When I heard that Tiger Woods was holding a press conference to apologize for his infidelity, I couldn’t imagine what he’d have to say to me. Let’s face it, Tiger never made any promises to me about how he would conduct himself either personally or professionally.
So I was curious as to what he might say and decided to watch a video of the press conference. I must admit that I was relieved to find that Mr. Woods didn’t apologize to me for his infidelities. In fact, he addressed his initial words of apology to those in the room with him. Most in attendance were friends, family, and people who had worked with Tiger. His wife was noticeably absent.
So Tiger apologized to his wife, children, and mother. He also apologized to friends, business partners, and fans. He apologized to the staff, board of directors, sponsors, and the young students reached by his foundation. But, thankfully, he didn’t apologize to me.
Why did Tiger decide to issue a very public apology to all of these people? I’m not sure. It seems to me that he could have, and likely has, apologized to his wife for his indiscretions. I’m sure his mother would have accepted a call or even allowed him to drop in to let her know how sorry he was to have disappointed or embarrassed her. Tiger could have pulled his employees and board of directors together to convey his regrets. And he certainly could have met face-to-face with his sponsors to let them know how badly he felt about letting them down and possibly tarnishing their brands.
So Tiger’s apology wasn’t just for those people. It was for me and you. It was the first step in an attempt to rebuild his image. It may have even been a step in his rehabilitation process. But Tiger was sending a message to many more people than he allowed in the room with him. Whether it does any good is yet to be seen.
There was one thing Tiger did say that I found to be spot on, and it actually originated from his wife Elin. Early in his remarks, he said, “As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behavior over time.” That’s dead on. As I’ve written here before, actions speak louder than words.
That’s why Tiger’s carefully scripted apology really doesn’t mean much to me and shouldn’t to anyone else. He needs to regain the trust of his wife, kids, co-workers, sponsors, and others directly affected by his actions. The rest of us don’t really matter. But the only way to do that isn’t by holding a press conference and reading a statement. It’s by proving that you’ve seen the error of your ways and not repeating the behavior. That will take time. Is Tiger capable of that? Only time will tell.