Endangered leaders

Swimsuit-manufacturing leader Speedo is feeling the bite of crab mentality lately. Their latest technological breakthrough in swimsuit design called the LZR Racer is causing an any-news-is-good-news scenario for Speedo.

First, the better news: over a dozen world records have been broken since the LZR Racer’s debut in international competition, and those achieving the world’s best times say the swimsuit is sensational. And the crabby news: many think using the new suit is cheating.

Even the tiniest water turbulence and resistance that the LRZ Racer reduces can help turn an already golden race into an out-of-this-world athletic achievement (Nasa helped design the darn thing). Last month an underdog French sprinter, Alain Bernard, set two monumental world records—the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle—at the European Championships. A few days later Australian Eamon Sullivan destroyed Bernard’s 50-meter freestyle time. Sullivan’s world record (21.28 seconds) could beat someone jogging alongside the pool!

One can only wonder how fast the true boy wonder of swimming, USA’s Michael Phelps, would go once he dons the suit. Now there’s talk that elite swimmers with endorsements outside of Speedo want to use it, too. For the record, Fina, the world governing body for swimming, has found no reason to prevent its use at the Olympics or any swimming competition.

Purists say the very pricey LRZ Racer would be giving undue advantage to swimmers who can afford the swimsuit. But when was the playing field ever even? American athletes get lactate-level blood tests during practice. Filipinos gauge lactic acid levels by saying “my muscles hurt.” The US Olympic swimming team will spend time in Singapore prior to Beijing just to orient the members to oriental weather. They will take over an exclusive country club—a boot camp with room service and spas. Has anyone been to where some of our national athletes are billeted lately?

All advantages are useless unless talent, hard work, courage and willpower are in the athlete’s mind, body and soul. And despite disadvantages, an athlete must battle, anyway. The playing field evens out when fighting spirit is the weapon; not the equipment, not the high-tech coaching. The underdog may not win the medal, or the endorsement deals, but they can win the hearts of those they inspire because they competed against all odds.

Despite all the how-to books and did-this seminars, true leaders are an endangered species. One thing is because crabs pull them down, not allowing for the best to climb over the top, to lead, to discover and to set new standards. No one wants to be left behind, so the one leading everyone is asked to slow down. The slow pace makes hunting easier for predators.

Here, I will go ahead and say it: one day, the Philippines could be completely gobbled up. If we fail to forge ahead because we protect pittance, we will be followers forever. There, I’ve said it. I was hiding behind the Speedo case study, but what I really wanted to say is that we are those who always cry foul to anything new. And we have an excuse for everything. “Oh, woe is our country—blah, blah, blah.”

Our past produced deficits we can’t pay back, so today, we can’t afford to buy anything. Why did we borrow before? We borrowed to belong. Once we got ourselves into the party, we got content and failed to progress. Our swimmers will wear the LRZ Racer, and they will look good, but we bought it to blend. If we are going to spend money we don’t have to race, spend more on what’s inside the swimsuit. The current world-record breakers were given gifts to gain hearts of gold, not to have fleeting “bling-bling.”

I hope we soon recognize the value of originality. And I wish crab mentality will soon become extinct.

****

“Mirror Image” is a rotating column featuring writers from the DLSU Professional Schools Inc.

Professor Concepcion teaches Sports and Recreation Management and Culture and Arts Management, plus he heads the Marketing, Communications and International Networks Office at the De La Salle Professional Schools Ramon V. del Rosario Sr. Graduate School of Business. He is also the head coach of the De La Salle University varsity swimming team. Comments can be sent to his e-mail address rene.concepcion@dlsps.edu.ph

The Arroyo administration has enriched our vocabulary by giving another shade of meaning to the word “access.” Officials recently announced that “access cards” would be issued to some 100,000 households in Metro Manila as beneficiaries of cheap, government-subsidized rice.

Nobody listens to scientists until it’s too late. Scientists who warned the world’s leaders about unsustainable development were ignored, laughed at and called “tree huggers” until food riots in Haiti, Bangladesh and Egypt made politicians everywhere take notice.

Swimsuit-manufacturing leader Speedo is feeling the bite of crab mentality lately. Their latest technological breakthrough in swimsuit design called the LZR Racer is causing an any-news-is-good-news scenario for Speedo.

Market Files: Petron and oil supply security

With the looming sale by Saudi Aramco of its 40-percent shareholdings in Petron and the spike in the price of oil to a high of $117.40 per barrel, the country’s oil-supply security comes into focus.

Sway: Musical chairs

With Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo, a staunch ally of President Arroyo, moving out of the Palace to assume the chairmanship of the Civil Service Commission, expect his departure to trigger a musical chairs of sorts in Malacańang.

Philip M. Lustre Jr.: The rationalization of fiscal incentives

It’s bad enough that the nation’s tax net has not been thoroughly spread around, causing tax leakages. It’s also as bad that the government is giving away what it should have in the form of fiscal incentives for business enterprises.