Tiger Woods does not have a credibility and image problem, you and I do. And, I will tell you why. Tiger Woods' transgressions have just made it that much more difficult for your kids, your spouse, your family, your employees, your customers, your teammates and your friends to believe anything (yes, anything) you say or do.
Do you believe what your boss says? Do you believe that the troop increase in Afghanistan will liberate that country? Will President Obama's health care reform package bring our health care system back to health? Is the earth warming or cooling?
Do your customers believe in you and your product? Do you wonder why so few people support your viewpont?
O.K., you say, perhaps the current economic crisis stems from a lack of trust and crediblity in our bankers and our financial systems. Perhaps our country's lack of support for health care reform has to do with our inability to sacrifice or risk anything to gain anything. O.K., perhaps the hunt for weapons of mass destruction was a little hard to swallow. Perhaps Bernie Madoff's ponzi tricks had nothing to do with you. And, OK, David Letterman and the interns, the Governors and their mistresses were beyond comprehension, but really nothing to worry about. And, maybe since the 1950s, when credibility started to erode (rock and roll's rebellion, Kennedy Assassination cover-up and conspiracy theories, Vietnam, etc....) we have been on a downhill slide. So, why should we believe politicians and celebrities? But, you and me? Are we not credible?
What does this have to do with you and me? Well, seeing how Tiger Woods was the most respected athlete of our generation (particularly after seeing Michael Jordan's meltdown at his Hall of Fame speech) and has had so much written about his squeaky clean image, mental toughness and lifestyle, it is understandable to feel betrayal and feel a little foolish. Maybe I shouldn't buy a Buick, or that shirt with the Nike swoosh, or Gatorade (or is it Powerade?). But, how has this made my life harder?
I believe that it just got that much harder to sell anything to anyone.
Just try to persuade, influence or convince somebody about your viewpoint. How hard is it? How much push back do you get? How much hostility do you feel from others? Where is the love?
Why is this about my credibility and yours?
Do you want more proof?
According to Deborah Tannen, the author of The Argument Culture", we have been moving towards this for a while. Other authors have documented the dumbing down of America. The decisions that Tiger Woods made recently have taken this process to the ultimate level.
Massive scientific evidence for global climate change has been disabled, discredited and rendered powerless. The plot for the attacks of 9/11 were uncovered, but ignored. The mortgage crisis and subsequent economic meltdown were predicted, but no one took heed. Your mortgage was safe, or so you thought.
At the other end of the spectrum, political candidates like Sarah Palin have taken fluffy resumes and fluffier brains, and become Presidential material.
In this new world order, everything is believable, but nothing is believed in. No one is to be trusted.
So, think again, why should you and your message carry any weight? It doesn't. Every meeting you attend, everything you propose or plan is questioned, criticized and, ultimately rejected.
Unless, your personal agenda closely matches someone else's personal agenda, it is dead meat. Only then, when you match another's agenda, will you gain a supporter. It isn't about the message or the evidence or about what is best for the community in the long-run, it is about extreme self-interest.
And, self-interest in the extreme, is not credible. There you have it, that is the credibility problem in a nutshell. And, that, my friends will be the topic of my next blog.
What do you think? Are you credible? Does your organization have a credibility problem? Think about it, does Tiger Woods have a problem or do we?
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