Tucker Took His Tie Off

Several years ago, Tucker Carlson of the show Crossfire always wore a bow tie. It was his trademark, his iconic symbol. Until one day, he no longer wore it. The reason he took it off? The only thing I can pin-point is John Stewart's appearance on their show in 2006, where he said to Tucker in a heated exchange -- "This [show] is theater. How old are you?" "Thirty-five" "And you wear a bow-tie!?"

Criticism knocked Tucker off his game.

This is a bad analogy, I know. But I can't think of anything more destructive to vision than criticism. It makes you doubt yourself, your ideas, your dream of what the future can be. A couple of take-aways...

1. Surround yourself with vision champions
2. Understand that more success equals more criticism
3. If you've taken it off... put your bow tie back on

Comments

[Terrace Crawford]

Great post Ben. I might add that I always thought Tucker looked ridiculous with a bow tie on.

[gail]

my two sense.
i think his style-change has more to do with the power shift in washington than criticism from colbert. 8 years ago everyone was vying for a sit down with bowtie sporting,cowboy boot wearing, twang talking republicans. today, they are fighting to get airtime with sleaker if not more casual democrats.

takeaways.
1. know your audience
2. don't be afraid to change your style for air time
3. continue to be known as an all around nice guy no matter what you are wearing.

ps. is he wearing a watch or a braclet in his new picture?

[Abby]

I agree with Terrace - I like Tucker minus the tie.

But, this post is really relevant to going to the next level.

I try to remind myself that even if it takes time to rebound from falling off the horse.... at least you are rebounding.

[Wade]

I like the theme of the post and you prefaced your comments with a disclaimer, but one of my favorite, wise, bloggers recently wrote,

"Most of us are conditioned to believe that we should stay committed at all costs. But when the return on investment is consistently zero, it's time to move on."

Let's face it, the bow-tie was lame. I don't care how preppy you are...making the bow tie your "thing" is uncool if you are under 60.
To answer Gail's question, yes, it is a watch, but with a very preppy cloth watchband. Many of the ultra-conservatives will change the strap daily to match the day's wardrobe. George Bush Sr. used to do that when he was president. Just FYI.

[Caroline]

Say what you will. I like a man in a good bow tie. As for Tucker, I always had a "nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there" crush on him. I said it.

[Dawn Nicole Baldwin]

Ben, seriously man... only you could tie a bow tie to vision. [yeah, bad pun. I don't care]

Hilarious. Keep it up :)