Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was asked the following questions on August 14, 2008 at the Beijing Olympics:

“Are you the greatest Olympic athlete ever?”

“Are you the greatest swimmer ever?”

“Are your accomplishments greater than those of Carl Lewis or Jesse Owens?”

And what was Phelps’ brilliant response?

“I just swim. I don’t think about it.”

Brilliant!

Phelps didn’t allow himself to get sucked into a debate that could only make him look bad for the rest of his career.  These questions, by their very nature, are hypothetical, and any answer would be highly speculative. To be fair to the journalists, these questions are interesting, relevant, and reflect the interests of readers and viewers around the world. But there is no way that someone in Phelps shoes can give a direct answer to these questions without coming across as arrogant, insensitive, ego-centric, insecure or all of the above.

But Phelps did answer; he didn’t simply say “no comment.”
Phelps answer of “I just swim. I don’t think about it” works because he is being respectful to the questioner, answers the question at some level, keeps himself totally above the fray and away from controversy, shuts down further lines of questioning, and reinforces his image of a singularly focused athlete.

Political leaders and CEOs around the world might not ever be able to duplicate Phelps swimming skills, but they can and should emulate his media abilities.