A very sad chapter in American sports history has been unfolding before our eyes over the past month. A number of professional athletes, not long ago looked upon as “heroes,” have been discovered to have feet of clay. Not only are they mere mortals, but many have apparently broken the rules of the games they love in addition to doing illegal things. I am speaking, of course, of the steroid scandal now rocking Major League Baseball.

Many players have been implicated. Mark McGwire, probably the highest profile player due to his electric home-run race with Sammy Sosa and his breaking of Roger Maris’ long-standing record, had a chance to stand tall during the congressional hearings several weeks ago. Instead, as one newspaper headline reported the day he testified, “Big Mac Looks Small.”

I don’t know who was giving Mark McGwire advice. His agent? His lawyer? A PR person who doesn’t really understand the concept of reputation management? Whoever it was did Mark a great disservice. They (because Mark ultimately had to be the one to make the decision to accept this poor advice) decided that it would be too humiliating and/or too risky for him to do what should have been done. When a mistake has been made or someone has used poor judgment, the person has to admit it, take his lumps, tell the world what he learned from his mistakes and announce what he will do to try to make things right.

Instead they decided on a strategy to avoid admitting what most people now believe is probably true. His advisor probably heard a media trainer’s advice one time that, when faced with a crisis, you should develop two or three major messages (talking points) and stick with them no matter what! Those of you who have taken my workshops on dealing with a crisis have heard me recommend the same thing when you are preparing for a tough media interview or dealing with angry/upset people. The difference is that I also advise my clients:

1. Not to avoid answering direct questions, even when you may have to admit something that you are not proud of;
2. To develop “major messages” based on something positive – if it can’t be about the mistake of the past, then make it about what you are planning or (better yet) have already started, to do to make amends;
3. To bridge from (1) to (2) with phrases like “While I can understand everyone’s concern about ______ , and I fully accept responsibility for the mistake I made, I would like to emphasize now that what I am doing is _____.”

Talk about a reputation being ruined. Whether or not he has to deal with legal consequences for his actions, real damage has been done. At least for me, the image of “hero” has forever been tarnished. Whenever anyone mentions his name in the future, the word steroids will quickly come to my mind. Wouldn’t it have been refreshing and healing to have one of our heroes live up to our hopes and expectations? A foundation established by Mark that would attempt to educate young student athletes about the dangers of steroid use would go a long way toward improving his now badly tarnished image. Should you find yourself in a similar situation, I hope you will have the courage to admit your mistakes and search for something truly positive that could come out of a negative incident.

Until next month...KEEP COOL!

Copyright (C) 2004 JCH Enterprises

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