Joe Flacco once again landed in the news when on Monday evening he told WNST (a Baltimore radio station) that he thought he was the best quarterback in the league. Read the Baltimore Sun article The LA Times put up a poll, and as of Wednesday afternoon, 87% said he wasn’t the best. (LA Times Poll) The reaction was swift and furious in social media, with tweets mocking his statement. Inherent in his comments are three lessons for anyone who is in pursuit of being an Integrity Fanatic.
(1) Manage your ego – To do what Joe Flacco does, he needs a healthy ego. In fact, we all do. But when our perception of our skills and ability is out of bounds, we need to dial it back. A survey a few years found that 90% of pastors, students, teachers, and sports players thought they were above average. That’s statistically impossible. Look in the mirror, face the reality of who you are – good and bad – and then be real about it.
(2) Manage your words – The publicity on this won’t hurt Flacco. But when we make a public statement, we need to be aware of how those words will be interpreted. From Mitt Romney’s two cadillacs (Mitt Romney comment) to BP’s Board Chair’s comment on the small people (“We care about small people”), gaffs in the media aren’t new – but they can be prevented.
(3) Manage your actions – If you say you’re the best, your actions need to match your words. That was the gist of many tweets – with critics bringing forth data to bolster their case that his ego was out of control.
Integrity is about being whole – matching your words with your actions – and building trust in the process. Maybe if Eli Manning or Tom Brady had made that claim, we’d be having a different conversation.
