophe | December 8, 2009 3:57 PM
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This negates loads of historical examples of men (unavoidably men) who have been highly competent leaders in various arenas but whose personal lives have been less than exemplary. Thomas Jefferson and the Sally Hemings relationship spring to mind, for example.
No doubt we should all strive for integrity and authenticity in both our public and "private" lives. In addition, it is right to expect that someone so much in the public eye should be more careful than average schlubs, and Mr. Woods has been rather foolish. However, the real test of leadership is whether or not one can learn from one's mistakes - beginning with acknowledging them. George Bush the Second comes to mind as someone who could do neither. And his mistakes had much more impact on our lives.
Tiger Woods, after all, is a *golfer*. Whom, exactly, is he "leading?"