The CEO game...............

One of the most evolved sports is golf. Golf has attained, somewhat of an elite status, simply because the players are nattily dressed and seem to have overflowing bank balances. Every top CEO seems to want to head to the golf course, to strut the green and exchange yarns over a pitcher of beer. Golf is a kind of exclusive club where the bourgeois don't venture.Apparently it is a setting for networking and building relationships.

I'm not a great fan of golf, the reason being that, I feel its a game for the geriatric, who had more time than skill on their hands. However what I admire is its inclusiveness. The worse you play, the bigger is the handicap that you receive, to get you up to to speed with the rest. This means two things:

#1. You can swing a club, with Tiger Woods and not feel ashamed. ( Assuming that is, he shares an interest in you )
#2. If you lose, you can blame the handicap.

The handicap, is a wonderful tool and many of us adopt it to live life easier. Social handicapping is a wonderful stress buster when used selectively, however it can turn into a major problem if it turns into a habit.

Social handicapping works like this. Just before an examination or major event one falls sick or ill. The rationale is that even if failure occurs it can be blamed on the illness and one need not be accountable.Many folk, down a couple of stiff drinks, of alcohol,before heading out to an important event. They claim it makes them more brave, but in reality they are priming themselves for failure.

There are many many variations of social handicapping and it is a disease. Unfortunately like many malices, many do not even realize that they are a victim till they are fully sucked in.

At the individual level, social handicapping, is a danger, at the Corporate level it is catastrophic. Many organization cultures look elsewhere for their failures rather than within and destroy themselves.

The next time you want to provide yourself a handicap, remember that you are setting yourself up for failure and it is only a temporary prop!Its like buying a lifebuoy before you learn to swim.

As for golf, I wonder if it is a physical sport or a set for a picnic...........

Power..........

It is a generally accepted fact that the former American President Bill Clinton, would have gone down as one of the top presidents of all time if only Monica Lewinsky hadn't appeared on the horizon as the fly in the ointment. Now every time Clinton is in the news, you can bet your last cent, that Lewinsky is around the bend & is going to be mentioned.
Now take the case of my other favourite, the great Tiger Woods, who is better remembered for his peccadilloes between the sheets rather than exploits on the green, today.
I'm not delving into the moral side of the story here. Morality is boring, who needs it? My interest is- why did Hilary Clinton soft pedal her husbands indiscretions and fargive her man while in the case of the Woods, the wife got an annulment of their marriage and has since disappeared into the mist of Sweden.
Why?
The reason is probably, not hard to see. Mrs.Clinton, was eyeing the top political spot in the US and looked to be the first woman president.She definitely did not want to get on the wrong side of the electorate and place her chances to be president in jeopardy, with a messy divorce trailing her
Mrs.Woods..............she was happy to take the moolah, and retire!To hell with Tiger.
Two well read women, in a first world country, exercised different options......which was the right way? Who the hell knows?
However it brings to mind the words of Lord Action- Power Corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.Holds true in this sordid drama as well.As for Bill & Tiger, scumbags, who did not hesitate to misuse the power that they had!

Breaking news is that Lord Swaraj Paul, has quit his post and tendered his resignation to the House of Lords, on being suspended for skulduggery..........

The other day I was reading a piece on Theodore 'Ted' Roosevelt, the American President, preceding World War 1. Roosevelt donned various hats, one being that of a ranch owner.Out on a spin, one day, he and a cowboy,noticed an unmarked calf. The next logical step was to brand the bull. The thumb rule was that, the calf belonged to the person or ranch owner, on whose territory the bull was found.

Roosevelt, was surprised to see his cowboy branding the calf with his sign, even though the land belonged to some other rancher and protested as such. The cowboy ignored his boss. After all he was doing him a favour.

The pair rode home quietly, post which, Roosevelt called the cowboy over, paid him his dues, and asked him to leave the ranch. He was fired, with a terse message, 'A person who steals for me, will steal from me'.How true. A simple homily most corporates do not seem to get.

That unfortunately is the unqualified truth. Dishonest people remain dishonest.It is probably the reason, why Tiger Wood's wife gave him the boot..........she understood Tiger better than most.

Strangely, Theodore Roosevelt, is best remembered,for the Teddy Bear, which was named after him!For me.......he was not a hypocrite, because as they say "When a guest starts talking about ethics and morality, its time to hide the good silverware."

Ted walked his talk.

Kenneth Lay, the cowboy, from Enron, is a good example!

The Tiger on religion!

The case of Tiger Woods, gets more and more curious.................Just when I thought that the Tiger was navigating his troubled life rather nicely, he seems to have said in a press meet, something to the effect that he strayed from his marital vows, because of his abjuring religion in the recent past.

Apparently Woods, was raised a Buddhist, but as he grew famous and wealthy, he jettisoned the faith and took recluse in more worldly pleasures, or like I like to call them- the better things of life!

Woods seem to have arrived at this startling discovery rather late in the day, after being involved in various romantic alliances with women of various shapes, sizes & hues & being caught by a rather indignant wife, who like all good wives seems to have got wind of his dalliances last.

Wood's disclosure, surprised me because, it is not very American, to shift the blame for one's follies on to something as abstract as God. Americans, culturally, have a stronger internal locus of control and so are more likely to take responsibility for their actions, as against cultures which attribute, events in their life to external focus, be it fate or God.

I'm also a wee bit disappointed by Wood's lack of wisdom.While accepting the fact, that he should not have shunned his chosen faith, it is more pertinent that he forgot his core values........................which are not negotiable. One core value would be honesty and the strength to resist the temptation to cheat. Core values are core values because they span religions and are not open to debate.Woods, not wanting to take any chances, has chosen to return, to golf with the Augusta National Golf Club, which bars women from membership.

Mr.Wood's should know that if his value system is skewed, no religion in the world is going to act as his compass in life and bring him succor.I thought the great man would have had the chutzpah to appreciate that.

I think there is a lesson, in there for all of us!It is also scary, when we refuse to distinguish between religion and values.If not getting lost in the woods,is our mission, then having a clear set of values is imperative.

A Tiger in the Circus!

Zeta Interactive, a New York company that monitors message boards, blogs and social media posts, said the buzz around Tiger Woods as measured by its technology became overwhelmingly negative in the past two weeks. His positive rating, once higher than Oprah Winfrey’s, has plummeted. The company’s chief executive, Al DiGuido, said the turnabout was “the quickest fall from positive to negative we’ve ever seen” in the approximately five years his company has measured what computer users are saying. As the Tiger watches his ratings plummet & sponsors, taking him off their boards, he would rue his escapades or should we say sexcapades. From being a role model for kids around the world Tiger Woods, is now associated with sleaze and poor character. The last few months has been a tragicomic series of events for the Tiger as skeletons or should we say damsels of all hues & color tumble out of the proverbial closet.Thus far, amidst the mayhem his wife has held her counsel and maintained a dignified calm. Fortunately for Wood's he has taken good advise & has broken from golf, on what he calls as a sabbatical. Time to put balm on bruised relationships. On this entire circus, I have a few points to make: 1. The arrogance of the man, in thinking that he could get away with the kind of reckless behavior that he was indulging in or was it a severe lack of emotional stability. 2.His idea of impression management which turns out to be abysmal.Maybe fame lowers the levels of inhibition? 3.His sponsors who seem to want to cut him adrift cast him away in a hurry and seem to have little idea, as to how to manage him as a brand, which has gone sour. Amidst all the brouhaha, the only person, who in my opinion, stands out for some kind of integrity is Wood's wife, whose stated concern seems to be her children. Generally, with kind of golfing skills that Tiger Woods has, you would credit him with some intelligence, but I would not bet my last rupee on the contents of his occiput or are our primordial urges so strong that we are ready to throw caution to the winds! During his sabbatical Wood's would be well advised to do some serious introspection on his life and maybe would be better advised to take a few tips from the old charmer Bill Clinton.Bill should know, he got out of the wood's, despite Monica Lewinsky. Watch a cute Tiger ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wHkA_983_s )