Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

When Influence Replaces Leadership, and the Community Pays for It

a new kind of leadership

A new kind of leadership is emerging; one built not on results or responsibility, but on visibility. It rewards volume over vision. It does not require receipts, only reach. No plan, no proof, just posture. And it thrives in moments like this, when a community is tired enough to believe anything that sounds like progress.

That is the playbook we just witnessed.

why we’re calling him ‘gavin’

For the sake of frankness, clarity and fairness, we are going to refer to the person at the center of this movement as “Gavin.” That is not his real name, but using a stand-in allows us to focus on the ideas and actions, not the individual.

To be clear, I do not know Gavin personally. I have no reason to doubt his passion or his belief in this cause. I also do not believe his core idea, affiliate ownership, is inherently flawed. In fact, employee- or member-owned models exist across industries and, when done responsibly, they work. That is not the issue here.

the problem isn’t the idea, it’s the tactics

What concerns me are the tactics. The strategy of exaggeration. The pressure to fall in line and above all, the willingness to use misinformation to create momentum. If the goal is to preserve what we love, why leverage its collapse as a tactic?

Over the past year, Gavin built a narrative across videos and posts suggesting affiliates could “buy back CrossFit” from private equity. He repeatedly used language like “affiliate-led ownership,” “take back the brand,” and “only affiliates can save CrossFit.” On the surface, it sounds like empowerment. But under closer inspection, the plan was never made concrete.

quotes that deserve context

In an April 3 video, he said:

“Affiliates are the only buyers who have the leverage right now if we organize to force the sale at whatever price we dictate.”

This statement suggests that collective de-affiliation or public pressure could force a sale of a private company. That is not how leveraged buyouts or acquisitions work. While Gavin does not explicitly say ‘join or be complicit,’ his framing strongly implies that those who do not support the movement are enabling the status quo. The subtext is clear: if you are not part of the collective solution, you are standing in the way of reclaiming the brand.

In an April 4 video, he offered this:

“With 10,000 affiliates, we could negotiate a price that is $20 million or less… only $2,000 per affiliate.”

Later, he referenced a $100 million model split among 2,000 affiliates. These numbers change frequently, and while they may serve as rough estimates, no verifiable negotiations with Berkshire Partners have been presented nor proof they are remotely interested in entertaining the idea. No legal entity for acquisition has been disclosed.

Then, on May 16, he posted:

“WE DID IT. 4,000 affiliates bought CrossFit from Berkshire Partners.”

This headline was unequivocal. But no public evidence supported it. No announcement from HQ or confirmation from the seller. No documentation at all.

This was not a declaration of fact. It was a story crafted for virality, not for truth.

why false headlines are not harmless

False headlines are not harmless. They offer relief, not reality; confidence without cost. In the short term, they rally support. They create momentum, but that momentum is built on a mirage. People believe because they are desperate for something better. In that way, false headlines do not just mislead, they exploit hope.

Psychologically, announcing victory before it exists creates a kind of emotional leverage. It pressures people to fall in line and to support an idea without questioning it. Who wants to be the one standing in the way of progress? But when the dust clears and the truth fails to match the headlines, it is the community left carrying the weight of disillusionment.

These tactics may appear to galvanize affiliates, but they do not protect them. They make them vulnerable to burnout, skepticism, and disengagement. They do not strengthen the foundation of this community. They weaken it.

That is the irony. A headline designed to empower affiliates may ultimately destabilize the very structure those affiliates depend on.

when strategy becomes spectacle

Gavin has also said:

“If they don’t sell to us, they’ll go bankrupt, and we’ll buy the brand from the creditors.”

That is not advocacy. That is coercion disguised as strategy. And if we truly value this community, we must ask: who benefits from collapse?

He also stated:

“This isn’t socialism. It’s how every C-Corp in America works.”

To be clear, while corporations do have shareholder governance, they also have fiduciary boards, legal frameworks, and formal ownership structures. Gavin has mentioned governance, board oversight, and affiliate input in broad strokes. But there is no confirmed infrastructure, no transparency into planning, and no roadmap showing how this would be implemented legally or sustainably.

His Instagram feed repeats the same slogans:

• “Affiliates are the only buyer who can save CrossFit.”
• “We’ve already modeled the financials.”
• “You’re already paying for the company; you just don’t own it.”

These statements provoke emotion. They are designed to create movement. But emotion is not the same as execution.

this is not a take down, it’s a call to truth

This is not about calling anyone a villain. It is about calling for integrity. Leaders do not need to be perfect, but they must be truthful. When public declarations are made, they must be verifiable. When momentum is built, it must be based on substance, not illusion.

The greatest harm here is not just a false headline. It is the erosion of trust. Every time a promise collapses it becomes harder for the next idea (even a good one) to gain traction.

what real leadership requires

CrossFit does not need louder voices. It needs steadier hands. It needs people who will not just speak into the void, but actually carry the weight of follow-through. It needs clarity, not just conviction. Builders, not just broadcasters.

If someone tells us the house has been rebuilt, we have every right to ask for the blueprints. We deserve to see the scaffolding, the structure and the process behind the promise.

We cannot protect this community by declaring its redemption before doing the work. We cannot claim progress while skipping the parts that make it sustainable. That is not courage, it’s branding.

Let us rebuild trust the way we build strength: by showing up consistently, bearing the load, and refusing to shortcut the process. Trust, like capacity, is not declared. It is earned.

Postscript – added 5/18/25 10:30 p.m.

After the May 16 headline falsely claiming that 4,000 affiliates had purchased CrossFit, Gavin was asked why he would post something that wasn’t true. He admitted the headline was false and said he shared it to get attention, create urgency, and build momentum. He called it clickbait and justified it by saying he believed the outcome would eventually become real.

This tells me everything I need to know.

This isn’t leadership. It doesn’t build trust, it gambles with it. And once you admit that one part of the story was made up to serve a goal, every other part deserves scrutiny too.

If the headline was fiction, what else is? The legal structure? The numbers? The timeline? What other pieces are being “put together” with the hope that reality will eventually catch up?

That may be how you build hype. It’s not how you build anything that lasts.

I’m not just an affiliate owner. I’m a professional. I make decisions based on what’s real, not what someone hopes will feel real enough.

What makes this worse is the assumption behind it; that a headline like that would spark some kind of FOMO. As if affiliate owners don’t know how to think for themselves. As if we’re waiting for someone to push the right emotional button. It’s insulting.

I don’t care how exciting the message sounds if it’s not based in reality. If any part of the movement relies on lies, the rest doesn’t matter. And I’m definitely not interested in being told to trust someone who’s already admitted they don’t think the truth is required. He’s just disqualified himself.

Integrity is not a preference and if it is missing from the foundation, nothing else matters. It’s the bare minimum.

If this is what’s being offered as leadership, the answer is simple: no.

The End. 😎