In recent days, the video of the new NIKE campaign – Winning Isn’t for Everyone – Am I a Bad Person? – went viral on social media.
While watching the video, I immediately flashed back to when I was around forty-something years old and participated in my first judo competition at the pre-primary school called Wolf Cub when I was six or seven years old. My parents recount, and I remember some flashes, that at the moment of the greeting before the start of the fight between the judokas, my opponent simply started crying and gave up fighting with me. The reason: my face of a ‘bad kid’ – or, in this case, my face of a ‘bad person’.
This personal and real story is not about my classmate’s reaction, who may not even have liked judo, or any desire of mine to harm him and other young opponents. Nor does it mean that honor, sportsmanship, and righteousness are left behind in the pursuit of victory as the only thing that matters. This does not mean victory at any cost. What prevails, indeed, is personal sacrifice, focusing on the goal to be achieved, and the determination never to give up.
Let’s go into the reasons for this context.
Since I got to know the profile assessment instruments created in the 1940s, I have come to deeply understand this remarkable passage about my behavior and its reason why. Because always wanting to surpass myself and be the best at everything I do is definitely a strong point of my personality and is an innate characteristic. I have never settled for second, third place; much less for elimination in the first fight. Things that, by the way, have happened several times over more than a decade of fighting and competing in tournaments in the city and state of São Paulo at the time. Just as it happens to anyone throughout life in sports, study, work, entrepreneurship… Anyway, for the ‘bad people,’ there is no other way. There is no plan B.
Before proceeding, I emphasize that I do not wish to address any business aspects of NIKE and its businesses, brands, and team. Just calling on those who read this article to reflect:
Since when? And furthermore, why is it bad to want to be the best?
Around the world and especially in Brazil, aiming for the top, for victory, for profit is often considered something bad. They say that those who desire are arrogant or selfish, not empathetic and aggressive, among many other negative adjectives.
It is preferred to celebrate the tears of defeat and embrace the defeated rather than celebrate the confidence of those who express that achieving victory is their only goal; always. Winning or losing.
On another day, I watched a contemporary philosopher say that sympathizing with the failure and defeat of others is easy; what’s really hard is rejoicing in the success and triumph of others. And that on this occasion, when you achieve some success, when you do very well, you will know who your true friends are. Until then, I hadn’t thought about this situation from this perspective. It’s very interesting to imagine who would genuinely celebrate or not with your accomplishments. Maybe this is the mental mechanism that condemns many of us to be ‘bad people.’ Maybe it’s envy, resentment. Sigmund Freud explains.
There is also the aspect of collectivism from a social, philosophical, economic, and religious perspective, which emphasizes that we are interdependent, opposing individualism in all areas of life, setting aside the disputes and achievements of individuals, even though this is the smallest minority that exists, that is, each of us as an individual. Ayn Rand explains.
Other factors are the Latin American culture, through which the virtue of achieving everything desired by merit and individual effort is not disseminated in society, whether it be a sporting victory, a car, a house, a new professional or business position.
This combination of factors results in a perverse situation among the ‘good people,’ that almost nothing is under their responsibility as individuals, outsourcing errors, failures, and unachieved results to others.
Long before having children, I decided that no, this should no longer continue. At least not in my family. Even less so in my company. I believe that NIKE, in a way, will contribute to changing this mindset, also hoping that other companies, brands, and individuals reinforce the idea that we need not only to stimulate the desire but also to exalt the vocation of winning. Being certain that this is not for everyone. And that’s okay.
I conclude by reminding that these “bad people” are those who, in various areas, not just in sports, have led and continue to lead society to achieve new heights as a civilization and humanity. I often say that if it weren’t for these people, we would still be inhabiting caves up to this day. You have already understood my point and thought of some names and events that changed the world through someone’s calling to challenge the status quo, achieve the unthinkable, or even the impossible.
So, the next time you come across one of these “bad people” in person or on social media, try, before labeling, to remember that it’s not about you. It’s about what that person desires for themselves.
Personally, I am not a fan or a heavy user of sports products brands, but I admire NIKE’s calling for victory and its business history. I loved this movie!
Does that make me a bad person for that?
