Bend it Like Beckham ⚽️
A lesson on perseverance and resilience from David Beckham
Over the holidays I watched the new David Beckham documentary on Netflix. While I had seen the Bend it Like Beckham movie in 2002 and was familiar with his talent and fame, I wasn’t really a soccer fan until the late 2000s, just when Beckham was about to retire. The Netflix documentary was incredibly interesting because it presented Beckham’s story and the impact he had on his sport and popular culture.
One of the themes of the documentary is how David Beckham seems to have the Midas Touch. His wife Victoria Beckham jokingly refers to him as “Golden Balls” because everything he is involved in is successful. Aside from his supernatural talent on the pitch, he is one of the most commercially successful athletes in the world. His fame outside of his professional club, Manchester United, even caused tension with his coach, who felt players should focus primarily on their sport, not branding opportunities.
The documentary does a fantastic job telling the story of Beckham’s soccer career and his remarkable accomplishments. But the most compelling part of Beckham’s story isn’t his success. It’s the trials he went through along the way and how he handled them.
During the 1998 World Cup—the biggest sporting event in the world—Beckham received a red card for impulsively kicking player Diego Simeone on the opposing Argentinian team. The England team ended up losing the game and exited the tournament. It was a silly mistake, and one that would typically have been forgotten in a few weeks. But that’s not what happened to Beckham.
Soccer fans are known for being unforgiving when they’re disappointed in a player or their team. They are vocal, loud, and unrelenting. And the British media is equally vindictive and unrelenting. What Beckham experienced upon his return to Manchester United can only be described as abusive.
Fans shouted disgusting profanities at him. He and his growing family received death threats. His effigy was hung outside a local pub. British media fanned the flames with daily articles ridiculing Beckham as a “stupid boy.” You’d think he committed some unspeakable crime, not committed a foul in a professional sport.
In the documentary, Beckham talks about the emotional toll this took on him: "Wherever I went, I got abused every single day -- to walk down the street and to see people look at you in a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things they said, that is difficult. I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping. I was a mess. I didn't know what to do." His wife Victoria believes he was clinically depressed because of his mistake and the public’s abusive reaction.
But what struck me most about this traumatizing experience was how despite the vitriol, Beckham persevered. He showed up for every game. He played his best, even with boos and jeers raining down on him. That kind of mental fortitude is admirable and rare. It traumatized him emotionally, but he overcame it, and it made him stronger.
How many of us would be able to continue working under such conditions? Most would quit or hide. Thankfully, Beckham had the support of his family and team, who stood by his side. And he displayed a remarkable mental toughness and resilience that allowed him to persevere despite unconscionable circumstances.
Eventually, Beckham’s perseverance and talent won back his fans and he went on to even greater success around the world.
The lesson here for conscious leaders is to prepare yourself mentally for adversity.
No matter how talented and successful you are, you will eventually encounter a setback with potentially grave repercussions. You may be criticized, your reputation damaged, or feel like you’ll lose everything. Prepare yourself now by knowing who you are, your values that will guide you, and creating the systems that will support your mental health. Whether it’s meditation or prayer, you can find inner peace that will uphold your mental health through trials.
The abusive behavior of fans and media that Beckham experienced speaks volumes about society and its need for a higher level of consciousness. No one should ever be subjected to what Beckham experienced. But we live in a world, and work in industries, that too often feed off of low-consciousness emotions. The one truth we know for sure: while we can’t control other’s reactions, we can manage our own emotions and persevere.
"You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." – Marcus Aurelius
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
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The way we work and build teams is rapidly changing. Leaders often feel unprepared to navigate the transition. As a conscious leadership coach, consultant, and communicator, Meredith helps leaders and their teams create new ways of working and relating so they can prepare for the future by consciously co-creating it.
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