Philosopher George Santayana admonished us to note the lessons of history lest we be condemned to live them over and over again. He might have been talking to Mark McGwire.
McGwire, who along with Sammie Sosa electrified fans back in 1998 as they chased what was then baseball’s Holy Grail of records, has finally admitted what most everyone already knew … while he was belting all of those home runs, he was using steroids. How sad … for him, for baseball fans and for America’s “National Pastime.”
From a public relations point of view, he finally did what he should have done, and more importantly, what he could have done nearly ten years earlier!
Why are people reluctant to admit non-criminal wrongdoing in a timely manner and ask for forgiveness? These are similar circumstances to those of Pete Rose, the greatest hitter in baseball history, who literally gambled away his reputation and legacy and then repeatedly denied it until finally owning up many years too late.
Often people come to us in “crisis” mode looking for a way to escape from the ramifications associated with either the perception or reality of wrong behavior. We call it crisis management, but what it really boils down to is they’re hoping we can help them not be held responsible for what they’ve been accused of in the court of public opinion.
A natural reflex in many of these cases is the old “duck and cover” … hide, say nothing, or deny, deny, deny. That didn’t work for Mark McGwire, it didn’t work for Pete Rose and in all honesty it doesn’t work in most situations of this nature. In fact, more often than not our advice is for the client to own his or her circumstances. This means accepting responsibility, apologizing when it’s appropriate and asking for forgiveness. Most importantly, they have to do these things immediately!
Sure, there are always aggravating or mitigating circumstances, reasons (not excuses), and explanations. It’s been said that when you have to explain, you’ve already lost in the public’s perception. Maybe, but when you hide, evade, deny (except, of course, when you’re wrongly accused) or try to verbally slither between the facts, the outcome is seldom what you’d like it to be. It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up.
Based on his accomplishments, Mark McGwire should probably be in baseball’s Hall of Fame. So, for that matter, should Pete Rose, but both of these men succumbed to the belief that they could break the rules and then escape responsibility. It’s good that both of them have finally come clean, but neither should expect an invitation to Cooperstown anytime soon.