There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.

~ William Frederick Halsey, Jr.

I’m embarrassed, I’m disappointed, and I’ve been deceived.  Yes, that’s me.  For years I have had the utmost respect and admiration for Tiger Woods, the #1 golfer in the world.  I was continuously amazed by his focus on his golf game, his work in helping children get an education, and supposed commitment to his family.  Wow! Who would have ever thought my role model sports figure would turn out to have a secret life?  Not me!  Tiger Woods was the last person I would have suspected.  I was, in fact, a huge fan.

As I am getting over shock of hearing about my golf idol’s admitted “transgressions” over the past few weeks, I started pondering over the lessons I have learned from this disheartening news.  It was a true wake-up call to reality that:

• It’s okay to be inspired by someone’s gifts, talents, skills and achievements to motivate you to move forward.
• It’s okay to learn from their achievements and success, and apply those processes to your own goals.
• It’s okay to model their strategies or blueprints for success.
• It’s okay to set your aim high to achieve the success of those you admire.
• It’s not okay to emulate someone who is lacking ethics, morals and values, which is, unfortunately, not always apparent.
• It’s not okay to put anyone on a pedestal because you “think” they have it all together.

My confessions are that I was looking only at the gifts, talents, skills and achievements of Tiger Woods, and not at the whole picture or the whole person.  Of course, his achievements on the golf course should not be discounted because of his serious errors in judgment.  He is, in fact, a tremendous athlete; however, that doesn’t excuse him from his behavior.

It is important to remember that he, like other people of status, power, fame and fortune, is  just a person who eats, sleeps and goes to the bathroom like everyone else.  But now, he has to face his family, his friends, his fans, his sponsors, the PGA, his fellow athletes, his attorneys and his personal demons that led him astray, much like other high profile people who have put themselves in similar situations.   For that, I do not admire nor want to trade places with him.

I enjoy golf and will continue to follow it.  However, I will do so  in a different light.

Warm regards,

Kay L. Fontana
“The Grandcoach”