Category Archives: Leadership

Leadership

I Love Crossfit

I Love Crossfit.   Yes, I have gone hook-line-sinker into it.   Frankly, it has changed my life, my strength, my mobility, my diet, and my overall fitness level.    AND yes, I understand and have experienced the  false, inaccurate, and incomplete limitations of this cultish, fadish, over-hyped fitness program…

But I still LOVE it.   My body yearns for it (about 3 mornings of 4).   I don’t set an alarm, and my body says it is time to get up and move every morning around 5:30.

So, why am I touting my love affair with this sport, uhhhh, gym class, uhhhh, Seal sponsored/military created, uhhhh, biggest loser, Rebock supported, lastest fitness trend, (yup, I am just a main-stream fad robot) workout program  on my leadership blog.

Because it is a metaphor for life and most assuredly leadership.

Life is tough.   Leadership is tough.   Crossfit is tough.

When I arrive at the gym, I never know what the workout (WOD – workout of the day) is going to be, and then I look up on the board to see it and it ALWAYS sucks  undoable.   My initial thoughts are “How can I get out of this? How can I cheat to make it easier (New England Patriot’s style)?  Why am I here?  and most often heard, it is NOT fair!  (teenage answer of choice)

And yet, I do it.   Sometimes I do it well, and sometimes I slog through it.   But, I invariably do it.   I leave the sweat and doubt on the floor and walk away with an immense sense of accomplishment and pride.

So, isn’t that leadership.   We walk into our “organization” and constantly face challenges that we’d rather avoid than confront.   Leadership is surely attacking that which isn’t working and realigning what we are doing with what we should be doing.    Then, when it is done, we feel an immense sense of accomplishment and pride.    Is there anything more meaningful than realigning actions with purpose?

In metaphor in our own lives, we are either living or dying every minute.   Living comes from growth and that comes from leaning into discomfort and facing that which is blocking, limiting, or preventing us from our true integrity.    Dying comes from stagnation and atrophy which is avoiding the truth of who we are…

Crossfit forces me to face discomfort and face my truth.

Every morning it says to me “Good Morning, Get-up, Fight for your Truth, and move toward the Rest of Your Life!”

Blessings

Leadership

Versus

https://getversus.com/certification-program/?mc_cid=2128b185d4&mc_eid=0fb8dbaf55

I’ve been blessed to be an early stage investor in Sense Labs.   It is a brain training company that helps put performers (athletes for the time being) into the “flow” while in peak performance.   I referenced this in a previous post called “Dis-Ease” where I noted that my brain scan showed a poor ability to relax while at performing, which limited my endurance to stay in the “flow” for long periods of time.    I can remember returning from various sorties in the F-15, mentally drained.   Or, during pilot training, having my brain seize  with soda-straw Situational Awareness, eliminating my ability to process anything outside my direct view.    I can only imagine if I had a tool like this to prepare my mental fortitude to remain focused and relaxed during those times I needed to be at my absolute best.

My hope is to get this technology to our US Air Force fighter community.   Yea, I’m glad our Olympic athletes can optimize performance, but a better use is to keep our engaged soldiers in the flow!

Next week, I will receive my beta-version of the device.    I plan on logging my sleep levels, performance focus, emotional steadiness and see how it goes for me.  I’ll keep you informed.

If you are interested in learning more, contact me or go to their website at GetVersus.

There have been over 1000 athletes tested, of whom I cannot reveal on this blog.   But, there was a reason Seattle dominated Denver in the Super Bowl…

Blessings – Pierre

 

 

 

Leadership

Dis-Ease

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I stink at vacations.  I can’t sit still.   I can’t relax.   Frankly, there is very little room for “ease” in my life.   It is an area I really need to work on, just ask my wife, my ex, my parents, my children, whomever.   If you want to go on vacation with me, be prepared to be busy, and be busy for busy sake.  Even when I go to a museum or on a tour.   I’ve got to do and learn everything, I don’t want to waste what might be my last chance to learn something unique… even if I forget much of what I saw the next week when I’m busy being busy about something else.
Interestingly, last January I had my brain mapped and then in May I did some brain training.  This was done by a company called Senselabs, who currently optimizes the brain performance of olympic and professional athletes by helping them get into and maintain a “flow state” while performing.
Proudly, while reviewing my results, the neurologist noted that I was one of ten “athletes” out of a thousand that had not made a mistake while scoring, i.e. I pushed the button when I should have and didn’t when I shouldn’t have.   I mumbled something about the years of training as a fighter pilot, yada, yada, yada.   Then he said “that isn’t necessarily good…”    Whoa….. What?
He said it was obvious that I came from a job that making mistakes was highly devalued… yea, you know dying, get shot down, and all that!
He then noted that my responses were slower than average, and many athletes (and creative professionals) need to accept making mistakes in the process of rapid improvement and their responses were therefore MUCH faster than mine.
Then we broke out my brain map.  “Look here, you have world class focus, but over here, you have very little ability to relax between actions.  You are VERY intense.  Therefore, your  reaction speed and stress recovery are low”  “If we would build a brain training program for you, we would need to teach your brain how to slow down, relax, even for micro-seconds between tasks.”   He pretty much defined my world, stupid brain map!
So, recently, I attended a presentation by a Berkeley PhD (Christine Carter) who studies happiness and children.    I’ll get into her insights in another blog, but one of the three critical aspects of the happiness “sweet spot” is around “ease.”   The other two are “grit” and “connection.”
So my dilemma is living a life of “dis-ease”.    Meaning I have a problem finding ease in my life.     Many chronic disease are long-term stress responses which create long-term inflammatory conditions caused by disease, like heart disease, cancer, alcoholism, etc…   When we continue to abuse our bodies with stress, we risk long term stress responses.   Providing “ease” (to our bodies, our brain, our heart, etc) is really really important to our health AND happiness.
OK, yes I’m hypocritically writing this while sitting at the pool on vacation.   So, to take my words to heart, I’m now putting down he computer and I’m going to do my best to “ease” into “EASE”…  My wish for you is to find those moments of ease in your lives even if it is in those micro-moments between activities.
Blessings – Pierre