Perspectives

The media, sports, business, ethics, and image pundits are all out now, pointing out what Tiger must do to revamp his shattered image. And we all ask the question—what do we learn from this?

Surprisingly, the business takeaway isn’t really about ruined images or the billion dollar golf industry that Tiger, almost single-handedly created and handed over to his fellow golfers. And there may be those who say that integrity counts both in real life and in business, and few will doubt that. However, perhaps the greatest lesson is that arrogance and power come hand-in-hand, no matter how good a person may be, and that’s why we’ve decided that as a society, we don’t need a benevolent dictator. Or perhaps more precisely, we cannot allow one because a single bad act can undo all the great things that are done.

Ken Blanchard has mentioned that there are only three ways that people can change—by experiencing a near-death experience, by finding a spiritual guide, or by having a strong role model.

I can probably make a safe guess that Tiger will not have a spiritual awakening and I don’t think running into a fire hydrant with a SUV qualifies as a near-death experience. That leaves only one alternative. No one will ever know when Tiger’s indiscretions started. It has less to do with marital infidelities than it has to do with seeing how far he can go without getting punished, much like a two-year old will test his parents telling junior, “don’t you dare open the refrigerator” (remember Kramer v. Kramer?).

Tiger lost his father figure just a few years ago, but his empire was already in place way before then.

And the word “empire” reminds us of another character that was tempted by the Dark Side of the Force. That was, of course, Luke Skywalker, but he had a dead guy and an 800-year old master guiding him. I don’t think Tiger had such spiritual role models. In fact, he only had temptations, with no one daring to challenge his masculinity, his supremacy, his absolute power, and his arrogance.

There really was no choice for Tiger—we’ve known for too long that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The minute he attained the illusion that he had absolute power, he was history.

It is little wonder, then, that we have corporate executives who never seem to learn. In their tiny worlds, the title, CEO, gives them the illusion of absolute power. And it is this illusion that makes them do the Tiger Woods’ equivalent– emptying the company’s coffers or lying about bad results or buying $30,000 toilets. They cheated on all their stakeholders.

I love the game of golf, and I’m actually a big fan of Tiger’s. He’s disappointed a lot of us, but I hope that the biggest disappointment was Tiger’s for himself.

I hope he finds his Yoda–someone who will tell him to “Unlearn what you have learned” or that “Size matters not.” He’ll either come back to become the greatest, or we find out that he was Mike Tyson. I don’t think there’ll be an in-between.

It is good to see our President being beaten down during his first year in office. I’m sure that the silliness of both the Republican Party and his more “progressive” supporters has more than made up for the lack of a Yoda-isms. It is hard not to be humbled by the fact that great intellect will lose to silly numbers (count 41) in the world that we have chosen to live.

But back to the world of corporate executives. I don’t see any Yoda’s in the corporate board rooms. The SEC, PCAOB, Congress, the corporate directors, and the auditors have, by and large, let the Palpatines (that’s the bad Emperor in Star Wars) do whatever they choose. Self interest continues to be the guiding principle and the best predictor of human behavior.

And if we remind ourselves of Ken Blanchard’s words, it is highly unlikely that arrogant CEO’s will discover god and I don’t wish upon them near death experiences either.

I miss Yoda.

Joseph Lee is an Adjunct Professor at both the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management and Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Management. He’s also an executive leadership trainer for global Japanese firms.

November 19th was management pioneer (now deceased) Peter Drucker’s 100th birthday. To celebrate the life and teachings of this remarkable man, the Drucker Institute hosted a weeklong event, Drucker Week, featuring some of the most respected business academicians (a paradox?) of the world at Claremont University.

Ken Blanchard (author of The One-Minute Manager and Know Can Do!) was there, along with Warren Bennis (author of Judgment), Stephen Covey (author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), Charles Handy (author of The Gods of Management and Myself and Other More Important Matters, Frances Hesselbein (co-editor of the Drucker Foundation’s three-volume Future Series and Leading Beyond the Walls, and Jim Collins (author of Good to Great)—real heavyweights.

Here is a short account of my experiences attending this notable event:

On Tuesday, November 4th, Ken, Warren, and Charles entertained a downtown Los Angeles crowd at Club Nokia. Ken spoke of the need for the servant leader—someone willing to put himself at the bottom of the organization chart (an upside down pyramid)—to support those closest to the customers. After all, as Peter Drucker said, the only purpose of a business is to create a customer.
Charles Handy told the audience that this opportunity to talk about Peter Drucker was a great chance for him to learn—for what better way is there to learn than to teach another person what you know? He also challenged the MBA programs around the country to offer classes that will more properly mirror the demands of the business world.

Warren Bennis remarked about the need for leaders to show respect, the starting point for all forms of communication. All three speakers hit home on themes that Drucker had promoted—the customer, the importance of the human element, and the social purpose of any organization.

On Saturday, November 9th, Jim Collins was the featured speaker. Powerful and eloquent, Jim walked us through his thoughts on Peter Drucker and pointed out that for Peter, his next book was always going to be the best; at age 65 he was only a third of the way through the 39 books that he would ultimately write. He urged students to form their own “board of mentors” who would advise them throughout their careers. Widely viewed as the “Drucker of the 21st Century,” Jim was at times teacher, then philosopher, but perhaps most importantly, a master communicator.

Prominent Japanese businessman Masatoshi Ito had a friendship with Peter Drucker that lasted decades and culminated in the naming of The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont University. I’ve known Mr. Ito for ten years and had the opportunity to have lunch with him on Saturday. Originally, we had planned a quiet lunch to include his son, Yasuhisa, in Claremont. However, I was told of a change in venue on the day of the event:

“Mr. Ito wants to have In-N-Out Burger.”
And so, we ended up at the storied West Coast fast-food chain.

Mr. Ito is one of the most respected business leaders in Japan. He is 85. His curiosity for knowledge, his desire to learn, and his eagerness to experience everything first hand—these are the traits of leadership that have kept him sharp. Upon arrival, he walked in, looked up at the menu and asked, “What is the best selling item on the menu?” (The Number 1—a Double-double with soft drink and fries, according to the guy behind the counter).

We spent the next 45 minutes talking about the speakers, what they represented, about society, and about the future of the US and Japan. We talked about Covey, about Collins, about Rick Warren (founder and senior pastor of the megachurch, Saddleback Ranch), and about Blanchard. We talked about In-N-Out Burger and its business model. He asked probing questions. And then he listened.

Drucker Week was a special week. We heard Drucker’s words through great speakers such as Collins, Blanchard, Covey, Handy, etc. But for me, the final word I heard from Mr. Ito would be the one that remains in my memory.

“Oishii…” (Translation: Yummy hamburger)

Joseph Lee is an adjunct professor at the Graziadio School of Business and Management and Peter Drucker & Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, where he teaches a course on management consulting. Read his blog at joe-lee.com/blog1.html