The Importance of Putting Your Best Foot Forward

DISCLAIMER: This is going to be a pretty short entry and not as deep as a lot of my other entries. In fact, when you read this it may seem sort of random. However, keep reading later this month and it will make more sense.

In one of my earlier blogs I mentioned that I am not the biggest fan of Tiger Woods. His personal misdoings really don’t have much to do with my dislike of him. In fact this dislike started even before he defeated my beloved Rocco Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open. I generally have issues with the overly successful. That said, over the years Nike has done a great job of marketing Woods to make him as tolerable and even (gasp!) likable as possible.

Nike has always been good at touting the successes of the athletes they sponsor. From Woods to Michael Jordan, the brand can tout itself as a winner because it associates itself with athletes who can truly claim to be the best in the world at what they do. Whether showing footage of an incredible shot Woods hit or airing a commercial highlighting Woods’ club-handling prowess, Nike makes the association between the athletes they sponsor and success. This in turn not only makes their products more marketable to the average Joe but also makes their athletes more appealing to the American public.

In the case of Tiger Woods, Nike has done an exceptional job of humanizing him and highlighting the importance of family to Woods’ life in commercials like this. While the company can do nothing about Woods’ continued ability to shoot himself in the foot, they repeatedly make remarkable attempts to make him seem more like a man and less like an island. Without the marketing Woods has received over the years, his winning would still speak volumes, but it is likely that he would be even more disliked without Nike’s attempts to give the public a reason to like him.

So what is the point of this? We are our own personal Nike. It is our job to make ourselves tolerable and likable to potential friends, employers, and love interests. We all have our selling points as well as our flaws. While it is necessary to be cognizant of our flaws, it is necessary to build around the strong points. We must recognize our successes to truly put ourselves in a position to succeed in the long-term.