The following is a guest post from Willie Jester. Follow Identify Reality on Twitter.
Tiger Woods is a business. The business success was undeniable. The business foundation is his golfing ability. The other attributes he brings to the business are integrity, focus, work ethic, looks, morals, family. His business totally derailed on a few of these. Now what? Identify the Reality, Accept the Reality and Own the Reality. What does that mean? It means this, time does not stop. As CEO of his business, he gets the key decision makers to the table. In this case, there is only one and that is his wife. All the facts are laid on the table. All that are known and all that are lingering out there waiting to drop. All of it, every single thing. Nothing is left off the table.
With EVERYTHING on the table (complete candor), the key decision makers have to do exactly that. Make a decision. If everything is NOT on the table…the company will continue to fail and fall…as is clear and obvious in the current state.
What decisions have to be made? With everything now on the table, both decision makers have it all in front of them. Now, they must determine the goals of the business. Does he want a business any more? Is she going to continue to be a partner in the business? These are yes or no questions. There are no “yes, but” answers. Business is hard, life is hard. There is a spiritual goal, there is a relationship goal, there is a parenting goal, there is a golf goal, there is a sponsorship goal, there is a family goal. Whatever the goals are, there is a path to achieving them. Those paths have to be the focus. You can’t focus on the goal, you focus on path to the goal. “Your Focus is the Focus!” Each person has to buy into the plan. Hence, “must weigh in to buy in”. Tiger saying he wants to be a better father is like saying he wants to win more golf tournaments. The difference is there was a plan for golf, x hours of practice, x hours of training, x number of tournaments, x number of wins. All measurable results. Successful business has a path for all goals, focus on the path to the goals and measurable results on the path.
With core management agreeing on the goals, the next layer of management is brought to the table. The “candid table”. The direction and goals are clear, now time to work out the path details. This group is vitally important to managing the path to the goals. The trainer, the coach, the nanny, the spokesperson, the caddy, the pilot, the sponsors, and any other “business division” that has a clearly stated goal or part of the stated goals. They all play a part in the path and the focus. Again, they must “weigh in to buy in”. They must also know their input is important, respected and free of retaliation.
The paths worked out are clear with measurable results. There is no double speak, nothing vague, it is clear, concise, understood and agreed upon. Every single person in the organization must be able to be awakened in the middle of the night, half asleep, one eye opened and explain clearly and decisively what the overall goal(s) of the business is and specifically what role they play in the organization.
What is so vital to Identifying Reality is the freedom that it brings. Until it is all out…Tiger and his business will never be free. Rush Limbaugh had his reality moment when he went through his pain issues. He came clean, identified the reality, had a goal to come back and focused on the plan to do it. Where is he today? Enjoying the greatest success of his career. Arguably he dominates the competition as much as Woods dominated his. People can say all they want about Rush, but his business can’t be touched. He can look them in the eye and say yep, did that, got anything other than name calling to through at me? Tiger has control over his life right now just as he did 10+ years ago. The decisions are in front of him. If Tiger chooses, he will dominate again. As the CEO, he holds the cards, no one else does.
If you do not face the reality of your business now, you will face it later and under less desirable terms. You cannot run from reality. This is very difficult to do. When you are part of the company, you are too attached in so many ways to make the bigger decisions. The earlier in the process, the smaller the decisions are. The later in the process the larger the decisions are. You have free will to make that decision as well. The sooner you face the reality, the better. Ask Neville Chamberlain, ask Michael Vick, ask Enron, ask Circuit City, ask Tiger Woods.
