During a long layoff, a player would focus on working on their phyiscal form and also on their mental makeup. The gap that is left is the mindset required to win. The initial article in WSJ had wondered whether Tiger Woods would be able to return back to Winning form. And this was when he had just lost the first golf tournament after returning back from the injury.

So, as soon as I read the news about Tiger Woods winning at Bay Hill (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/03/29/sports/AP-GLF-Bay-Hill.html?_r=1&hp), my eyes lit up and I was enthused by what it means for those who observe leaders in different fields.

At a personal level, this has a lot of meaning for me. Tiger Woods has excelled at Golf and his layoff (due to an injury) is akin to the  ”dry-spell” which a sales person faces ever so often. During this dry-spell, a sales person is ‘supposed’ to “sharpen his axe” and be ready for the next phase of growth. And so he goes to work on his sales pitch, prospecting skills, builds knowledge-base, gains domain/industry expertise and so on. When he returns back in the “good season,” that’s when he requries a stumble or two to “awaken the giant within” (phrase borrowed from Anthony Robbins). This might be in terms of getting rejected by customers a little more than normal, or a proposal being turned down. The key is to look at these as the initial thrust from rocket engines being fired up. We need to then brace for the upcoming acceleration.

Tiger Woods story is insipiring in so much as the spirit of a leader to come back and win. We need a lot of such comeback stories in the Finance, Auto and Mortgage industry. Some of these industries have been injured seriously and as they come out with the help of bailout, public-private participation and a good dose of luck, the initial hiccups should get them to move forward even faster.

I had a chance to recently experience the power of this product when I traveled to four cities within four days – 10 different flights, 5 airport transfers and about 10 hours of potentially “productive” time at airports. 10 hours over 4 working days (40 working hours) is about 25% of your valuable time. Who wouldn’t like to make these hours even more productive?

In the past, the executives, business people and consumers alike have employed different means to keep themselves engaged at airports. Some of the activities being pursued were reading (look at the number of magazine and book stalls at airport), listening to music, entertaining (pubs, sports bar), eating, catching up with friends (phone/email), relaxing or just getting introduced to strangers who are embarking on their own journey. The activities have remained the same over the last few years though the access devices have changed to include iPod, iPhone, Kindle, Blackberry etc.

Now there is an option for those who would like their hours at airport to be more productive. The data cards allow people with laptops to have access to broadband-like internet access while they are on their move. Plug the devices into the USB slot and within a minute you have the internet available at your finger tips. So, now you get to not just see emails and attachments but also to watch online videos or youtube on a bigger screen. Even more importantly, you now have access to corporate applications which have been pushed to the cloud or those that are available over the net.

I am hooked now. The only issue which our airports now have to deal with is the deluge of people looking for power sockets to charge their laptops. From my experience, we will be seeing lot many more people crouching in corners, behind pillars or braving to be sitting in the corridors under the phone booth next to the rest rooms – just to access the most valuable asset at airport in the new world – a power socket!