There used to be a time when athletes were told “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game”. This was a time when athletics was viewed as a way of preparing you for life, to develop a moral compass, to take the high road, to be a good citizen, and ultimately to do what is right. Even if that meant losing because the only thing worse than losing is winning by cheating. And when losses happened the “real athletes” took off their gloves, congratulated their opponents and grew from the experience.
Money, and the pursuit of it, has infiltrated even the purest of today’s athletic realms. Rather than telling our young athletes to play fair we tell them that “nice guys finish last” and “it doesn’t matter if you cheat – just don’t get caught”. The incentive to ignore one’s moral compass in order to win increases proportionally (for both coaches and athletes) as the incentives to win increase. What starts as a little drug assistance to heal an injury can turn into an injury prevention program that transforms into an all out cocktail of performance enhancing products. Of course in business the incentives to win are also great.
Moral compass decisions
Moral compass decisions are tough as they affect your career, your family, your finances and, importantly, your reputation. Business people aren’t pressured to take PED’s but the pressure to perform can be as intense and situations arise where business people are asked to “bury” their moral compass in a variety of other ways. Like any drug it starts small, “look the other way on this one”, “do it this once for the sake of the team” and then once you accept the performance bonus that came from that decision – well …now there’s no turning back! Watch what happens at Adidas when they not only lost their moral compass…they watched it sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Adidas was getting destroyed in the North America athletic shoe market by Nike. With approximately 8% market share to Nike’s 50%, Adidas was desperate to make up ground. That desperation led them to a relationship with Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, to design shoes for them back in 2013. The shoes, called “Yeezy”, were very popular and the deal was extremely lucrative for both West and Adidas. That is until it all blew up in 2022 when West’s antisemitic comments spun out of control and the whole thing came crashing down.
When Adidas terminated Mr. West’s contract in 2022, they tried to distance themselves from the situation writing that “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech”. I want to write that a great company like Adidas clearly got blindsided but, unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. Adidas tolerated or ignored the antisemitism and other sorts of hate speech from West from early on as witnessed in one of their initial design meetings when West had taken to drawing antisemitic symbols on early mockup shoes. West also deemed it okay to show pornographic films to designers to “spark creativity”[1] and felt it within his agreement with Adidas that he could tell select designers that they should kiss a portrait of a disgraced WWII leader everyday. West continued to torment Adidas employees with his rants and explosive temper for years while the firm turned a blind eye.
Rather than dealing with West’s outburst and out of control behaviour Adidas made accommodations, developing a strategy they called ‘firefighting’ where employees circulated in and out so no one person had to face West’s antisemitic, violent outbursts for prolonged periods of time. And why did Adidas risk damaging their brand, their personal reputations and careers? Because the shoes made so much money.
News outlets have told us this all finally came to a head in October 2022, with Adidas and West going their separate ways. In closing down the Yeezy line, Adidas recorded a company loss, careers, including the Adidas CEO were terminated and who knows what long term brand damage Adidas has suffered.
What lessons can we learn from Adidas?
- Know Your Red Lines: Being clear about what you will and will not tolerate is crucial. Think about those red lines now before you’re in the heat of the moment. Once you’re in too deep, the pressure to continue crossing those lines as we saw with Adidas can become overwhelming.
- It’s Almost Impossible to Turn Back: The Adidas story highlights how early warning signs can be ignored. The longer you allow unethical behaviour to slide, the harder it becomes to disengage.
- Nice Doesn’t Mean Being Weak: There’s a misconception that being nice and standing up for one’s values or taking the higher road is a sign of weakness. Real strength is required to hold firm to one’s principles. Nice people never finish last …they’re the one who keep getting up when everyone else gives up.
- Guard Your Reputation: Money, fame, success – all fleeting…a damaged reputation – irreversible. Protect your integrity, even when the immediate temptations are strong.
Don’t let the pursuit of success come at the expense of character. More than ever, in today’s politically charged “win at all costs environment”, we need individuals and organizations who will lead with integrity and serve as examples of how to “win” without sacrificing what truly matters. Being honest, true to your word and “nice”, takes a measure of strength that others will sadly never know. Whether you were elected or appointed, leadership is not the right to do as you want but rather carries with it the responsibility to do as you ought. As Bonnie Tyler reminds us …We need more heroes!
1. Kanye West and Adidas: How Misconduct Broke a Lucrative Partnership – The New York Times
