http://www.ambmag.com.au - 33X FACTOR
What is it about Australians and Tall Poppy
Syndrome? Talking about it recently with a friend
who did a large part of his youth growing up in the
USA, we both find the concept baffling. “Everyone
loves a winner over there, success is celebrated.
Even the f#$%ing Mathletes get props from the
jocks for their arithmetic skills. People are just
stoked on people who are good at things,” he
explained.Not so here in Australia, it seems, as winners
and leaders are chastised as we strive to bring
them down - as if they’re not worthy of their
achievements. Everyone loves a story of rising up
against the odds, but alternatively we relish a ‘fall
from grace’.Tall Poppy Syndrome began to thrive during
convict times in Australia. The strong social
hierarchy of colonial life led to the development
of a strong cultural resentment of power and
authority.Somehow this has continued in Australian culture
to date. People from all walks of life who are
exceptional continue to be subjected to criticism -
in some kind of levelling attempt at making those
who are outstanding in their field just the same as
you and I: that is, decidedly average.As a female mountain biker, I have experienced
first-hand the mean-girl attitude that seems
to thrive throughout the teenage years. When
self-esteem is at an all-time low and hormonesrun wild, it is not unusual for teenage girls to tear
strips off those who are more successful to make
themselves feel better.But it’s not just teenagers, and it’s not just girls. It
happens a lot in sport, and it’s rife in cycling.But have we really thought about the impact of
this ingrained attitude to sport and life? Have
we become incapable of celebrating a fantastic
performance; or string of performances, for what
they are? Can we not see the blood, sweat and
tears are involved in success for any sport?In athletic life, and on the bike, there are two
different dominant cultures I have seen: ‘Build
them up’ and ‘Tear them down’.The disparity in success of these two different
techniques is pretty apparent; the only people
who rise up in the ‘tear them down’ atmosphere
are those that succeed in spite of, and possibly
simply to spite, those who tell them they can’t.
Regardless, the ‘tear them down’ model isn’t
likely to foster a good self-esteem or do anything
for confidence - two things required for good
sporting performances!When mountain biking is as much attitude and
mental toughness as it is about physical ability, it
makes sense to employ a ‘build them up’ model.The progress that you can see when you are
actively encouraging, challenging doubtsand building the confidence of a newer rider
is amazing. It may not be ‘cool’ to be overly
encouraging for those who like to play the elite
game, but who wants to be that variety of cool if
it’s so unkind anyway?.So choose your words carefully. Getting new
people into the sport, whether it be a friend,
partner or niece/nephew is always a good thing.
However think about your approach to praise
and progress, and challenge your own innate Tall
Poppy Syndrome.BUILD’EM UP, BUTTERCUP
WORDS: ANNA BECK PHOTO: ROBERT CONROY- Be positive and encouraging towards newer
mountain bikers. It’s far less cool to tear
people down and doesn’t actually do
anyone any good. - Give praise to newer athletes and also those
better than you. Look for the positives and
remember there is always someone
better than you! - In a race situation call a spade a spade. A
good performance is a good performance -
someone else’s performance doesn’t have
anything to do with yours! - Try to be aware of whether you are
criticising or thinking negatively about any
exceptional performance, and take steps to
amend that behaviour.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO WORK ON
A ‘BUILD ‘EM UP’ MODEL?