Score-Card: Crisis 5, Tiger Woods 0
December 2nd, 2009 Posted by Elisabeth Handler Posted in BlogWe’re weighing in on this because it’s such an extreme example of what NOT to do if you are the center of a crisis. By the way – most PR people define “crisis” with the worn-out Chinese ideogram of “danger + opportunity.” To PRx, “crisis” is just a problem that the media have found out about. Why is that a better definition? Because every organization, every celebrity, every human enterprise has problems. Just knowing that any one of those problems is a potential crisis is an important starting place.
So let’s review where Tiger is on the five steps to crisis recovery:
| What You Have To Do | What Tiger Did | Evaluation |
| Immediately tell the truth about what happened | Starts with no comment, then does vague admissions of transgression | We still don’t know what happened. Speculation abounds, all to Tiger’s detriment. |
| Be open and direct with the media | Issues Web statements | This just inflames the media – their focus only will get more intense. |
| If it’s reasonable, position yourself as the victim, otherwise admit you did a bad thing | He tried to be the victim, but few normal people are sympathetic to celebrities and their loss of privacy. | Bad tactic. If you mess up, you have to fess up. |
| Set reasonable ground rules for the media | Declared himself and his family totally off-limits | Bad plan. He should ask for the family to be respected, but he should man up and take the heat directly. |
| Demonstrate the lesson learned | Said he’s sorry “from the bottom of his heart.” | Now he needs to show It, through actions, not words. |
Can’t wait for the next chapter. Who is advising this poor guy?
