"There's no need to fear..."

"There's no need to fear, Underdog is here!"  Underdog was a cartoon superhero who appeared on Saturday morning television during the 1960's and 1970's.  Underdog was to Shoeshine Boy like Superman was to Clark Kent.  He used to appear whenever his love interest Sweet Polly Purebred was being victimized by such villains as Simon Bar Sinister or Riff Raff.  It was a great show that I remember watching when I was young.  

"Underdog" was probably a good name for a cartoon canine superhero.  The word "underdog" came into common use long before the cartoon first appeared.  The word actually started being used in the 19th century and referred to an actual dog who lost in a dogfight (dogfighting was hugely popular back then).  Since that time, it's been adopted in a broader sense to refer to any person or group who is expected to lose or fail in a competition.  Similarly, the phrase "dark horse" comes from the sport of horse racing and refers to a previously lesser-known person or team that emerges to prominence in a competition.  We now use the words "underdog", "dark horse", and "Cinderella Story" interchangeably.

Every year (except for maybe this past one), there seems to be an unheralded, low-seeded team (a "Cinderella") who surprises everyone by making a deep run during "March Madness", the annual NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.  Television ratings for the tournament always increase when there's a "Cinderella Story" still playing.  America loves to root for the underdog or dark horse.  We love the rags to riches story.  We always root for David to beat Goliath.  We want to see Rocky Balboa knock-out Apollo Creed.  We cheer on Sea Biscuit to beat out War Admiral.  We love movies like "The Karate Kid" or "Cinderella Man" or "Miracle".  We can't help but smile (or even cry happy tears) whenever people like Susan Boyle or Jourdan Blue blow the judges away on shows like Britain's Got Talent or America's Got Talent. 

As Joseph Vandello, Nadav Goldschmied, and David Richards write in their research article "The Appeal of the Underdog", "Some of the most enduring figures in history, literature, mythology, religion, cinema, and sports are those who have faced daunting odds, were given little hope, or were expected to fail.  These figures have a great appeal, largely because of their status as underdogs."  But why?  If anything, research in the field of social psychology would predict that we would favor the expected winners versus the losers, the "top dogs" if you will.  Vandello, Goldschmied, and Richards found that support for a sports team or group does indeed increase when it is perceived to be the underdog.  Further, they found that our intrinsic desire to root for the underdog stems from our need for justice and fairness in competition.

I recently came across another blog post ("Why We Love Underdogs - And  What It Means for Leadership") which talked about how leaders can leverage this love affair with the underdog.  First, we need to remember that talent isn't always obvious at first.  We should look beyond traditional markers of success.  Second, rules should serve people, not control them.  As leaders, we should encourage risk-taking and challenge the status quo.  Third, consistent with the aforementioned study, people rally around fairness.  We should strive to foster a culture of trust, not fear.