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| RICHARD SHERMAN...THE LESSON... |
Last night the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers 23-17 with an exciting 4th quarter ending when Richard Sherman deflected a Colin Kaepernick pass intended for Michael Crabtree in the end zone, which was intercepted by linebacker Malcolm Smith with 22 seconds remaining. The competitiveness and excitement to go to the Big Dance was enormous and so has been the response from America about Richard Sherman's immediate post-game interview with Erin Andrews.
While I see nothing wrong with the excitement of a huge triumph and confidence being displayed verbally, there were a couple of lessons that professionals should learn from his interview aftermath.
- A response in excitement can lead to lengthy damage control. In this case, he did a great job and was excited about his hard work and his heroic effort at the end of the game. In most cases, in the office setting there will be a defeat or moment of anger. This is when you have to go for Starbucks, go for a walk, call your best friend, go sit in someone's office you trust, or work remotely for the rest of the day. Do not respond in person or email until all the excitement is gone and poise can be maintained. It can take a long time for damage control to negate a poor impression. As we have seen with the Richard Sherman interview, every word has been analyzed and scrutinized when the passion of his career and the win was really all he was expressing. Now it has turned to multiple interviews with teammates, college teammates and coaches, neighborhood friends everywhere to explain who he is off the field and the great works he does in the communities.
- Never let it be about you in the good times. People respect the players who give the cookie-cutter answers to the press in response to wins and defeats. The answers like "it was a team effort" for a win and "it was my fault" for a defeat. The humility will win more allies. Others will be excited to work with you and for you when you downplay the good work you have done and let others toot your horn. It shows that you are a team player and not out for personal accolades that undermine others around you. Clearly Richard Sherman made the game-ending play and gets all the credit for positioning the ball within reach for Malcolm Smith but Smith being there for the interception was a huge factor as well. Maybe a little more praise for the team could have been provided in the interview but I am pretty sure it is only because the interview happened right after the play.
- People react without knowing the facts or history. This is a very presumptuous society - guilty based on gossip or what is visible to you on television or put in writing in the media. News flash! There are a lot of other things that go on behind the scenes that you are not aware of nor does the media want you to know. It's about creating a story for ratings and sometimes that involves not providing all the details. Case in point, Richard Sherman went to Crabtree to shake his hand immediately after the play but Crabtree's poor sportsmanship showed when he shoved Sherman. He pushed his left hand into Sherman's facemask. Until the NFL released the audio tape, no one knew it but it was too late because the hypocritical remarks had gone viral. As professionals we must always take that into consideration before we react to anything because people will jump to conclusions without knowing all the details and run with their own beliefs and spread it like wildfire.
It is always better to learn from others' mistakes than to make your own. There is a lesson for us all if we pay attention and are open to making adjustments in our lives. Thanks Richard Sherman for the exciting ending and opening our eyes to the real perceptions of others.
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