What your business can learn from LeBron leaving for Miami
Remember the Name
I remember exactly where I was when I first heard the name.
It was early in the Spring of 2001, my freshman year of high school in Southwest Ohio. Basketball season had just ended and I was sitting in Carol Montgomery’s art class with Andy Zimmerman, one of my JV teammates.
Andy turned to me and exclaimed, “Andy, you won’t believe this. This past weekend I went to watch the State Championships and there was this team from Akron…umm…Akron St. Vincent St. Mary. They won the Division III State Championship. They had this player named Dru Joyce who was only 5’2” and he went seven for seven from the three-point line!”
“No way…seven for seven? That’s wild.”
“Yeah, but he’s not even their best player,” Andy continued. “They have another player named LeBron James. He’s a sophomore and people are saying he’s going to be the next Michael Jordan.”
“HA!”
At that very moment, like many Midwest kids born in the mid-80s, my bedroom was covered floor to ceiling with Michael Jordan posters, magazines, pennants, pogs (Remember pogs? Of course you do…), collectibles, and over 500 trading cards.
“The next Michael Jordan? Yeah right. There’s been a lot of those…”
Still, since LeBron was from Ohio, I was curious. I started following his career right then. The next season he landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated and the year after that on the cover of SLAM Magazine, every ballers’ favorite mag.
South Beach
“This Fall I’m gonna take my talents to South Beach.” On July 8, 2010, with that one sentence, and the 75 minute-long ESPN production that accompanied it, LeBron set the basketball world on fire. The reigning two-time league MVP was leaving his hometown team after seven seasons (and one NBA Finals appearance) and heading to Miami to team up with NBA Champion Dwyane Wade and All-Star Chris Bosh, forming a formidable “Super Team”.
Like all the No. 23 Cleveland jerseys warming charred dumpsters back in Cleveland, LeBron’s sparkling reputation was lit ablaze.
So why did he go? It was to win championships, right? Well, yes, but there’s more to the story and your business may benefit from LeBron’s wisdom.
Every Hero Needs A Guide
After seven years of great individual success, but no NBA Championship, LeBron knew something every aspiring Hero eventually learns.
He needed a Guide.
And Cleveland wasn’t supplying one. Immediately the best player on his team as a rookie, there was no veteran with championship experience to show LeBron the way.
The need for a Guide wasn’t new to LeBron. In high school he had older teammate Maverick Carter who helped him learn how to navigate the new private school environment. He had coaches Keith Dambrot and Dru Joyce II who guided him to three Ohio State Championships and a National Championship his senior year.
Rather than wait longer (it had been seven years) for Cleveland to supply the right Guide, LeBron took it upon himself to go find one. Some thought it weak of him, and some thought it wise. But no one can deny that every true Hero needs a Guide.
While myths have us thinking MJ won six NBA titles by himself, even Michael needed a Guide. First it was his older brother Larry. Then Dean Smith at Chapel Hill. MJ didn’t win a thing in Chicago until Phil Jackson arrived. He had a big problem called the Detroit Pistons in his way and needed a Guide to help him overcome.
When you think of it, every great Hero’s story involves a Guide showing the way. The Guide can empathize with the Hero’s struggles because they’ve been there before. And the Guide has the authority or credentials to take the Hero where they cannot go themselves. This has been true in storytelling for thousands of years.
Luke Skywalker had Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Timo Cruz and the Richmond Oilers had Coach Carter.
Moana had Gramma Tala and Maui.
And LeBron needed D-Wade and Pat Riley.
The role of the Guide is to help the Hero overcome their problems, limitations, and enemies in order to win the day, avoid failure, and ultimately experience character transformation. There’s a reason Tony Stark’s sacrificial death in Avengers: End Game is so powerful: He had once been a selfish, egotistical womanizer who only cared about himself.
LeBron’s search for a Guide was successful and he left Miami with two more MVP awards, two NBA titles, and two NBA Finals MVP Awards. He now knew the way to the mountain top. Ultimately he experienced the character transformation every Hero strives for after winning the day: He became the Guide.
You see Cleveland sports was on its own Hero’s Journey and was facing devastating problem and opposition. Once atop the NFL and Major League Baseball in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Cleveland hadn’t secured a professional sports championship in over 50 years. They needed a Guide.
Ready to be the Guide, LeBron returned to Cleveland and in 2016 guided his hometown franchise to its first NBA title and broke the 50 year curse on Cleveland pro sports. As he hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the air, LeBron the Guide shouted, “CLEVELAND!!! THIS IS FOR YOU!”
What your business can learn
Your potential clients are living in their own story and are on their own Hero’s Journey. They are facing problems, limitations, and enemies that they need help overcoming. They desire to win the day but they need a Guide to show them the way. Every good business knows this and they position their services and/or products as an honest solution to the potential client/customer’s problem.
Take a look at your business website and marketing materials:
Is how your business makes the client’s life better clearly described in your website header?
Is the problem your business solves clearly defined on your website?
Do you center yourself and your business?
Do you have long paragraphs on your homepage describing the history of your company and how you’ve accomplished your dreams?
Does your social media promote your own successes?
If so, you may actually be competing with your potential clients. Your potential clients are looking for a Guide, not another Hero to compete with. Position yourself as a Guide and you will show potential clients that you can help them win the day and eventually transform into a Guide for their own community.
A Few Tips
If after examining your marketing materials you find you are centering your business as the Hero, here are some quick changes you can make today to position yourself as a Guide to your target market of Heroes.
In your website header and other materials clearly describe how your services make the lives of your clients better.
On your website and other materials clearly define the problem your business solves.
Center your clients as the Hero and put yourself stage-right as the Guide.
Right enough about yourself to show empathy and authority to the Hero, but not much more.
Platform the successes and wins of your clients.
For the good of your work,
Andy
