Lessons from Tiger

It is now more than four days since Tiger Wreck began and questions still remain. I'm sure Tiger truly believes it as a "private matter" when he says it is.... and many will agree. However, a public figure or public company is often better served by coming forward with the truth - no matter how painful. Take the case of Andy Pettitte who admitted steroid use (albeit "for rehabilitation purposes rather than to enhance his body") ... this is largely forgotten now. Now take Roger Clemens who is using all efforts to deny ever using steroids despite the mounting evidence. The Roger story is still very much in the public view. Everyone remembers the efforts of Tylenol to quickly come forward and remove their product from the shelves after learning of contamination. But how about Ford who knew the Pinto had issues that could cause explosion of the gas tank in rear-end collisions but denied this until the discovery process revealed some damaging documents. Some argue - Ford has never been the same since.

As HR professionals, we are often in a position to advise leaders or employees when negative situations occur and we should remember the lessons of coming forward versus stonewalling. In my view, Tiger would be better served to come clean and let the media move on to the next big scandal