The Test: Lessons in Leadership from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Last week I received my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Getting this belt has been a dream seven years in the making and one of my goals for the past two years.?

My first class was on February 10, 2016. It is a bit embarrassing to admit this because getting the blue belt usually takes people two years, one if they are talented and focused. But, for me, it took seven. For a long time BJJ was my secondary art, and, while I've focused on it for the last two years, I've had injuries, travel, and a very full life. Not being particularly athletically talented hasn't helped much either but I've always just kept coming. There are not excuses, simply something I have accepted, that it would take the time for me that it would take and I would get there as long as I kept coming back.?

A friend mentioned to me the other day that it is important to always be a beginner at something. After a long career in technology leadership I usually feel quite confident in what I do during the day but I am definitely a beginner at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This challenge keeps my mind elastic, always learning new things, stretching my mind - and my body - in ways it doesn't get stretched sitting in front of a computer.

Being a beginner, especially in an art like BJJ, also keeps me humble. Coming to the mat and getting beat-up by 25 year olds is definitely a humbling act. And this humility helps me to be more grounded in how I approach work every day.

I wasn't even planning on testing this past week because I didn't think I was ready. When coach Max asked me when I was coming into class and I told him I'd see him next week, he encouraged me to come in for the testing. He even told me I'd be eligible for another stripe on my belt. This would be my fourth stripe, one step closer to a blue belt but still not quite there and even that I didn't think I was ready for. But, because he asked, I told him I'd be there.?

On the day of the test I went to get the train and, for the first time in the past two years, the trains were not running, still down from the storms in New York the previous day. I was in a panic, I ran upstairs and caught a cab. Running the route on Google Maps I realized the cab would be even slower than the train. Google Maps told me I'd be five minutes late and I still needed to change into my Gi!?

The driver asked me which way I wanted to go to get there. In my panic I shouted "I don't care how you get there." To my dismay the driver started in the wrong direction! I asked where he was going to which he replied, "Do you know how to get there?!" I snapped back saying that I was counting on him to get me there and get me there fast!

I thought of jumping out and trying another train, I thought of turning around right then and there. Then I took a deep breath and said out loud "I guess this is part of the test." At this point I'm sure the driver through I was crazy. Realizing there was little I could do to get the cab there any faster I did what I could, I changed into my Gi, right there, in the back of the cab, in the middle of New York City.?

When the cab hit 14th street I threw cash at the driver. I apologize for yelling and jumped out. I ran down 14th in my Gi, white belt flapping in the wind, shoes still untied and almost falling off my feet. I managed to get to class, already sweating, just as the warm-up was starting.?

The next hour turned out to be one of the hardest classes I have ever taken. An intense warm-up followed by 45 minutes of rolling. No technique practice, no review of what we knew, just sparring. And, to be honest, I did horribly. I went up against several advanced blue belts and one after the next I got smooshed. Through it all I knew I just needed to get through this. I just needed to be there standing at the end of class. I just needed to not give up.?

At the end of class the belts lined up and they handed out stripes. When they finished handing out stripes and hadn't called me I thought I had blown it. I was angry that my coach had called me in when I knew I wasn't ready and yet a small piece of me was still hopeful that I would progress. When professor Max called my name for the blue belt I thought for a moment I had misheard him but I had not. This was my turn to advance.?

I cannot express how much immense gratitude I have for Anderson's Martial Arts for helping me learn and grow. I cannot say enough thanks to coach Max for seeing progress in me that I could not see myself.?

It's important to do hard things. It's important to work on something that we are not experts at to keep the beginner's mind. These things help keep us humble, keep us learning, open to new ideas, and whatever comes next.?

It turns out that getting to class was the test. But not just that one class but every class where I didn't feel like coming in and made it anyway. Every class when I was out of my mind because I'd just spent two weeks traveling to Asia and back. Every class where I was worried about showing up because I'd been away for two months healing from injury and I still made it back. That was the test.