The Leadership Code

Thursday, November 11, 2012

Full CrossFit 201 Nutrition Talk during all On Ramp classes today!  All members are welcome to attend!

First 15 minutes of class will be a nutrition review/discussion.  If you don’t have any questions or comments, the coach will have some for you.

Warm up/Mobility:
Jog to the street, run back faster
DROM
Review and practice movements!

Gymnastics Warm Up (10 reps each or 30 seconds, for 2 to 3 rounds)
Handstand Push ups
Pistols (each leg)
Muscle up rows (full turnout at the start)
Butterfly kips
Tuck L-sit on the rings
Press to Handstand Progressions

Notes:  Many of these movements are difficult and high skill.  If there is a certain gymnastic weakness here that stands out, use the coaches to target that deficiency.  For example, on the butterfly kip, it may just be working on the basic kip with a band.

Conditioning: 15 minute cap
3 Rounds for time of
45 lb Sots Press, 15 reps
Handstand Walk, 15 meters
20 second L-Sit hold
Handstand Walk 15 meters

Notes:  The Sots press is a very difficult movement and may be scaled using PVC’s or lowering the reps.  30-50 Shoulder taps may be subbed for the handstand walk and the L-Sit is cumulative and may be done on the boxes, parallettes, or rings.

Cool down:
Samson Stretch, 1 minute cumulative
German Hang, 1 minute cumulative

So long, old pull up bar.

No epic tales of adventure this week.  Instead, I’m going to leave you with a very special list I read when I was 16  (a long time ago) called The Rogue Warrior’s Leadership Code.  I intuitively grasped that because it was written by one of my chosen book mentors and former SEAL Leader, Richard Marcinko this was the code and philosophy I wanted to embody should the day come when/if I would have to lead people.  Although my thirty year old self may be different than my teenage self, the list is as hard hitting, unmerciful, and true now as it was then.

The Rogue Warrior’s Leadership Code

• I will test my theories on myself first.  I will be my own guinea pig.
• I will be totally committed to my beliefs, and I will risk all that I have for these beliefs.
• I will back my subordinates all the way when they take reasonable risks to help me achieve my goals.
• I will not punish my people for making mistakes.  I will only punish them for not learning from their mistakes.
• I will not be afraid to take action, because I know that almost any action is better than inaction.  And I know that sometimes not acting is the boldest action of all.
• I will always make it crystal clear where I stand and what I believe.
• I will always be easy to find.  I will be at the center of the battle.

I read this thing over and over and over again, when I was 16, 17, in my early and mid twenties, and into today.  There were other lists and values of course, from a myriad of other great mentors I learned from over the years, dead or living.  But I was hardly in a leadership role then, so I depended on other Codes.  But these days, when people and circumstances depend on any given decision we make, I need a core set of values for myself.

What has stood out to me over time is point number 2:  I will be totally committed to my beliefs, and I will risk all that I have for these beliefs.  As a teenager I wondered what that actually meant, to risk all that I have for something I believe in.  And the things I believed in then were not so different than what I believe in now.  Would I risk everything for them?  If, surrounded by friends and family who questioned my choices and my stance, could I take it?  Could I lose my standing with them?  The answer then, and now, is yes, and my friends there are fewer things so liberating as walking around knowing that about yourself.  Because this Code came from military applications, risking everything didn’t just mean your career or reputation or life savings.  It could mean your body or your life.  Was I willing to risk those as well?  As a teenager going to serve (or so I dreamed at the time), the answer was also, and easily, yes.  And somehow, losing anything less didn’t seem as bad after accepting that. 

If I may speak for him, Diso believes in using our fitness outside the gym, in erasing all excuses from living a healthy lifestyle, in affecting that change for the good of the community and the nation and, someday the world.  He believes in seeing the good in others no matter who they are. I have seen him bet the farm on these beliefs every second of every day for the last 3 years, and he has changed my mind on quite a few things my black-and-white, stubborn, fanatical ass wasn’t willing to budge on before.  That is why I (and a bunch of you Ladies and Gentlemen) follow him.  I believe in Freedom, Honor, Back Squats.  I believe that friendship, trust, and loyalty have to be earned through shared pain, laughter, and hours of conversation and learning and reflection.  I believe that if you are secure at the foundations, and commit to making your services the absolute best, and making your spirit invincible, you will attract everything you want in life.   I too will anytime, anyplace, everywhere, and always, risk everything I have for these beliefs.  It is my suspicion that that is why people follow me. 

I know we have a lot of clients that are in a position of responsibility.  What, from the Leadership Code strikes you and how would you reflect on it?

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If you’re not busy Saturday evening, come out to cheer myself, Lara, Alexi, Ian, Garrett and Dre of CrossFit Zen, on at the Saturday Night Lights Competition at Golden State CrossFit.  AND!  Just something to consider, their registration is still open until Friday.  It’s one male/one female teams. 

If you are too busy Saturday, come out to help/volunteer/cheer us on at our 2nd Annual Beach Cruiser Triathlon on Sunday!