Person or personal brand?
If you’re like me, your mind may drift to a favorite brand of clothing, a preferred choice of cell phone, or the brand name of a recent car you purchased. It doesn’t take long to realize that our daily purchases are greatly influenced by the mindful branding a company does in order to gain, or sustain, our business.
In recent years, the concept of branding has moved beyond the corporate world of products and services and now resides in the world of professional athletics, among other places. It’s called personal branding and the implications of this self-promotion movement are extremely costly. Not costly in terms of money, but costly in terms of the lasting impact on the collective hearts and minds of young athletes.
As you know, it’s not uncommon to see athletes endorsing a wide range of products. While we’d like to think they’re actually using the products they endorse, it’s often the exorbitant sums of money that fuel their decision, not the actual product viability. After all, the name of the game in personal branding, at least in professional sports, is to endorse more products, which results in larger sums of money.
What concerns me the most about this money driven model of personal branding is the countless impressionable minds of young athletes who’ve come to believe that valuables (swag) are more important than values (character).
Recently, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred, implied that Mike Trout, arguably the greatest player in the game today, wasn’t doing enough to brand himself. Click here to read the article. One could make a number of inferences based on the commissioner’s comments, but my first impression was that he’s clearly more concerned with Mike Trout’s personal brand (and the brand of MLB) than he is the person of Mike Trout.
Every young baseball player, or every young athlete for that matter, should be more aware of Mike Trout’s outstanding character and how he interacts with his teammates (his person) than they are the number of commercials he appears in or the free swag he gets for doing so (his personal brand).
In fact, I would argue that one’s personal brand, athlete or otherwise, should be a result of who they are, not what their product portfolio looks like. Instead of a money driven model of branding, what if we incorporated an influence driven model? A model that praises influence over income. In the money driven model, Mike Trout is failing miserably, as Mr. Manfred alluded to. In the influence driven world, he’s passing with flying colors.
Below are three characteristics of athletes who flourish in an influence driven model of personal brand.
Humility over headlines
Sports Center headlines rarely highlight the humility of an athlete. Humble athletes don’t think less of themselves, they just think of themselves less. A natural outcome of humility is quiet confidence. Unfortunately, the loudest voice often garners the most attention. In a money driven model of personal branding, it’s likely the loudest athlete who will benefit the most. Meanwhile, the Mike Trout’s and Paul Goldschmidt’s of the world quietly go about their business, never bringing attention to themselves so as to heighten their importance.
This is precisely what young athletes need to see.
Service over self
It’s safe to say there are countless Americans who know the name JJ Watt, not because of his football accolades, but rather his genuine, heartfelt service to those in need. Instead of just endorsing products to build his personal brand, he selflessly gives as a means of honoring his person. In a money driven model of personal branding, many would ask why he’s giving away so much. In an influence driven model, he would say to others, “When I give more, I get more.”
This is precisely what young athletes need to see.
Perspective over pride
When you play in front of thousands and are seen on television by millions more, it’s natural for pride to creep its way into the hearts and minds of professional athletes. We often hear of players who finally make it to the show, only to fall prey to the moral illusion of invincibility. Then there’s athletes like Paul Goldschmidt who after winning the 2015 National League Silver Slugger Award chose to gift it to one of his former hitting coaches, Turner Ward. It was as a token of his deep appreciation for the influence he had on him, both in baseball and in life. Pride will tell you to put your trophies in a case and display them for all to see. Perspective will tell you that it’s more important to honor the people who’ve helped you to achieve the accomplishment.
This is precisely what young athletes need to see.
In many ways, a personal brand is a mask. A mask of the real person. When you look at the lives of the athletes I mentioned above, you see the real deal. They aren’t interested in crafting an image in order to appease agents, owners, or fans. They just want to be real people, who happen to play a game.
My sincere hope is that young athletes will begin to recognize the importance of their person, not just their personal brand. This can only happen if coaches and parents make a concerted effort to embed values into their teaching and coaching. An effort to educate and empower the whole person with a set of skills that transcend sport.