Tiger Woods' Risk Management Off Course

If there's a lesson to be learned from Tiger Woods' recent personal disaster, it's that things happen that cannot be planned for—and that if something potentially explosive is uncovered, it should not be hidden or kept from the media.

This is exactly what Tiger Woods did after his car crash in the middle of the night. He basically hid in his house for days, refusing to talk to the police, let alone the press. The result was wild speculation, including an online story that his wife had chased him with a golf club and had broken out his car window before the crash.

The topic of dealing with the media during a crisis has been covered by National Underwriter at several conference seminars, including RIMS and PRIMA. The message is to be up-front and honest as soon as a situation is uncovered. Hiding something only leads to wild speculation and eventually can ruin an individual's or a company's reputation.

The most commonly asked question I've heard is “Why?” Why would someone who has everything risk it all? Of all the public figures, Tiger Woods seemed to have a superb handle on his career, which includes major endorsements and international tournaments. His image has been that of a talented, “squeaky clean” nice guy who kept his cool. Now we discover that like many others, much of that image was a lie. And like others in this predicament, Tiger Woods didn't seem to realize what he was risking until it was too late.

As with other sports celebrities, politicians, large and small screen-stars and company CEOs, Tiger Woods appeared to believe he was above being caught. He even left a trail of text messages and voice mails as evidence. And now that former girlfriends are coming out of the woodwork, reports are that he is writing checks to shut them up—and to keep his wife around.

Perhaps he could have taken a PR lesson from David Letterman, allegedly being threatened by blackmail for indiscretions with staff members. It might have been easy to just pay the guy off, but Letterman quickly circumvented the issue by addressing it on national television. Within a few weeks the whole thing had pretty much blown over.

As risk managers know, some risks just can't be anticipated. When a problem is discovered, however, it needs to be dealt with—not swept under the rug in hopes it will go away. It may be years down the road, as was the case with Hugh Grant and Eddie Murphy, but it will surface.

And because not every risk can be assessed, a good risk manager knows to have contingency plans in place for dealing with a disaster—including who will address the media.

Obviously, Tiger Woods did not apply basic risk management precautions to his own company. While he took care of his golf game and made sure his image was up to par, the very foundation of his company was eroding.