During the holidays, I came across a podcast in which Ben Crowe was interviewed. Ben Crowe is a name you might have heard.
He is a professional mentor and leadership coach, recently in the media for being Ash Barty's coach when she won the Australian Tennis Open earlier this year.
Ben Crowe has worked with many other champion athletes, including Michael Jordan, Kathy Freeman, Tiger Woods, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Charles Barkley, Shane Warne, Wayne Carey, Lleyton Hewitt and Dustin Martin.
Back in the early 2000s, Ben Crowe was working for Nike. He discussed that Nike is a storytelling company. Their purpose statement reads: To bring innovation and inspiration to every athlete in the world. Nike innovates through their products and inspires through storytelling. Consider for a moment:
What is your favourite song?
What is your favourite team?
What is your favourite movie?
Now ask yourself the question: “Why?”
Many who follow sports will have a favourite team. In the AFL, I barrack for the Brisbane Lions. Why is this? Apart from watching the games, I don't have anything to do with them. I do nothing for them, and they do nothing for me. But what I do have, is an irrational, emotional connection with them because, at some point, I bought into their “story”.
I’m sure that everyone has a favourite movie. Movies are the world's number one form of entertainment and are also one of the best forms of storytelling. When you think about this, it makes sense how a powerful story can draw us in on different emotional levels. I laugh because it makes more sense why my wife cries in movies more than I do. She is a more emotionally connected person than me.
Ben Crowe goes on to discuss that to be a good storyteller, you need first to be able to know your own story. He believes that many of us don't know our own stories. Knowing our own story can also help us to be better humans. The downside for some people who experience fame and popularity is that they can struggle to separate who they are as a person and the persona portrayed through media – the story others have given them.
Being put on a pedestal makes it easy for the media to market and to tell stories about you. However, if you cannot separate the truth from the story, you can develop a 'messiah mentality'. Believing that you are bigger or better than everything else can be a trap. As soon as you believe this, you become distracted. Being distracted by materialistic items such as money or cars can make you lose sight of what is real and what is fake. You can lack perspective in life.
We have seen many examples of this over time in sports; Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods are great examples of athletes who suffered from having a messiah mentality, and both have had massive falls from stardom. Sometimes, these athletes must show more humility and realise that they put their jeans on, one leg at a time, just like everyone else.
Another issue with being distracted is that we can end up wanting to be perfect or believing we are perfect. Perfection is an external motivator that is driven by ego and fear. The problem with wanting perfection is that it is unachievable. Nothing is perfect. Self-improvement and excellence are achievable, but wanting perfection often reflects wanting approval from others. We need to remember that life itself is imperfect; it is our imperfections that connect us. Humans relate to vulnerability, and we like authenticity. As a society, we need to embrace our flaws and embrace our “weirdness”. As individuals, we all have our quirks, but it is often these very things that connect us the most.
Drew Roberts — Acting Principal