Why America Loves the Underdog
Winning is something that everyone wants to do. Whether you are sitting at a blackjack table in Vegas or signing a deal for the expansion of your company, winning is on your mind. And when I say winning, I don’t just mean walking away with a few bucks in your pocket, either. I am talking about the kind of winning that dreams are made of. The kind of win that takes home the Super Bowl title or that gets you on the Forbes 400 list. For us, as Americans, that’s what life is all about.
In fact, the only thing that people seem to like better than winning is watching the underdog win. Why? It is simply because most of us can relate to being that underdog. Whether you are talking women who fought to vote, minorities that battled discrimination or kids in the projects who wouldn’t stop dreaming of owning their own business, the fiber of our beings reach for things beyond what we have now. If you really think about it, the United States of America is just one big underdog story. From the birth of our nation to present day, Americans have found or made a way to achieve what others didn’t even dare to even dream about. This entrepreneurial spirit, that has literally built our country from the ground up, seems to be lodged into the core of its citizens. You might even say that winning…even when things looks hopeless… is in our blood.
Chrysler motor company recently released a commercial spot called “Halftime in America” that really touched on this topic from a business standpoint. While many would agree that our nation and economy have taken some punches lately, one would be quite naïve to think that we are done. Chrysler, it seems, is just one example of a corporation that has chosen to embrace this entrepreneurial spirit and use it to come into the second half of the game as a winner. Vince Lombardi once said that “The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory.”
As our world evolves, our industries change, and the government leaders rotate in and out of office, one thing will remain constant. America will stand…and the entrepreneurs and companies who dare to challenge, strive to dream, and always look to innovate will be the reason why it happens. Not because we are better than anyone else or because we know so much more than others, but because we refuse to give up, we work hard, and because we will fight. It is just who we are.
