It’s interesting to read news reports and analysis of Tiger Woods’ April 5 press conference, most notably the comments that follow from readers and viewers.  For the most part, we’re witnessing an icon who has fallen from a very high perch take baby steps to repair a once-golden image, while detractors try mightily to chip away at an already-fractured and fragile persona.

There appears to be an expectation that Tiger will be a changed man a few months after his world came crashing down.  Seriously?  It took more than a decade for Tiger to build this image on and off the course, and while it may not take as long for him to right his capsized ship, he’s looking at a couple of years – if not longer – to regain both the trust and accolades he’s been so accustomed to enduring.

Meanwhile, he’s doing the right things: becoming more public again, taking on more questions while keeping close to the vest what he feels is private (good for him, and can you blame the guy?), and constantly owning up to his errors and commitment to doing what’s necessary to regain trust.

Tiger doesn’t have an easy road ahead of him, and the detractors aren’t going away soon.  Here’s hoping he stays the course and proves them wrong.

The Tiger Woods brand consistently delivered on its expectations — integrity, dignity, determination, competitive fire and loyalty — on and off the golf course.  The brand experience was highly attractive to be repeated by fans, endorsers, news media and even his competitive foes, all telling of great stories and experiences with anything Tiger.

For Toyota, quality was the axis of its brand. The automaker entered the U.S. market decades ago amid a storm of skepticism on reliability, and Toyota quickly and has since silenced the naysayers, albeit until recently.

In produce, character is often reflected in the quality of products delivered to customers and consumers alike — freshness, taste and appearance — and in environmental stewardship, labor relations and food safety standards.

Read more thoughts in The Packer on what leaders in produce, and any other industry, can learn from Tiger and Toyota.

Tiger Woods spent about 14 minutes doing what he should have done nearly three months ago: he took his head out of the sand trap and decided to address his crisis head-on, albeit in a tightly controlled environment.

Better late than never, and we can spend hours rehashing the premise of acting quickly to manage a crisis (hundreds did it when news broke last fall, myself included, and more will berate him for waiting too long).  What Tiger did accomplish today was take that critical first step down the longest fairway of his life.  Rather than jump on the bandwagon and dissect everything he did wrong in his “no-questions-asked press conference,” here’s a look at what did well:

• Pulling his head out of the sand.  Crisis management is pure hell loaded with fear and uncertainty for any organization, let alone one individual, unaccustomed to dealing with panic.
• Acknowledging it was his own behavior and actions that led to his tarnished image and brand.  He didn’t make excuses and took accountability.
• Pointing out he veered from his personal set of values.  Very few in a crisis situation get this, that reputations and brands are built and will fall based on values.
• Admitting the impact of his actions on others, particularly his wife and kids; additionally, his fans – children in particular, topping it off with acknowledging he failed as a role model (Charles Barkley be damned).
• Asking to believe in him, not right away, but over time.  Tiger knows he needs to regain trust, from his family, from the corporate sponsorship world, from his peers and from his fans – and he also knows that’s a feat that won’t happen simply in the days and weeks ahead.  It will be his actions over a longer period of time – off the course.

Check out this interview on KUSI News on Tiger Woods’ first public appearance http://bit.ly/dff9ei