Watching the final round of the WGC Bridgestone golf tournament yesterday, I couldn’t help but draw some interesting parallels between what happened on the golf course and what often happens in business. Burning bridges. My analogy is a little different than you might expect however; it is about the importance of not burning bridges and maintaining relationship even in the most difficult times. In fact, I devote a chapter to this topic in my book, “The Greatness Gap”.
If you hadn’t heard, the winner of yesterday’s tournament was Adam Scott. Adam had been a “can’t miss” prospect from an early age, and even though he had won 7 times on the PGA Tour before yesterday, he was seen as someone with a ton of talent who hadn’t quite reached his potential – yet. He’s 31 now, so still has plenty of time to set the world on fire. But the under-card to his win yesterday was the story behind his caddie: Steve Williams. Tiger Woods’ former caddie for twelve years.
Arguably, the twelve years that Tiger and Steve were together were the greatest twelve years in professional golf ever by a player/caddie duo. 14 major championships, dozens of tournament wins and lots and lots of money. Obviously, the events in November 2009 which started to unravel Tiger from his perch as the world’s best golfer signaled that change might be in the air. Tiger didn’t play much in 2010, and has played even less in 2011 because of injury. Steve hadn’t caddied much, either, as a result. After all, Tiger was his man and he stood by him during the last few years and was often tight-lipped when asked about Tiger’s personal travails. If Tiger wasn’t playing, Steve wasn’t caddying.
A little over a month prior to Adam Scott’s win yesterday, Adam reached out to hire Steve. From published reports, Steve asked Tiger if it would be okay to caddie for Adam while Tiger was healing his injuries. I have to think Steve didn’t need the money from caddying, but basically for the better part of two years he had simply been off the map and not working in the world of professional golf. Again, based on published reports, Tiger agreed but wasn’t all that happy about it.
Fast-forward just a few short weeks later, and reports came out that Steve had been fired by Tiger. It was time for them to go separate ways, said Tiger in a news conference I saw. However, Steve had been pretty vocal about HOW he was fired. It was by a brief phone call. Not in person. Not done in a way that made the split “amicable”. In fact, Tiger sort of brushed it off as simply “it was time for a change” and not much else. It seemed like a case of burning bridges.
The business analogy hit me square in the face watching the tournament unfold. Tiger finished over a dozen shots behind the winner. Adam Scott won on the course – going away and in style, I might add – that Tiger and Steve had won on seven times before. The quotation after the tournament ended from Steve said it all: “I’ve been caddying for 33 years, and I can honestly say this was the best week of my life.”
That says a whole lot right there.
Some golf commentators, in particular Frank Nobilo on the Golf Channel, said that Steve would regret that comment. I disagree. It all comes back HOW things unfolded. Caddies get fired all the time, but it was HOW he was fired. Not to mention, for the better part of twelve years, Steve had been silent and immensely protective of Tiger presumably because he had to be. It all came spewing out, since I’m sure there was more than a little emotion involved. I’m sure he knew exactly what he would say when interviewed after the tournament. He felt a bridge was badly burned, and he wasn’t going to be a doormat.
I don’t profess to know all the dynamics involved in the Tiger/Steve relationship. I don’t even know anything beyond the small amount of news coverage I’ve seen about it. But sometimes, perception may be reality. And the perception is that, after years of loyalty, devotion and standing by his boss for years even through the toughest personal times, he was out of a job abruptly, and without (seemingly) much reflection or public gratitude.
Pro golf is a business. I played pro tennis, and even at the time that was a business. But golf is arguably one of the biggest businesses in sports if you consider the worldwide appeal of it. The irony is that much of the worldwide appeal is due to Tiger Woods himself; his fellow competitors even go on record to say that the prize money and purses at these tournaments would never be what they are today were it not for Tiger. He really did raise the game in every way possible, and is seen as one of the best golfers to ever live.
In big business, things happen and sometimes personalities don’t mesh. Sometimes there are changes that need to be made with personnel. Sometimes boss and employee drift apart. All of this happens in business, just like it happens in golf.
This brings me back to the “HOW”, though. Very clearly, Tiger spurned his old caddie and it came back to bite him at least for one week. It was a case of burning bridges. There have been no reports of the split being amicable, and perhaps there was no way it ever would have been given the emotions that I’m sure were present from a twelve year relationship. But I just had to wonder watching Steve smiling and talking to reporters about the way he was fired: could Tiger have done something to avoid this kind of vitriol? Could he have flown to Steve’s home, sat down, and just said in person “we’ve had an amazing run, you’re a heckuva caddy, you’ve been loyal to me, and you’ll always be a friend. But I’ve been to hell and back, and I need to make some changes, and I’m happy to go on TV to publicly thank you for your years of loyalty to me.” Could the bridge have been saved?
Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know either person, and I know a tiny bit of the whole story. Based off what has been reported, and based off each person’s public appearances in the media, one has to conclude that Tiger burned a bridge and seemed to care little about it. Steve was the more emotional one, and one can conclude he feels he got “screwed” or at least thought he deserved a more graceful split.
In any business, there are a lot of emotions involved. In professional sports, as in business or most other professions, emotions run highest at the highest level of competition. When things don’t work, as they often don’t, it is actually more important HOW you handle things. You can tell the most about people when they either go through difficult times or have to make difficult decisions. HOW do they handle things?
The point to me really was drilled home again watching the end of the tournament. HOW Tiger handled the “break-up” and HOW Steve responded as caddy. A bridge was burned by Tiger. But another one was formed by Steve, with his new boss.
A good reminder for all of us about burning bridges.