Whither Tiger Woods?

It's been two months since the world of the world's best golfer has disintegrated. 

Beginning in November with the car accident that unleashed embarrassing reports of womanizing on a scale that appears as much comic as cosmic, Tiger Woods has seen literally every aspect of his life and career unhinged.  The bionic man is shown to be just human. 

Tiger Woods had his chance to address the crisis his conduct created.  He made some decisions.  It's appropriate now to consider how well he is being served by those decisions.

From the beginning of the crisis, Woods decided to avoid engaging with the consequences of his conduct.  He did post two rather general apologies on his official Web site, but refused to do it in person.  Since then he has been eerily silent. 

Tiger, what are you protecting? 

What Is Tiger Protecting? 

And what are the costs you are paying? 

You have withdrawn from public life.  You have not played a tournament nor given a public clinic. 

Your sterling persona and reputation have been shattered by an unending series of publicity-seeking women who have sought to cash in on their stories of dalliances with the world's number one golfer. 

Almost every one of your corporate sponsors has abandoned you. 

The consulting firm Accenture had tied its entire corporate image to the perception of your coolly deliberative ability to judge accurately and act appropriately.  You are of no use to Accenture now and the firm dumped you.  The Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer has removed your placards from stores around the world and has suspended Woods-themed advertising. 

AT&T is "presently evaluating our ongoing relationship."  Gillette has yet to make a decision, but as long as you are absent from the links, Gillette has little interest in staking its reputation on your future.  Gatorade will drop its Tiger Focus drink, though the company insists it made the decision before the scandal.  The only major sponsor that is still standing by you is Nike.

Your marriage appears to be in crisis.  Your wife, Elin Nordegren, is reported to have filed for divorce and is now living in her native Sweden.  A father's relationship with his two children--Sam, 2, and Charlie, 1--will suffer, as it does in every divorce.

No one quite knows where you are living, but you are apparently a recluse. 

What Do You Have Left to Protect?

Tiger Woods didn't have to lose so much.   

Yes, he made some very thoughtless decisions that must have serious consequences, but all was not lost.  The benefits of decades of good will and incredible accomplishment don't dissolve overnight.  Had Tiger Woods faced the constituencies he disappointed, accepted responsibility, apologized in a more personal and comprehensive manner, made some restitution, and reaffirmed the importance of the values he so disgraced, I believe his position would be a lot more attractive than it appears to be today. 

Down the Present Course

If he keeps on the present course, things are only going to deteriorate even more for Woods.   

I'm not talking about his relationships with his wife and family, friends, sponsors, and professional golf.  What he will lose, finally and irretrievably, is himself. 

For too long, Woods has compartmentalized his life.  The highly controlled, superhuman, picture-perfect life he projected to the world warred with the arrogant, careless, sex addict.  No human can sustain this fiction for long.  No human can remain untouchable forever. 

Woods can begin to think of his unmasking as a gift, an opportunity to reclaim the Real Tiger Woods, and to put down the awful chore of being something that he's not.  But only if he apologizes in person, takes full responsibility, and begins to demolish the fictional Tiger Woods in favor of the all-too-human Tiger Woods yearning to get out.

That's the ultimate power of effective apology: the opportunity to face ourselves with the reality of our own humanity because only from that position do we have the traction to work for redemption.