Black Belt Lessons: How Competing Against a World Champion Taught Me What Great Leadership Teams Do

In this episode, I share how competing against a two-time world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu shaped my understanding of leadership and personal growth. I highlight the significance of hard work and preparation, drawing parallels between competition and leadership challenges in business. I discuss overcoming fears, resilience, and the continuous journey of growth, likening the path to success to the pursuit of a black belt. I outline three key lessons: growth knows no limits, preparation is vital, and the most significant battles occur within our minds. I hope to inspire listeners to embrace their leadership journeys with courage and resilience. Episode Highlights & Time Stamps 3:26 Lessons from Competing 6:32 Facing Fear and Doubt 8:14 Key Takeaways for Leaders 9:41 Creating Better Leadership Teams 🎯Key Takeaways ✅Growth never stops; success is just the next starting point. ✅Fear is normal, don't lead from it. ✅Reframe the challenge to focus on what you can control. ✅Preparation builds confidence and reduces doubt. ✅The biggest battle is in your mind. ✅Competing at higher levels makes you better. ✅Great leadership requires courage under pressure. Ideal For: Founders, CEOs, executives, managers, and anyone committed to elevating their leadership capacity. Resources & Next Steps Ready to take your leadership energy to the next level? Explore free training and resources at https://training.coreelevation.com/ to help you identify energy leaks, strengthen your leadership presence, and elevate your team's performance.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Choked up now just telling you because that was such a big deal for me to face a two-time world champion and he was incredibly gracious. He was an incredible competitor and I know that I played my best matches ever that I could have pulled out to win that gold. The championship belt behind me here. This is what it looks like. Standing on the podium, winning gold. I share all this with you, not because I'm trying to brag, but I want to connect the dots on your own business and why growth-minded founders never stop getting better, but how competing against a world champion taught me about great leadership teams.

• 0:41Speaker 00

  Welcome to Growth Think Tank. This is the one and only place where you will get insight from the founders and the CEOs of the fastest-growing privately-held companies. I am the host. My name is Gene Hemmott. I help leaders and their teams navigate the defining moments of their growth. Are you ready to grow? There I was, standing directly across from a two-time world champion. This is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we're talking about and I had to play the best Jiu-Jitsu of my life if I had a chance. This was the best of three because there were only two crazy 50-year-olds in this division in this weight class. And in fact, he weighed less than me. I won't apologize for

• 1:22Speaker 00

  that. He wanted to wrestle up into my category. And so when I say two-time world champion, what I really mean is he was a badass. So here's what happened. I showed up for the first match, not nervous, but prepared. I was able to show up and get the job done. Jiu-Jitsu, you win by points. You can win by decision if the points are tied, or you win by submission. The submission is definitive. That's where they say, "Stop. No more. Tap." The first one match was a short arm bar. The first one was a straight arm bar from half-guard. The second match was very, very

• 2:03Speaker 00

  close. I went all the way to the end, zero to zero, fighting back and forth, not giving up position. But my opponent, that two-time world champion, he was able to get the last two points and finish for the win. So we go into match three. Both of us tied one to one. And I was able to secure a takedown, a snap down, if you will. And I was able to pull him to his knees and put him in that front headlock. And then, as we proceeded, maintain that position and the points lead that it gave me. Until the very end, he actually got control of me. I made a mistake and I was down three to two. With that being said, I glanced at the clock with six seconds to go.

• 2:49Speaker 00

  And I was able to find a burst of energy. I grabbed a guillotine. I got points. I was able to secure a sweep. I got more points. I end up finishing with the win four to three. I'm a little choked up now, just telling you, because that was such a big deal for me to face a two-time world champion. And he was incredibly gracious. He was an incredible competitor and I know that I played my best matches ever that I could have pulled out to win that gold. The championship belt behind me here. This is what it looks like, standing on the podium, winning gold. I share all this with you, not because I'm trying to brag, but I want to connect the dots on your own business.

• 3:34Speaker 00

  And why growth-minded founders never stop getting better? But how competing against a world champion taught me about great leadership teams. So what are we going to do about it? Let's break it down a little bit further. I want to make sure that you understand why I'm doing this and who I am. So my name is Gene Hammett. I am a founder, CEO, coach, been doing this for about 16 years. And I love what I'm doing. I love helping companies grow beyond their current capacities, break through ceilings and continue to grow revenue, profits, all of those things. But also to build a team that scales beyond them. And if you are curious about the next step in that journey, you can go to our next training coming up.

• 4:16Speaker 00

  It's training.coreelevation.com and you can sign up today. It's absolutely free. What you'll learn inside there is the five steps we take our clients through to create a business that scales beyond them. And some of the mistakes that you make in that journey, so you can avoid them. Also some real tactical pieces that will help you become a better leader and build a stronger team. All you have to do is sign up at training.coreelevation.com. So let's jump into what was really going on just to set this up. If we go back in time, two weeks before the match, I had been signed up for months and I was able to secure a competitor. That competitor, Vince Chan. Vince, I looked him up. I had met him last year, just incredibly nice guy.

• 4:59Speaker 00

  Considering how much of a badass he is, being a two-time world champion. But when I started looking at his Instagram, I saw that he was an IBJJF, purple belt and brown belt champion for his age group in his weight class. Now, I've already told you, I was a little bit bigger than him by about 35 pounds and I had dieted down five pounds to get there. So I was stronger, bigger, but I was also five years older. It doesn't really matter because what happened next was a very critical lesson I want to highlight. I focused on who he was. I focused on his accomplishments. I started looking at some of the videos, looking at the game film to see what I needed to prepare for when I went against Vince. Now, I got in my head.

• 5:41Speaker 00

  A lot of things happened, but I will tell you, it was fear. And I started thinking to myself, am I good enough? You've probably had a similar thought. No matter what you're facing, the decision you've got to make, maybe it's a critical hire, maybe it's a, you know, do we start a new division? Do we open up a new office? Do we change something? There's fear that sets in. It's common. But I will tell you, leadership teams know how to face this fear and hopefully what I'm sharing with you today will give you some insight and inspiration to doing that better. After two days of wallowing in the fear and the doubt, am I good enough? I decided to look at it differently. Being a coach, I do this with my clients all the time. It's called a reframe.

• 6:21Speaker 00

  And we look at the same opportunity from a different angle. And that angle for me was what could be? How could I show up? How do I prepare for a two-time world champion? I will tell you, I went to a lot more classes in the next few days. I got some private lessons from one of my competing friends and trainers and Instructors and it was incredible and I'll shout out to him Leon Davis incredible competitor himself and I just wanted to to say thank you to him and my team's mates and Ron Jaccow and and Jake Joe and all the people that I learned from every day but also my competitors but this isn't about that this is about you I was living in fear but I decided to change that perspective

• 7:05Speaker 00

  and from there I was able to start to get my confidence back it didn't happen right away but over the course of a few days I knew I could if I played my absolute best if I showed up with everything my intensity my strength my weight and my talent I had a chance I showed up on the day of the match I wasn't nervous I met Vince standing around waiting for things to happen as you do at jujitsu matches like this I waited three or four hours but I never got in my head I knew I was prepared I knew that I could lay it on the line and I've already told you the outcome best of three now what else can you learn from this example well I'm going to tell you one thing is growth doesn't care about your belt level what I mean by that is there's a saying in jujitsu

• 7:49Speaker 00

  that when you get your black belt that's when the journey begins and I really have felt that lately I felt it before but I really am feeling it coursing through my veins right now and as a business owner whatever you've done to succeed to get to this level if you've gotten a five million dollar company a 10 million dollar company a 20 million dollar company you're not done yet the growth begins and looking at things new and fresh and reinventing yourself and continue to evolve that's lesson lesson two preparation beats fear any decision that you have based on fear is one of doubt and it's not a good thinking partner it's not a good decision making partner and so what can you control well you can't control your components I couldn't control Vince and how

• 8:31Speaker 00

  good he was and how talented he was I also know that I was very much knew how to prepare and anything I didn't know I could learn and so I watched videos on mindset I watched I talked to my friends I absorbed everything I could to prepare for that moment and your preparation is the same no matter where you are if you want to be a better leader Learn to be a better leader. We help people do that if you're curious. If you need to increase sales, work on your sales. If it's marketing, get some help and support and marketing and determination to make it happen. But don't let fear stop you. Preparation beats fear. And then finally, the lesson I want to highlight here is the biggest battles happen before you step on the mat.

• 9:13Speaker 00

  The biggest battles that you are going to face are not your opponent. It's actually in your mind. I could have operated from fear and doubt. I don't think I would have performed at the same level. We'll never know. But I know from experience, it's a lot more fun to show up in confidence, with courage, bravery, trusting yourself, whatever it takes for you to truly shift the energy from doubt and fear to that level that gives you a spark, an inspiration. Now, I share this story with you not to brag about my big win or having a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That's just who I am. But I share with you to help you create better leadership teams. Being able to analyze some of the lessons that have come in here to help you be a better leader

• 9:58Speaker 00

  and grow the team and the business of your dreams. All that being said, I love sharing these episodes with you. If you resonate with this, please let us know somehow. Send us an email. Give us a review, whatever it may be, but we want to continue to make content for you to be better leaders and grow the business of your dreams. When you think of growth and you think of leadership, think of growth thinking. As always, leave your courage. We'll see you next time.