Carolyn Bivens has been the Commissioner of the LPGA Tour for just around 10 months. She was a head-scratching choice at the onset of her term considering her lack of golf experience, despite some obvious strengths coming from the marketing world. Despite the quiet murmurs and questions, many at Daytona Beach headquarters and the players themselves stood behind their new chief with the hopes that she would be able to continue driving the Tour forward.
Nearly a year later, the quiet devotion to Carolyn Bivens appears to be evaporating quickly. A series of blunders has embarrassed Bivens and made her look extremely green, even as a rookie in what is admittedly a difficult job. From the attempts to have more rights over visual and print media to the most recent situation with the ShopRite Classic, the problems have run the gamete and been very public.
Bivens' work style could be branded as stubborn or principled, depending on which side of the fence you stand. She has continually defended her actions in the name of making the Tour a stronger "brand." Citing stronger television ratings and slightly stronger gate receipts, Bivens is convinced that what she is doing is working despite the bumpy road. Tell that to the Tournament Owners Association, many in the media, and some outspoken players, though, and they will scoff.
The reality of the situation is that the rub of Bivens' embattlement lies in the definition of success for the LPGA Tour. For critics of Bivens, their definition is a modest amount of progress in terms of purse size and fan exposure while maintaining assurances from the LPGA Tour that their loyalty over the years will be valued and not forgotten as the Tour grows.
For Bivens, though, her definition appears to be radically different. She wants to make an immediate mark and spark massive growth with drastic moves — with or without those who comprise the Tour's past. Obviously, she recognizes the potential arrival of the Golden Age of the LPGA Tour and wants to do what she feels will lead to that Promised Land. The problem is that she appears to be more and more alone in feeling that what she is doing will lead directly to that result.
Bivens has made seemingly unilateral decisions that come across as directives that a Fortune 500 CEO would make. The result has been a lack of continuity, a string of resignations, and a shellshocked constituency that cannot help but wonder who made her Queen. Coming from the corporate world, I imagine that it has to be difficult for Carolyn Bivens (not unlike PGA Tour Commish Tim Finchem) to remove herself from her marketing instincts. The industry is very cutthroat and relationship loyalties are flimsy. Words like "brand" and "positioning" and "initiative" are like prepositions in the business lexicon, but are nothing short of Babel in golfspeak. So, really, to quote a famous movie, what we have here is a failure to communicate.
Both sides of this brewing conflict have to learn to understand one another if the LPGA Tour is to actually grow because of its administration, not in spite of it. For their part, critics of Bivens do have to realize that some of what she has suggested is actually in the best interests of the LPGA Tour. Shuffling the schedule, changing what defines a major championship, and cross-branding the Tour are not necessarily bad ideas in their own right.
Bivens, though, has to change her management style and the way that she presents herself. She has to realize that the TOA, the media, and the players are all needed partners and allies in what she hopes to accomplish. Without those three, she will be doomed to infamy and utter failure. The "take it or leave it" approach does not work in a niche organization whose culture is based around tepid growth. She has to nurture and preserve the many loyal Tour relationships in order to get the results she wants without so much backlash and embarrassment.
Most important, though, Bivens needs to remember that she is just one member of an enormous team, and she certainly is not the most important. After all, it is the actual golf that is the most important thing. It is Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer, and Michelle Wie that will do the hardest work in bringing people to tournaments, attracting corporate sponsors, and increasing prize pools.
This tour is rich in talent and that is what Bivens is selling here above all else — she is no part of that pitch. Her job is made easier, hell, even made possible because of how far women's golf has come in terms of talent. If that point becomes lost on Bivens, then she may completely lose the Tour — and her job.
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