Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship Blog

By Steven Stralser, Thunderbird professor

The recent performance by Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France highlighted several lessons that entrepreneurs can apply to managing their ventures. Like “the Tour,” these enterprises represent a path of grueling challenges from inception to maturity.

Lesson 1: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

In the case of Lance, we saw that physical challenges can produce great psychological strength. As entrepreneurs, we constantly are facing challenges and setbacks. It’s important to remember that the management focus during challenging times should not be on how your venture got into the struggle, but how it’s going to get out of it.

Lance’s epochal battle with cancer required focus, strength and determination and a forward-looking perspective – qualities that Lance brought back to the racing circuit, and then to his philanthropic work.

Lesson 2: Experience bends the performance curve

While Lance experienced a minor setback in Stage 12, he credited his past intimate experience with that stage for keeping him on pace to contend. He noted that Stage 12 was one that is known for its crashes. Its rigorous terrain creates a situation where it’s difficult to advance, and competitors often have everything to lose.

His insight was that during some seemingly insurmountable obstacles, patience and perseverance are actually rewarded because progress sometimes results from the poor judgment of other competitors.

While this stage would seemingly be the most physical, and therefore the most grueling on Lance with his health challenges, his familiarity with the obstacles going into the day were what allowed him to maintain his position and become the second oldest cyclist to reach the podium.

Lesson 3: Brand building is cumulative

In Lance’s case, his personal brand equity supersedes any one particular feat. Therefore, despite the third-place finish, it is no surprise that Lance still found himself at the top of headlines in world newspapers, and his every move was showcased on the “big board” at the Champs Ellyses.

So powerful is the brand of “Lance” that only diehard fans can recite the companies that have been his sponsors. But even the most casual observers know what “Lance Armstrong” stands for. In the case of entrepreneurs, it is critical to realize that the brand makes use of and coordinates a full repertoire of marketing activities to build equity. The power of brand cannot be isolated to the strength of any one marketing activity. Additionally, Lance’s ability to endure challenges and still inspire his loyal followers highlights the fact that proper brand management requires striking the right balance between consistency and change.

To Lance’s fans, it’s consistently expecting the unexpected, and with his recent physical struggles, a third-place finish can mean just as much as consistently winning when he was at the peak of his career. After all, with strong brands, equity is tied to both the quality of the product and the intangibles that consumers associate with the brand.

Steven Stralser, Ph.D., a clinical professor of entrepreneurship at the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship, has held high-level marketing and consulting positions in business, industry and nonprofit organizations. He has a doctorate from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Arizona State University.

Posted: 07|31|09 at 12:05 pm.
Filed under: Commentary, Stralser, Steven.
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