Lessons learned from yacht sailing
How to sail Sailing is using the power of wind by Sails to move vessels on water
Boat vs wind
Never head straight to the wind
Where you aiming is not where you going
Why offshore yacht sailing / Racing It is a highly competitive team sport where the number of changing elements and factors is more than any other sport. True wind Apparent wind Tide Geo location Day / night Clouds Waves Equipment Physical condition
THE POWER OF SAILING
The sailing experience enables building a truly high performing team in as short a period of time as possible. The unique and self-sufficient environment of a yacht in combination with the confined living and working conditions on board and the challenging nature of the event creates a pressure cooker environment; to succeed the team needs to work as a cohesive team.
YACHT VS ORGANIZATION
SAILINGBOAT
ORGANISATION
The yacht and its equipment
The organization, how it works, its possibilities
Analysis of weather and sea conditions
The changeable market and ability to anticipate trends
The skipper
Leadership: guide, motivate and manage a working team
Crew’s roles
The importance of roles & responsibility and interdependency
Sailing course choice according to external conditions, crew and goal to be achieved
The best use of resources while planning personal, team and corporate goals
Tactics
Comparison with competitors, performance and benchmarking
limited resources on board
Innovation and acting with limited or different resources
Maritime laws and Strategy Challenge rules to abide by
Operate within a regulatory environment
Lessons learned from yacht sailing Leadership Unlocking potential The skipper (leader) on a sail boat can spot the potential of his crew member very quickly and that allow him to position the right person in the right position.
Leadership Foundations 15449
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/leadership-foundations?u=2130098
Leader as crew Skippers usually fill up other positions when needed , they are skippers and they can fill any other position on the boat (navigators, trimmers, grinders ‌) as long it is the best thing for the team in that situation
Democracy vs dictatorship This is where it comes to when to ask for opinions and taking decisions The final call is always for the skipper but to get to there, experienced skippers ask about opinions when it is related to scheduling/planning or to choose one of multiple options, and take a strict firm orders when it comes to safety and keeping the team in the best possible position.
Humble and transparent Being transparent with the team and keep them informed on all updates and listening to opinions are the shared qualities of all successful skippers.
Assuming responsibility As the skipper is the one who takes the final decision he becomes responsible on all acts decisions made on board, It is the quality of great leaders, they assume their acts, The skipper hired the crew members, so he trust them and by extension their decision are his.
Team work Experience vs energy We always need a mixture between experienced old salty seadogs (skippers, navigators) and fresh energized young sailors (grinders, bowmen)
Communication
It is always has to be short and clear, If everyone is trying to talk at once, chances are nobody will be heard, in rough weather you can’t hear properly the voice of other crew members signs and short words are developed to make it easy Assigning communication roles by crew position is a good way to minimize the amount of talking around the yacht and provide a clear guide as to who is responsible for different communications.
Crew relations The crew has to work together as one at the same level, if there are unsolved issues between crew members the ship will sink
Trust
In some situation people are very concentrated on what they are doing. micro management can be distracting so we have to trust each other and our capabilities to do the jobs in hand. This comes with time and experience
The racing
Planning before leaving the port/ marina we have to gather all the possible information / charts weather forecast / paperwork... Set up a route based on all the information collected Update the plan as we go, data will vary as we move, and weather can change at any time
Risks assessment
After collecting all the data for the route the team sits and list all what can go wrong and prepare solutions for it, (sail repairing kit, welding, gluing, safety equipment, spare parts . ‌.)
Team building putting a team together usually take few days- weeks ‌ depends on the sail / race, we need a compatible personalities and experiences. If one crew is not able to work with the team this will affect the whole campaign If we lack experience we will lose to more experienced teams If we lack man power we will lose at tough conditions ‌
Training Practice Make Good Practice every possible maneuver Practice in all possible conditions Rotate crew in all positions Know everything about your boat
Mentoring Others https://www.linkedin.com/learning/mentoring-others?u=2130098
Roles and positions During the training crew will keep rotating between jobs until it is clear who is able to do what This will allow giving permanent positions and in the same time the crew practices other things so when needed we can cover or help with other jobs
Conclusion
Any activity we do outside the office will help us to develop skills that will be useful in our professional life - Ball games (football. Handball. Basketball ‌) are great team work activities - Martial art, diving, chess‌: patience and observation. - Racers are very competitive. - Board games and card games. Planning and tactics.
For me in sailing there is bit of all of above Great teamwork and team building exercise, developing excellent leadership skills, it is a precision work, very competitive environment, very tactical, and you have to plan ahead for every step, you get used to changes becomes very flexible in deal with them . What make it different from all the other sports is the environment where it is happening is very unpredictable so we develop our planning skills. Predict risks. Become very flexible in difficult situations.
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