Something happened at the PGA Championship that didn’t get a lot of press, but it should have—because if there was ever a question that Tiger Woods is the best person in sports, this proved it.
Now, not everyone is a Tiger Woods fan, but they should be. Here you have a sports phenom, unusually gifted, fabulously wealthy and probably the most recognized person in sports since Muhammad Ali. Oh, and yes, he’s married to a beautiful Swedish woman and now has a picture-perfect child. For most of us, that is a combination to be jealous of, or even hate.
But after the 14th hole at Southern Hills—when he loosened the reins on his iron discipline and concentration—Tiger said to himself, “OK, you blew it, so now you have to earn it back!”
Given his skills, his success and his reputation, one would think he could let it slide, just this one time. But of course he didn’t. That’s why he is who he is.
Think about this as it applies to the day-to-day management of our employees, and especially seasonal ones. Isn’t most of our job about managing their expectations, and getting them to match ours?
A lot has been said about the “entitled” generation and their work habits. I, for one, don’t believe it; in my experience, the current generation coming out of college is the best ever. But the image persists.
When we run up against disappointing performance, and we let it go rather than confront it because we don’t want to cause disruption (but we all know the real reason is that we don’t want to go through the hiring process if we don’t have to), aren’t we really settling for last place? Are we willing to hope it gets better even though it never does?
This is how organizations lose their edge and ultimately fail. All too often, we also don’t make this “entitled” generation pay their dues, so they never earn their rightful place in an organization. And then we wonder why we have problems?
Most people want to be part of a winning team, but only a few consciously want to earn their way into their success. Not Tiger Woods. Good as he is, he knows he has to earn it every day, and he works to that end. We could all profit by emulating his drive, his commitment and his honesty in achieving his goals.
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