The Susan Boyle Effect and the Untold Story of the Underdog
Susan Boyle
People love underdogs when they win. Now, before they win, well, we pretty much just make fun of them or if you are the self-righteous type, mutter to yourself, “there before the grace of God go I.” But, in the end, we love to see somebody, who against all odds, succeeds. It’s the stuff legends and fairy tales are made of and we all want to believe in that because it means that no matter how desperate our own circumstances might be, we, too, can succeed. Underdogs give us hope. They give us a hero that is just like us. They tell the tale that one-day everything will be alright.
Underdogs are not born, they are made.
Underdogs are the people that we snicker at as they walk by. They are the people we joke about behind their backs and use as the butt of our jokes. Let’s be honest, there is something inherently funny about the unfortunate. And especially the unfortunate that have big dreams and keep trying no matter how many times they are shot down or fail. These are the people that life beats the hell out of but for some unknown reason just won’t lay down and raise the white flag or crack a beer like any other normal person. This is the unicorn of which I speak, the underdog. And because they refuse to wave a white flag or curl up at the bottom of a bottle and take that desk job or give up their lifelong dream, we snicker at their failures. We revile them and cast them out because they did not go gently into that good night of mass mediocrity and assimilate like the rest of us. No, they rail against it, swim into the current and basically make the rest of us a little uncomfortable, until…. they make it big.
Take Bitian’s Got Talent’s Susan Boyle. She was easy to laugh at – she seemed overly confident and excited to be able to perform on the show, openly proclaimed she lived with cats and had never been kissed, looked like a frumpy old panhandler and even made jokes that fell flat. She was almost uncomfortable watch, so when she opened her mouth to sing, we all expected the kind of disaster that you could replay in slow motion like the Zuppruder tape, send in an email to all your friends and almost piss your pants laughing at. But that didn’t happen. When she sang, she brought tears to even Simon Cowl’s eyes. And you could watch an audience of people who had smugly snickered at her in their expectation of her utter failure beam with pride and wonder as she hit every note.
What does it take to be an underdog?
An underdog MUST have 5 things in order to be a true underdog.
1. They must have faith in themselves even when everyone else has lost faith in them.
2. They must fail miserably repeatedly and preferably have a physical deformity or be ghastly unattractive. The more pathetic they seem, the better.
3. They must have public ridicule.
4. They must be given a definitive moment to prove their mettle.
5. They must be extraordinary.
These 5 points of light come together to create a situation where we can be surprised and even feel pride and a deep sense of love for these people that were nothing but coal feeding the fire of our sarcasm before can now be our precious diamonds. From an emotional standpoint, our ability to revile and laugh at these people in the early stages of their plight is one of the key elements in our ability to eventually love them. The emotional path we journey for the underdog is hinged on a latent guilt. Take Susan Boyle, again, watch the faces of the people in the audience as they move from disdain to shock to guilt to pride and eventually to adoration. We need to feel guilty that we once dismissed these people as jokes to then begin to feel a sense of pride in them for surviving and succeeding against our ridicule. We tend to have a warm affection for the underdog because his/her success did not come easy and they faced and overcame obstacles. The very nature of their perseverance against these odds makes us feel connected to them and their achievement and in turn creates the “warm and fuzzies” in us.
Why do you want to be an underdog?
Consider that the average self-made millionaire fails in business at least 6 times before they succeed, you begin to understand the importance of keeping the faith in yourself and knowing not thinking you will succeed. Failing not only helped these people to learn what not to do but also strengthened their resolve to achieve their goal. Key to the whole concept is that when you fail you need to analyze your failure, learn from it and find encouragement in it. Be aware that your failures will often draw ridicule, but that very ridicule is what makes you an “underdog.” And why would you want to be an underdog? Because it’s a great story. Just like any superhero, you and your business need to have a great back-story. Crafting this “story” is part of what will make you a legend and memorable. Consider the rags to riches stories of Mrs. Fields or Richard Branson. Or the geek made good tale of Bill Gates. You need to be able to wrap your experience into a fairy-tale.
Famous Underdogs
Harry Truman
Chicago Times Reports Dewey Defeats Truman | The Jump the Shark Journalism Moment of All Time
Harry Truman’s surprising win over Thomas Dewey in the 1948 Presidential election is a legendary underdog tale. Historically regarded as one of the greatest president’s the United States has ever seen, Truman was an unassuming, slightly folksy man with bad eyesight that had assumed the Presidency after the death of President Roosevelt and experienced some of the lowest approval ratings in history. At the time of the election, Truman had only a 36% approval rating. In fact, Truman was so widely expected to lose the 148 election, the Chicago Tribune erroneously printed “Dewey Defeats Truman” as a headline.
So, how did this expected loser turn the tides? The way all underdogs do – hard work. His campaign, the first of it’s kind took him on an unprecedented 21,928 tour of the United States where he famously used the whistle-stop tactic of giving brief speeches from the rear platform of the observation car, Ferdinand Magellan. He was combative and gregarious and often drew huge crowds. This grass roots effort and his inherent likeability and ability to personally connect and engage with the people is what helped him win the hearts of the people and the election.
More about Harry Truman
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill: The Bulldog
Winston Churchill, one of my favorite historical figures, while more of a “comeback kid” than an underdog, had all the traits necessary of a true underdog. He was arrogant to a fault and often proclaimed, “One day I shall save England.” He railed against India for years in parliament to the public ridicule of his peers and was often considered a fanatic. He was an overweight, self indulgent, notorious drunk. He also had as many public failures as he had successes and was ostracized within his own party for much of the 1930s. But in the end, he DID save England, is considered one of the greatest speechwriters to have ever lived and is regarded as one of the most important leaders in Western civilization. Unlike Truman, who was demure and unassuming, Churchill was larger than life, independent, and unruly who spoke with both a stutter and a lisp.
Churchill’s ultimate triumph came from his unwavering faith in himself and unflagging dedication to those things be believed in. As his persistant attack against Indian independence had earned him the place of resident Loon in the House of Commons, his lone wolf stance on the need to rearm Germany was initially seen as nothing more than another “Winston’s off the reservation” rant. However, over time as the threat of Germany became more real fro England, Churchill’s intelligence became a critical factor in the eventual decision for England to enter to war in 1939. With his public reputation restored, Churchill eventually was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and eventually became Prime Minister. Churchill’s impact on England is best exemplified by the Queen’s decision to grant him the honor of a state funeral which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.
More about Winston Churchill
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