The Person to See

Some Words Of Wisdom From The Best

I was listening to an interview with burgeoning NBA star Tyson Chandler of the New Orleans Hornets.  He recounted a conversation he had with Michael Jordan when Jordan was President of the Washington Wizards.  The Wizards were thinking of drafting Chandler so he and Jordan Met one-on-one.

According to Chandler Jordan told him...

"The game will give you back what ever you give it.  What you do in the dark when no one is watching will determine what you get when the lights go on."

Young Chandler apparently took Jordan to heart.  Today much like Jordan used to do, Chandler works out everyday, including game days.  Sometimes twice a day.

Are you putting in the hours when no one is watching?

One Of The Good Guys

One of my clients has a brother who is suffering with ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's Disease).  The gentleman afflicted with this deadly disease also has a son who has a rare and potentially fatal blood disorder.

This father and son team wanted to see if they could attend a Lakers game together this year. Ordinarily not a big deal except that they needed tickets to the handicapped section at Staples Center.  So they put out some feelers.  Word got to Jordan Farmer that a Dad wanted to take his son to a game (The ALS and rare blood disorder part got lost in translation somehow).

Jordan being the nice young man he is told his liaison to tell the father and son, "Sure, they can have my tickets".  The only problem was the tickets offered did not have access to the handicapped section.  Word eventually got back to Jordan that while father and son greatly appreciated his hospitality they wouldn't be able to use the tickets because of the handicap issue.

Finally understanding the circumstances completely young Jordan took charge.  His instructions were very specific:

I'm sorry about the mix up. I didn't understand the situation.

You and your family (six total) will be my Mother's guest in our family box.

What he didn't tell them was that after the game he would surprise them with some of his fellow Lakers, give them some Jerseys and sign some autographs.

I for one am so delighted to hear about young professional athlete with so much putting others first.  Truly one of the good guys.   

At Least One Guy's Happy About The Mitchell Steroid Report

I was watching Sports Center the other day when I noticed a guy named Bobby Petrino signed on to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks football program.  I thought how funny that there are two guys named Petrino who coach football ( one who coaches the Atlanta Falcons and the other now the head coach of the Razorbacks).

Than I learned that the new coach of the Razorbacks was actually the same Bobby Petrino who coached the Falcons.  You see Petrino, the same guy who preached teamwork and the need to finish, actually quit the Falcons in mid season!

Being the class guy he is told his players he was resigning in a 70 word letter he left in front of their lockers which they discovered when they came to practice the next day.  What a sissy.

So what do you think Bobby Petrino's personal brand is?  Oh I'd say Quitter or maybe Coward.

Just the kind of guy I'd want coaching my kid.  NOT!

Sorry to be so negative but I was just so disgusted when I learned what Petrino did to his players.

Another Dork Makes A Million

I don't use dork as a pejorative. In this case Arizona Diamondbacks Eric Byrnes is actually very lovable and probably pretty cool.  After all, guys with unappealing personal brands don't usually date former Miss California.

What makes Byrnes a sensation is his willingness to be himself even if he at times, comes off as nerdy (e.g. running to first base as hard as he can on a routine pop out).

What did his "Dork" personal brand get him?  A three year $30 million contract! And a fan base that rivals any rockstar's.  I think the personal branding lesson is simple.  Have the guts to be yourself.

Could you help us get the word out?  If you think we have some worthwhile information we would appreciate it if you could pass our site on to your friends.  Thanks.

Contrition Is The First Step On The Path To Redemption

Personal Branding is as much about brand protection as it is about brand promotion.  We will all make mistakes in our lives.  Whether our personal brand credibility will be tarnished will depend on how we respond to such adversity.

The fastest way to begin to put your mistakes behind you is to acknowledge your error, apologize and ask for forgiveness from your peers.  You don't have to grovel.  Just be sincere.

New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick is a great case study.  This past week he got caught cheating.  Specifically, his coaching staff was caught videotaping the other team's in an effort to steal the other teams signals.  All in violation of explicit rules prohibiting such conduct.

Belichick's response was pathetic.  In a sense what he said was "I apologize if my interpretation of the rules...."  The guys a cheat plain and simple and until he acknowledges his stupidity and genuinely accepts that what he did was wrong the press should not let him put this behind him.

Let's see how much of a man Belichick is.  The extent that this continues to be a distraction to the team and the league depends upon the class or lack thereof of Bill Belichick.  My money is on the press for once.

Simple Secret to Personal Branding Success: Authenticity

If you have any doubt about the power of personal branding, check out New York Mets General Manager Omar Minaya.  "The Story of O" by Gary Smith in the June 18th issue of Sports Illustrated. Minaya's greatest asset is his authenticity.  He's real without being self righteous.  You never get the sense it's all about Minaya even though he could easily make it about him if he wanted to.  I personally picked up dozens of tips on how to improve my personal brand likability.

Sycophants are Bad for Our Personal Brands

If you are smart, as your personal brand becomes more and more attractive you will make sure to surround yourself with people who continue to help you stay grounded rather than vacuous sycophants who laud your every word and deed because they are desperate for your approval.

So often as we become more and more successful (i.e. make more and more money) we have a tendency to intentionally isolate ourselves from the advice of others who may have important constructive feedback for us.  Instead, we surround ourselves with people who tell us what we want to hear as opposed to what we need to hear.  Don't make this mistake.

I once asked four term Governor of New York George Pataki how he was able to get elected to an unprecedented four terms.  His answer was, "Because I never believed my own baloney.  I always surrounded my self with people who had the freedom to tell me the way it was even if it involved my behavior."

The perfect example of this misguided philosophy is Barry Bonds.  Believe it or not there are actually apologists out there for this guy.  Check out these Beverly Hills bozos.  Are they for real?  You have to wonder how guys so out of touch with reality could build financial empires.

Bad Personal Brand's are Dragging Down Professional Sports

Thank God the Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, finally mustered the guts to tell some of these thugs in the league "Enough is enough. No more!"  The suspensions of the Tennessee Titans' Pacman Jones for one year without pay for engaging in criminal behavior and the eight game suspension of Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals for the same reason are long overdue.

Had they not been reigned in, these jerks were well on their way to doing irreparable harm to the NFL's, the game's and their teammates brands.  The criminal behavior has actually gotten so bad that there is a site devoted to tracking it!  It is called NFL Crimes.com

Even NFL Player's Union President Gene Upshaw who is usually a shill for the players essentially said, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Hopefully, NBA Commissioner David Stern and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will wake up and get a hold of their sports as well.   

If You Want Your Personal Brand to Stand Out Today - All You Need to Do is Keep Your Word

The musical chairs which is going on in the college basketball coaching ranks right now is nothing short of pathetic.  It seems that one's word is essentially worthless when it comes to honoring one's contractual commitment.

Case in point number one;  Billy Gillespie, formerly of the Texas A&M Aggies now of the Kentucky Wildcats.  At the conclusion of Gillespie's record breaking season, the University rewarded Gillespie with a  seven year multi-million dollar contract.  In return, when offered the Kentucky job a couple of weeks later Gillespie jumped ship.

His justification.  It's an opportunity of a lifetime.  Tell that to the kids who relied upon Gillespie's fraudulent promises that he was at Texas A&M to stay.

Gillespie has company.  Bob Huggins, who was run out of the University of Cincinnati a few years ago largely because of a pathetically low graduation rate was given a second chance by Kansas State. After leading K State to a respectable season record and an appearance in this year's NCAA tournament Huggins bolted on the remaining five years of his contract for his dream job at West Virginia.

You know, sometimes you just have to do the right thing, even if it means having to settle for a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract at a highly visible program.

The truth is these guys revealed their true colors.  Texas A&M and K State are better of without them.

Roger Federer Proves Just Because You are Great You don't have to be Self-Absorbed

Check out this article by Rick Riley about Roger Federer in this week's Sports Illustrated (not posted online yet, sorry!).  This guy is arguably the best tennis player of all time and may be even bigger in his sport than Tiger is in his and yet he is still a good guy (that's not to suggest that Tiger is not. I happen to think Tiger is a very fine young man).

Here's just a couple of classy things Federer does:

• His parents address is posted on his website so if you want an autograph you can send your request to his parent's house and he'll send you back his autograph within a month.
• He throws a pizza party for the ball boys and attends!
• He doesn't sleep in five star hotels on the road.  He sleeps with the other players in affordable accommodations.
• There is no private jet!  He does fly first class but let's give the guy a break okay?

Talk about managing your personal brand.  WOW!