Lance Armstrong and John McAfee – Losing People’s Trust

Both Lance Armstrong and John McAfee stand as strong examples how you can lose the trust of people by making unwise choices and, more importantly, not admitting to the same. Most everyone would surely like to give such people a second chance, but only if they admit their wrong actions. With Armstrong, this would definitely be an option however McAfee’s personal life choices are directly impacting the brand he developed many years ago.

For instance, take the case of Lance Armstrong, where he was accused of taking drugs to enhance his performance this June. He was stripped of all his wins in years between 1999 and 2005 and for other events in the past. On the other hand, other players, such as Tiger Woods and Michael Vick were forgiven in spite of being accused of worse actions. The explanation is that Lance Armstrong did not admit to committing the offence and the general public was not able to forgive this betrayal of trust.

One of the largest impacts however to Armstrong’s poor decision making was the separation of his ‘formerly reliable brand’ with several sponsors including Nike, Michelob Ultra Beer, Oakley and Radio Shack. This cost Armstrong millions of dollars in sponsorship revenue, but most importantly impacted the credibility of his Livestrong Foundation, a group dedicated to finding a cure for cancer.

However, with McAfee, his situation is a bit more complex. You see, in his case, his actions are directly impacting the thoughts of millions of computer owners who use his McAfee Antivirus software to protect their computer – a software that is all about trust of the important consumer base.

The SSL Security and Antivirus protection software industry has been under attack in recent years with news coming out that leaders of two of the largest antivirus software companies – McAfee and Symantec have made poor decisions personally and business wise that are impacting their brands credibility.

In the case of McAfee, allegations of drug manufacturing, selling and distribution, combined with being involved in a sexual relationship with a 17-year old girl in Belize have led millions of computer software customers to question his integrity and decision making. This also impacts their confidence in the McAfee Antivirus brand – and products they manufacture.

Both the above examples go to prove that the personal actions that Lance Armstrong and John McAfee have made directly impact their credibility and any organizations they founded. Livestrong has seen this impact with several donors pulling their support from the foundation. And McAfee’s former software company will see dramatic loss of sales as well – thanks in part to the founders personal actions.

We’ve seen this story before – and we’ll see this story well into the future. Until high-profile people begin to understand the importance of living high-quality life’s and make strong and ethical personal life choices, this problem will continue.