No doubt you haven’t escaped the Tiger Woods headlines this past week. As far as I’m concerned this isn’t a story about money. It isn’t a story about whether he broke the law. It isn’t even a story about badly managed PR. It’s a story about integrity. Or, sadly, the lack thereof. (I actually spoke about this during a TV interview I did earlier today.)
Our society loves to put high-performing athletes up on pedestals according them, in the process, a semi-God like status. With that we give them enormous influence on us, and more importantly, on our kids who rank elite athletes second only to parents (92%) and on par with teachers (72%) in terms of influence. But of course, with great influence, comes great power and (to quote from the Karate Kid) with great power comes great responsibility.
I don’t know much about Tiger Woods’ private life apart from the salacious news I’ve heard in the media this last week. What I do know is that we should all be very careful in putting anyone up on a pedestal or expecting any individual to be infallible across the board. Just because someone is a brilliant athlete (or actor or singer or politician) doesn’t mean they are always going to be a great role model. Masterful skill in one area of life doesn’t automatically equate to robust integrity or even to plain old common sense. If there’s any lesson in this whole sad Tiger Woods affair, it is this: beware of putting any individual up on a pedestal just because they are good at a sport!
Time and time again we’ve witnessed athletes, celebrities and people in positions of high office suddenly fall from grace. Time and time again we’ve felt like they let us down. We’d trusted them to do the right thing and they blew it. Surely they should have known better, done better, been better than that. What the hell were they thinking?! It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to have millions of people in awe of you, but it seems as though they become drunk on their own fame, fortune and power. Without something or someone to keep them well grounded, they lose their way and become lost in the public persona their publicists create for them. Viewing themselves as almost omnipotent, they delude themselves into thinking their behavior is immune to the consequences the rest of us face. [Read more…]