Lynn Espinoza is a broadcast news veteran with more than a decade of media, presentation and executive coaching experience. She has developed personal coaching sessions for Fortune 100 C-level executives, corporate communicators of all kinds, doctors, lawyers and leaders in non-profit.
Michael Phelps: The Buzz
Posted on February 2, 2009. Filed under: Latest News 1 Comment
So it turns out that Michael Phelps likes to party when he’s out of the pool. The public reaction is all over the board: From “So what??” to “Kick him out!”. Given that he probably could have gotten stoned in the privacy of his home, with people he trusts to not take pictures, I say he was smoking some kind of stupid.
This is Strike Two for the water wonderkid. At 18, he got popped for drunk driving. He apologized and moved on to greater things. After all, he was so young, with so much to learn about wearing the mantle of fame. Five years, eight medals and millions of dollars later, he’s making apologies again. Sorry to the Olympic Committee. Sorry to the sponsors who have millions on the line. Sorry to the kids who are clocking hundreds of pool hours to be just like Mike.
In the world of crisis communication, he did the right thing by owning the mistake and apologizing immediately. I’m not sure anyone is convinced that he’s sorry for anything other than getting caught, but at least he didn’t try to duck. His quick acknowledgment will help the story to cool faster, and also gives the sponsors more room to forgive.
Is it unfair to hold this super-human swimmer to super-human standards? Isn’t that why his sponsors are paying him super-human amounts of cash for endorsements? To whom much is given, much is expected. That holds true for athletes, politicians and corporate big-wigs. I think the working class is getting awfully tired of scandals involving millionaires who abuse their power and fame. Let’s hope it doesn’t take a third time for Michael Phelps to learn this lesson. His image and his fortunes may not survive another.
One Response to “Michael Phelps: The Buzz”
Leave a Reply
I’m reminded of a time about a decade ago when Charles Barkley proclaimed, “I am not a role model.”
Well, sorry dude, but you are. All of these people in high profile positions are.
Same applies here with “Mikey.”
But honestly, on a very personal level, I wish somehow this story could be turned around a bit to talk about the dangers of alcohol. Pot is much easier on the human body than alcohol. There’s a lot of confusion about that. The fact that it is illegal is an absolute JOKE.
And yet we sanction self-destruction with the POTENT drug alcohol.
I vote for a hit off a bong.