It’s common for leaders to speak in terms of building a “team of champions.” While I also endeavor to build a team of champions in my own organization, I don’t want people working in my company who think like champions. Rather, I want to fill my business with team members who have a challenger’s mindset. To use a martial arts term, I want the “red belt” mentality rather than the black belt mindset and here’s why: the most dangerous fighters in karate dojos are the red belts. Red is the rank prior to black, and what makes the reds such tenacious fighters is the fact that they haven’t yet reached the top and still train with intensity and urgency. Black belts, on the other hand, often let up and downshift into a maintenance mode after working so long and hard to earn their elite rank. In fact, it is common for black belts to start packing on pounds soon after reaching their goal, because they spend more time giving advice than they do fighting on the mat.

The still-hungry red belts demonstrate a stronger commitment to improve through a solid work ethic, consistent training habits, and by remaining coachable. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see reds knock out blacks during sparring sessions. They’re sharper because their killer instinct hasn’t been dulled by the belief that they’ve “arrived.” In my own experience, I lost 25 pounds in the ten weeks leading up to my red belt test because of the added hours of sparring.

While black belts can still advance with 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th degrees, etc. a common tendency after reaching their goal is to take a break. One friend of mine passed his black belt test and didn’t return to the mat for six months. Parallel analogies in business abound. When business “black belts” with their “champion’s mindset” get to the top of a mountain and become “number one” or have a record year, their tendency is to build a fence around the ground they’ve gained and hold it, rather than seek out higher ground that offers an even bigger prize. They stop changing, risking, deciding, recruiting, innovating, training, and holding others accountable. Prosperity drains their urgency, and they eventually find themselves in a rut.  

Following are ten contrasts between a challenger’s and champion’s mindset. While there are always exceptions to the rule, the rule normally rules.

1. Challenger’s mindset: hungry. Champion’s mindset: satisfied.
2. Challenger’s mindset: humble. Champion’s mindset: arrogant.
3. Challenger’s mindset: teachable. Champion’s mindset: know-it-all.
4. Challenger’s mindset: something to prove. Champion’s mindset: “been there, done that.”
5. Challenger’s mindset: willing to serve. Champion’s mindset: wants to be served.
6. Challenger’s mindset: tries something new. Champion’s mindset: stuck in their ways.
7. Challenger’s mindset: works with a sense of urgency. Champion’s mindset:  paces themselves.
8. Challenger’s mindset: plays to win. Champion’s mindset: plays not to lose.
9. Challenger’s mindset: rattles the status quo. Champion’s mindset: defends the status quo.
10. Challenger’s mindset: lives for the present and future. Champion’s mindset: lives in the past.

There are other differences, but these paint a clear picture of why a challenger’s mindset is necessary in any endeavor where continuing to grow is important. But, don’t misunderstand my point: I’m not saying that I don’t want champions working with me, because I do. What I don’t want are people who think like champions. My goal is to surround myself with champions who maintain the hunger of challengers. In fact, here’s a lesson I’ve taught to top performers for years:

Act like a challenger even when you’re the champ. Challengers are hungry, humble, and have something to prove. Champs can become lazy, cocky, and complacent.

Here are four suggestions for developing a challenger’s—a red belt’s—state of mind. Use them to shape your personal success philosophy so that you can positively affect and influence those you work with:  

1. Accept the fact that you’re never as good as you think you are. When you focus less on how “successful” you are and more on closing the gap between your current status and your fullest potential, you’ll create a positive tension that keeps you both humble and hungry.
2. When you’re doing well, don’t sit on the ball, run up the score. Never settle for your “fair share” of the market, but strive for an unfair share. Don’t make it a goal to create a “level playing field" in your market area. Instead, work hard to make the playing field so un-level that your organization has an insanely unfair advantage over your competition. If you’re not thinking in these terms you’ve probably already regressed from high gear into neutral. All that’s missing from your office is the hammock, pitcher of margaritas, and Panama hat.
3. Embrace urgency as a core value. Urgency is one of LearnToLead’s five corporate core values, as well as one of my personal values. You must convince yourself that there is power in now, not later. You may never get later. Act now!
4. Live your life as an “and then some” person. Do what is expected and then some. Pay the price and then some. Do what others aren’t willing to do; go where they’re unwilling to go; try what they’re afraid to try, and one day you’ll find yourself in a category of one.

Be an example for your team and work with the hunger, discipline, humility, intensity, and teach-ability of a red belt. Set your goal to reach the top, but even once you become a Grand Master, maintain the mindset of a challenger. This disciplined state of mind separates the martial artist from a partial artist, the legitimate champion from a one-hit wonder.