2️⃣122: Ford & Ferrari Were A**holes 🏎️

Why are we so obsessed with people who are obsessed with winning?

We’ve built up this reverence for people who will stop at nothing to accomplish what they want to accomplish, and then we ignore all of their faults because of some perceived superior qualities.

I think there’s a better way to look at things.

A different way.

Don’t get me wrong, I love winning. Winning is great.

But winning isn’t everything.

Not because I don’t want it to be, but because it can’t be.

Some people might read that and think, That’s something a loser might say.

They’re not entirely wrong.

I’ve lost a lot in my life.

I’ve lost so much, at one point I forgot what winning was like. Just in case, I’m referring to sports. Sports is usually the easiest field to discuss when it comes to winning and losing because it’s very plain and clear. In every match, game, exhibition, bout, joust, sparr, meet, friendly—whatever you want to call it—there’s a winner and a loser.

Except for soccer.

Which is a big reason why it’s been so difficult to turn the average American viewer into a major soccer fan. There needs to be a clear winner and loser. That’s the way the world works—or at least that’s what we believe in this corner of the world.

Somebody comes out on top, somebody tucks their tail and runs home.

In this society, we see no other way for things to go.

That’s why so many people choose Jordan over LeBron.

When it comes down to picking Jordan over LeBron, most people who do so will tell you LeBron is probably the better player—but he’s never wanted to win as badly as Jordan did.

Forget that LeBron has been consistently playing at the top of the league for 22 straight seasons, something that is still unbelievable even as we’re in the middle of witnessing it happen. Forget that LeBron was picked to be the next great player as a teenager, and then went on to exceed his potential in a way that is unfathomable to even predict, let alone live up to the hype.

Jordan scored more.

Jordan wanted it more.

Jordan was more ruthless.

Jordan eviscerated his opponents.

Jordan would destroy anyone in front of him mentally and physically.

Jordan stepped on that court with one purpose: To be better than the person standing across from him and make them rethink ever stepping on to the court.

LeBron?

I don’t think anyone would straight up say those things about LeBron. That’s not to say they’re not true, but not what people think of when they think of King James.

There’s just something about people who want to be better than other people. This society admires those type of people. The type of people who take the word “humble” and grind it to dust.

Nobody wants to admire someone who is “humble.”

They find them suspicious 🤨

Why is that person so empathetic?

Why do they care so much about others?

Why aren’t they obsessed with gaining the most value from their talent?

Why aren’t their personal achievements and status in society the most important things to them in life?

Either they’re hiding something, or they’re losers. There’s no other option.

But the people who don’t hide their lack of humility. The ones who say they want everything and then proceed to do anything to get it.

Those are the ones we want to grow up to be like 💪

It was at a corporate training that I was first introduced to the history of Ford vs Ferrari. With all the hype surrounding the upcoming movie featuring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, the company I worked for at the time decided to use the story as a motivational piece in that day’s training.

We watched the movie’s trailer, along with a short clip that touched lightly on the feud between the two storied automakers. From what we saw, Ford was getting ready to purchase Ferrari because the Italian car manufacturer was running out of money. At the last second, Ferrari has a change of heart and decides he’s not going to sell his company. He actually uses the looming deal as a way to entice another company to invest and save Ferrari from going under. Henry Ford II is so personally insulted and enraged by this series of events that he orders his company to stop at nothing to build a car that can beat Ferrari at Le Mans—the world-renowned 24-hour race held in France every year.

Long story short, Ford eventually beats Ferrari, breaks records, and upends the international race car world’s status quo 🇺🇸🥇🖕

A testament to the things you can accomplish when you have the sheer willpower to keep going and never give up. This was supposed to serve as a way to motivate us to believe we can accomplish anything if we’re determined enough and work hard enough.

That’s not exactly how I saw it.

I wasn’t feeling the story they were selling us. I actually thought there was another story we were ignoring. Something much more significant lurking underneath the surface.

To the fear of teachers, leaders, and public speakers everywhere, I raised my hand because I had something to say ✋

But I needed to be careful. I had, and still have, great respect for the person who was leading the meeting.

But I felt it was important to share what I was thinking.

I explained that I didn’t feel like we should be looking up to Ford because of this story.

To me, he was a bad guy.

Ford didn’t have some greater purpose of trying to help millions of people or solve a global issue. He didn’t devote hundreds of millions of dollars, time, and even lives to change society for the better.

Henry Ford II wasn’t motivated by any of these things.

He was simply pissed off because he thought Ferrari tricked him and won the deal.

He felt like Ferrari was the winner, and he was the loser—that couldn’t be allowed to stand 😡 

If the roles were reversed, Ford probably would’ve been so proud of himself for tricking another businessman and getting the best deal for himself. If someone complained, he might’ve said something like, “It’s not personal, it’s just business.”

But it wasn’t good business to be on the losing end. We must always be winners.

To win, Ford instructed his people to stop at nothing to build a car that could beat Ferrari. Eventually, they did. But it cost money, jobs, and even someone’s life along the way.

None of this was done to improve the products for his consumers, but because he was pissed off that somebody got the best of him, and he wanted revenge.

“Ford’s motivation,” I recall saying while standing in a hotel conference room in front of my colleagues and bosses, “was just to get back at someone for beating him. He wasn't concerned with what it cost anyone else, as long as he was able to claim a win. He put other people in danger so he could feel better about himself. People died so he could feel better about himself. I’m not saying it didn’t take a lot of will and determination and hard work. But that determination could’ve accomplished so many better things that helped so many more people. Instead, it all went into winning a pissing content. The way I see it, Ford was a real asshole, and I’d be wary of trying to use him and this story as positive motivation.”