The Competitive Leader: Using your competition

[keirsey]

The Contending Tactician: The Crafter Artisan


Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame Speech: Competition

Use your competition.

Never say never, because Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion. -- Michael Jordan

[jsx1000ny]

Dave,

Great analysis, but I think we have to admit Jordan's speech was utterly classless.

Regardless of his status as a basketball player, the speech really confirms Jordan's repulsive true character.

Looking back in retrospect on Jordan's career, it's clear that the media and his handlers presented a false image of
him. Let's face it: In the 1980's the media wanted a "Jordan." Similar to how a "Tiger Woods" was needed and also
manufactured.

Years ago, someone who worked regularly on NBA games told me that "Jordan hates white people, it's one of the things that's
really motivated him through life" I didn't know what to make of this comment.

It's known that Jordan was, and is, a serial womanizer. His wife left him because of years of affairs.

While he played he was "the biggest trash talker in the NBA," cursing throughout games, taunting other players.

Not well known at the time. Why?

His former coach Doug Collins once said Jordan " wants to cut your heart out and show it to you."

This is hardly the kind of guy most people want for their next door neighbor. Again, for 20 years, Americans were kept in the dark
about this by his PR and media handlers. This real Jordan is a far cry from the smiling guy McDonald's and Nike (in the Spike Lee) ads portrayed
Jordan as.

Similarly, Tiger Woods, (also a crafter) has also consistently been the most fined player on the PGA tour, for throwing clubs, cursing, violatng rules etc.

As everyone recently saw with his 15 (or more?) mistresses all over the place, with a wife and two newborn babies at home,
the real Tiger is a far cry from the santized, more palatable, (fake?) Tiger Woods in Buick, Nike commericals, etc.

Woods' PR agent recently admitted that "TIger Woods" was made to a certain degree.

It's hard to glamorize these people. And I'm surprised at people who do.

[shytiger]

Crafters all have tempers.

It's too bad that the best athletes, actors, scientists, business people, etc. are not all what people want or expect from public figures, but a lot of what drives them and allows them to reach the top is this desire to be better than others. When they do reach those heights, if they do not have a well-developed sense of self independent of the adulation of others, they often believe it too. They feel, as Woods' said in his apology, "entitled". All I can say is that I hope that I never come to believe that I'm better than other people.

[keirsey]

This is a great subject to debate and discuss, and I have some interesting background information that will come out hopefully this year. Particularly, I am working on with my colleague on a book on leadership. And it turned out for several reasons, mostly not related to Michael and Tiger's "difficulties," we had originally were thinking of using Michael Jordan as our "prime" example as our Competitive Leader (the Crafter Artisan), but decided to use Bruce Lee instead.

The Competitive Leader (the Crafter Artisan) has a problem -- how do they succeed? -- they do it by beating opponents. How do they get all that energy to perform well -- in fact --- better than anybody else. They have to generate that drive, and clandestine sexual encounters is one easy way to do that. Living on the edge is where Crafter Artisan lives.

Why do people cover such behavior. Reflective glory and business. (Some of this is talked about in Amazing Grace). Bad boys have been always given slack since Alexander the Great.

[shytiger]

Interesting. My wife has held a leadership position for sometime now. I asked her what drives her. She told me that she believed that none of the others in the organization could do a better job than her and that she had a particular way that she wanted things done. She disagreed that it was a competitive urge in the sense that she wanted to beat other people. She just liked to do things her own way.

I think if Crafters like to do things their own way, Masterminds are virtually incapable of doing things in a way other than what we deem the best. Most Masterminds I know (including myself) have clashes with their superiors where we persist in doing things our own way even in the face of specific instructions to follow a procedure that we feel is less intelligent than our own. (More than one has likely been fired for this.) We eventually learn to keep our activities secret until success is assured, and we have a fait accompli.

I'm curious how the Mastermind leader would be characterised. I noticed that in PUMII, the Rational leader is described as results oriented. We succeed by getting results and exceeding expectations, but where does the drive for that success come from? It seems in my case that it comes from having a vision of how things will be and there is a desire (as my fellow Coordinator, James Cameron said) to "turn fantasy into reality", to see what you can really accomplish.

[stellarrenegade]

Artisans are competitive, but Crafters are contending Artisans, which means they're the competitive of the competitive.

Interesting.

[shytiger]

Artisans are competitive, but Crafters are contending Artisans, which means they're the competitive of the competitive.

Interesting.

It's definitely true when it comes to playing Wii games .

[Goodrum]

DMK:

Particularly, I am working on with my colleague on a book on leadership

Terrific, really looking forward to that...and I would love my book autographed if we can wrangle....it's fascinating. Another aspect of our temperament affecting things we do, I hadn't even thought of.....

[Al3322]

I liked Jordan's speech and I think that it was great that he described some of the things that drove him to be, arguably, the best at his sport. This is what I would expect in a hall of fame speech. I could care less for the manufactured images presented by people in the spotlight and would not want him to give one of those types of speeches.

Shytiger said:

Most Masterminds I know (including myself) have clashes with their superiors where we persist in doing things our own way even in the face of specific instructions to follow a procedure that we feel is less intelligent than our own. (More than one has likely been fired for this.) We eventually learn to keep our activities secret until success is assured, and we have a fait accompli.

I can really identify with this as I have had trouble in jobs because of it. Often I will have to do a little work on and keep track of what the my bosses want (and that I think is a waste of time) while I work clandestinely on what I really think is the most beneficial use of my time and skill; to reveal it only when it is ready for consumption.

It struck me that compared to Jordan I am never motivated by beating someone either in sports or at work. In fact it makes only a small difference if I am recognized for my contribution. My goal is to put my ideas into action and achieve better performance. My satisfaction comes from me knowing what I did and what it took to do it.

[Jeffster]

I didn't find MJ's speech to be "classless" at all, and I don't even like him. I didn't understand why people got bent out of shape about it. He was refreshingly honest about what made him the successful player (and businessman) that he became.