How does Tiger do it?

• Author: Wiesner, Pat

WHAT CAN WE DO THAT TIGER WOODS DOES to make us better?

At a cabin in the mountains, looking for something to read on a rainy day after having watched Tiger Woods win yet another big tournament on TV, I picked up an old (May 2002) copy of Reader's Digest and started to read an article written about the then-indomitable Woods, condensed from an issue of Newsweek in 2001. The author, Devin Gordon, asked why Woods was virtually unbeatable, and the question was discussed using examples of other sport "dominators" of the day, like Martina Navratilova, Reggie Jackson and Wayne Gretzky. Here's what they thought, along with some thoughts on what we might take from their examples to do our jobs better.

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Genius is 99 percent sweat. Hard work and preparation is a key to success in every human endeavor. Martina Navratilova has said, "For every good shot one makes, they have hit a thousand in training." Tiger Woods is well known for constantly, incessantly hitting practice balls.

A valuable businessperson works hard. Usually success is directly proportional to the "hard." When building a team in a business, the team leader cannot expect more work and dedication from members of the team than he/she gives.

Make your competition nervous "by appearing relaxed," says Gretzky. Be competent and cool, say the athletes. Make it look easy. Your competition will make mistakes.

In business, we build confidence and coolness by building a sense of team. If our team is confident in our product, energized by their teammates and doing an outstanding job for the customer, then they will surely be respected by the competition.

Don't just dominate, intimidate. Woods doesn't want to merely win the most tournaments, he wants to win the biggest and the best. He thus puts the most pressure on himself and his competitors. His competitors say to beat him you have to play without errors.

The only way to dominate and...