Shaking Things Up

Complacency in a team is dangerous and can be a sure-fire way to diminish results. While my sailing team is pulling together, I sensed a need to shake things up a bit.




One of my former crewmates wanted to join us for a race, which coincided well with a week when we needed a substitute. Injecting some fresh blood in our team, especially with her competitive and fun attitude, spiced things up a lot! She came out with us again, last week, when the wind was honking and we needed some rail meat.




Adding a team member initiating caused some confusion, and I assured the rest of the team that nothing would change with their roles. Despite her extensive racing background, the additional crew was on board for ballast. Once this was understood, the confusion was settled.









We continued to shake things up during this race. The wind was so strong, that I decided we needed to reef the mainsail before we left harbour. The crew had never reefed on this boat, and some had no experience reefing at all. There's nothing like a challenge to shake things up! Learning together and putting it into practice was a great teambuilding experience. We even got a chance to shake out the reef when the wind died down during the race.





At the end of the race, I felt more comraderie in the team than I have all season. We will continue building on this next weekend, when one of my crew is hosting a backyard BBQ for us. Gotta make time for fun and socializing off the water too!









Cheers!

The Trust Factor

Trust is an important attribute in teamwork. Here's how this works on a sailboat and with a sailing team.

1. Trust the Foundation. The sailboat is the foundation, the core on which we rely in sailing. Trusting the boat includes trusting the designers who designed it, the manufacturers who made it, and the sailor who rigged it. The standing rigging, what holds up the mast, is rigged at the beginning of the season, after launch, when the mast is raised. Tensioning and all kinds of fiddle-f*ing is done to ensure the safety of the boat. Trusting the rigger isn't often considered, although when I hear of a de-masting during a race, as I did last week, I appreciate the capabilities of the person who rigged my boat! I don't question the safety of the boat; I rely on it completely. In heavy wind, squalls, and all kinds of seemingly disastrous situations I have found myself in on a sailboat, that the boat will survive and can be trusted.



2. Trust the Leader. The skipper is the leader of a sailing team, the one who takes responsibility for the boat and the crew. It's important to have one person designated for the final calls in tough situations, and that person must have the respect of the crew. The crew looks to the leader to make the tough calls. The leader earns trust through her actions, capabilities and track record.



3. Trust the Team. Whether with rookie or seasoned crew, the team together make the boat move. In my experience, I depend on team members to sail the boat, while I drive. I avoid singlehanded sailing since I know my limitations, and it's much more fun to participate in a team! With rookie crew, I trust my capabilities as a sailor and communicator to be able to coach and teach people to do what it takes to sail the boat. Whether it is hauling halyards, trimming the sheets, grinding winches, or recovering from some messy situation, I depend on my crew to do whatever it takes.

There are multiple layers of trust involved in teamwork. It goes beyond trusting each individual team member: it includes trusting the leader, and the foundation on which the team is built. I've been in some hazardous situations throughout my sailing career, and have survived them all due to the power in teamwork.

Dealing with Pressure

Finally the America's Cup is making the news! An incredible action shot of Alinghi made the front page of the Sports section in the Ottawa Citizen this week. In the article, the Alinghi principal stated the "team stayed together" and it "showed it could deal with pressure".

Sailing and business create situations where team members are forced to deal with pressure. How you deal with pressure can make or break a team.

I'm humbly aware of how I could have better dealt with some stressful situations on the water in the past week. In one situation, I was trying out a potential new crewmate, with just the 2 of us on the boat, in heavy air. The engine died as we were getting out of the harbour! This kind of thing has happened to me before, and I'm confident getting in and out of the harbour under sail instead of power, if need be. However, this was a new boat to us, we didn't know each other or our capabilities, and the wind was blowing like stink!

At first I was calm, cool and collected, and asked her to raise the mainsail, while I tried to keep us on course. While she was raising the sail, the boat was drifting beyond the safe water marks in the harbour. Finally I could feel the boat start to gain way-on as the sail filled with air. Then I looked up and realized she didn't raise the sail correctly! Only the slide was in the slot at the top of the mast, and the boltrope wasn't fed through the slot! I yelled "Get it down! Get it down!", reacting under pressure. Then I explained the problem, and she carefully raised the sail with the whole luff in the slot. It isn't my nature to yell and scream, although sometimes while sailing, that's what comes out!

Fortunately our tiny team of two was able to safely navigate the harbour mouth, cruise for awhile, and sail back to harbour safely. We docked at the first dock temporarily and yelled at a powerboat nearby to ask for a tow. Yelling in this situation was necessary so they could hear us! Different communication styles apply for different situations.

I'm aware that my communication style during racing this week wasn't all that effective. When things weren't running as smoothly or as fast as I wanted, I fed information to my crew, like "we're half a boat length from the mark", when we should have had a lot more put away so I could round the mark by that time. The way that I said it, impatient and judging, couldn't have helped the team. It isn't what you say that conveys the message sometimes; it's how you say it. I'm sure that the message I sent was more one of "you're not good enough or fast enough". This doesn't help build effective teams! Gulp.

Awareness is the precursor to choice. Next week, I'll be more aware of how I'm reacting to pressure, and use a communication style that's more effective.

The Bullet!

We got the bullet! My newly formed chick’s racing team won the race! This is an enormous improvement from being DFL and 11th place in the first race, and 9th place in the second race. We got the bullet in our third race!

OK, for you non-sailors, the bullet has a lot of significance in racing. “The bullet” is when the gun is fired from the Race Committee (RC) boat. The gun is fired at significant times during racing:

• when the RC boat leaves the harbour (which scared the bejeebers out of me on Monday, because they were right us when they fired the gun!)
• during the start sequence, to count down the time to the start of the race (5-4-1-Go!)
• when there are any course changes during the race
• when the first boat crosses the finish line!
  

The time I most like to hear the bullet is when my boat crosses the finish line first! OK, OK -- enough gloating. Why did we win the race this week? Here are our keys to success:

1. Start ahead and stay ahead. Especially in light wind conditions, it’s important to be at the start line on time. One of our strengths is our starts, and we had it going on! Three of us had our countdown timers on our watches set, and we communicated frequently about what we were doing, when. We had an excellent start, along with only 1 other boat! The rest of the fleet started with a handicap. They had to make up time right from the beginning.

2. Play well together. It takes some time for each team member to learn their role and how to interact with others. On a sailboat, interacting with others includes knowing where to be physically, communicating quickly, letting others know what you need and what you’ve done, all the while keeping it competitive and light at the same time.

3. Keep everything running smoothly. Keeping everything running smoothly is a constant challenge on a sailboat. We headed out of the harbour 45 minutes before the start of the race and took the time to practice both upwind and downwind. A few things went wonky on the downwind trial that we sorted out before the race. If they had happened during the race, we would have lost our place for sure. Preparing in advance and checking all the lines throughout the race is critical.

What does it all boil down to? Teamwork. Working well together.

Coaching Challenge: How does this translate to your business teams?

Sail Envy

Last week on race night, I noticed how many other boats had crispy, new white sails. They looked beautiful and I could almost hear how crunchy they sounded. Our sails, on the other hand, are old, blown out, mildewy, pitiful and pathetically limp. Man, was I envious!

I remember a time when we got new sails every season. To stay competitive in a competitive fleet, it's necessary! At the time, it sometimes felt a bit excessive, but now I fondly remember the days when other boats had sail envy of us. I remember comments from our competition of how crisp and crunchy they sounded when we tacked. Our tacks were fast too, so they really whipped about!

Now, I have a sad suit of sails and results to match. Even worse, a sailing colleague reminded me that we have a lot more to work on in our crewwork. New sails will only help our performance so much! I have to humbly acknowledge how much this rings true.

Still, I can't wait for the new #2 sail to come in! It will feel great to fly it. It won't be embarrasing to flake it when we come back to dock -- it won't be mildewy and stinky and feel all grungy -- for this season, at least. And we will be a bit more competitive, even if only in appearance. Looks count, y'know! It psychs out the competition.

In the meantime, there certainly is a lot our team has to work towards. We need to work on basic boathandling. We need to have everyone know their roles cold, and know where to put themselves physically. We need to work on getting our tacks much faster -- down to 10 seconds. We need to get our spinnaker work working like clockwork. I could go on & on & on...but that's a good start for now. At least our starts are still happenin'!

Tough Calls

I recently coached a senior manager who needed to address an issue directly with a team member, since it was affecting the performance of the entire team. I’m happy to report that after taking action, his team has shifted 180 degrees! He received positive feedback that the team is really “gelling” now.

This coaching engagement reminded me of a similar instance where I personally experienced this issue in the sailing team I formed last summer. I learned how it’s so much better to take action ashore to ensure the team performs well on the water.

After being away from racing for 2 years, I needed to form a team again, this time for a new, larger sailboat. My original Ladies Racing team had taken the same 2 year sabbatical from racing, and were all eager to get together again and have fun racing. With a larger boat, we needed at least one more crew. A woman was recommended to me, who was known on the racing circuit, with many years of experience. After a brief conversation, I invited her to join the team.

On the race course, my new team had a learning curve to climb with a larger boat and integrating a new crew member. Mid way through the season, I clued into the fact that we weren’t performing as well as we could and nobody seems to be having fun! Checking in with each of my crew individually, they confirmed my suspicions. Nobody was having fun; they weren’t even looking forward to race nights anymore. The new team member wasn’t fitting in and it was affecting the whole team.

My gut instinct told me early on that the new crew wasn’t a fit. However I was focused on my business and turned a blind eye to the issues in my racing team. I wasn’t doing anybody justice by delaying dealing with the issue through the summer.

I knew I needed to kick her off the boat for the betterment of the team. I had the direct conversation, recruited another team member, and set up a trial period. After the first race with the new crew, my gut instinct was telling me that we were having more fun, and starting to gel again as a team. This time, I checked in with the rest of the crew after a few races, and made sure it really was working out for the whole team.


I see many parallels in this experience with building business teams. Recruiting effectively is an important first step. I worked for a company where recruitment decisions were made almost exclusively based on fit. Rather than wait it out to the point where retention of good team members becomes an issue, it is important to nip issues in the bud, and exercise a probation period when necessary. Being the skipper is an enjoyable job, except when the really tough calls have to be made!

Complementary Strengths vs. Interchangeable Roles

I really believe in focusing on strengths, rather than trying to shore up one's weaknesses. Often in teams, it may seem prudent to have someone trained to serve as a backup for another in case of absence; to have team members able to interchange roles. However, when it comes to sailing, and high performance teams, I question this practice.

If I were to change roles with the foredeck crew from being the skipper, it would be a freaking disaster! In fact, we tried this once on a light-wind, up-river, long distance race, just for fun. I gained a new appreciation for the work involved on the foredeck! This awareness, along with the fact that I realized that we contributed best in our chosen roles where we had practiced and honed our skills, was the real benefit of interchanging our roles.

I've heard many stories about how one crew member absent from the regular team causes havoc on the race course. When the skipper decides to mix it up and interchange roles, performance really takes a hit. In fact, I recently heard a story in the One Design racing where a C&C27 team learned this lesson the hard way. They won the first race of the season this year, with the crew in their usual roles; then last week the helmsman was absent, they mixed up the roles, and mixed up their performance as a result. It must have been bad, because they wouldn't even admit how they placed in the results!

I really feel that high performance teams gel when they have team members with complementary strengths, and they focus on their strengths, instead of putting effort towards backup or fallback plans in case of absence. It would be better to put effort on getting committed crew! Do you think America's Cup teams have crew members who interchange roles?! crew who aren't completely, utterly, totally, unquestionably committed to the team?! I don't think so!

WDYT? Do you agree? Or disagree? Share your opinion!

Complementary Strengths

Reflecting on the power in my winning team, I see how we built a team with complementary strengths.

Pete was the co-owner of the T22 Makai, full of energy, passion and a typical “Type A” personality. He had a “big boy’s playpen” at his office, and had the boat indoors in the warehouse space along with other big boy’s toys like sports cars and motorcycles. In the off-season, he spent hours working on the boat, rigging, working on the keel, fine tuning, using his talents to do everything possible to make the boat go fast. On the boat, he had the strength and agility to work foredeck, gybing the spinnaker pole. Peter did whatever it took to get results. He would even climb the mast if we lost a spinnaker halyard!

Scott was the tactician, and worked the middle of the boat. He trimmed the mainsail, genoa and flew the chute. His energy, passion and enthusiasm matched Pete’s. Scott is a creative visionary type, and well suited to the tactician role. He would always have his head in the game, looking out of the boat, surveying all the elements and giving input into our strategic and tactical decisions. He knew the rules, and used his knowledge to give us an edge on the race course. He loved to call people on the rules, yelling and barking at our competition.

I was the helmsperson, the driver. I focused on getting great starts, flying the telltales, keeping the boat on course and making quick decisions based on input from my crew. Some sailors find it unusual to have a woman skipper, although it made perfect sense for us! I had developed repetitive strain injury and chose to focus on driving as something I could do well. Scott took the job of trimming the mainsail upwind, usually the job of the helmsperson on a T22, and this freed me up to focus on keeping us on course. My strengths were focusing; getting results; keeping calm, cool, and collected; and collaborating.

Together, we made a great team. We raced together in all kinds of conditions, from light wind, through heavy storms. We got to know each other so well that we often knew what each other was thinking. We knew the roles that we had carved out for ourselves, and how we interacted best together. We were individually so committed that we wouldn’t intentionally drop our role, although when some condition came into play where we weren’t able to carry our part, someone else would step in to help out. Over the course of many races together, we really gelled.

Coaching Challenge: How will you capitalize on the strengths of your teammates?

Share your success stories! E-mail mailto:Sylvia@SylviaGoodeve.com

A Winning Team

We practiced. We knew our roles. We knew the rules. We were a team. We were ready to take it on the road, and enter our first out of town regatta.

The first racing season, we were pretty consistently “DFL” – Dead F***ing Last. Building our team was challenging: finding someone who had experience or willingness to learn, who was committed to racing, who “fit”. After a number of trials and misfits, we finally found the crew who fit: a passionate, energetic sailor, with incredible tactical ability, and knowledge of the rules!

The second racing season, we moved up to place consistently in the top 5 of the Tanzer 22 sailors on the Ottawa River. The next season, we progressed further, and really honed our skills and teamwork. We placed in the top 3 and started to make a name for ourselves. People started viewing Makai as a boat to beat, instead of “that new boat in the fleet with the woman skipper”.



Then we wanted to see how well we could do against other boats, in another body of water, with the team we built together. We bought a trailer, hauled out, and hit the road for the Tanzer 22 National Championship regatta.

The starting gun was at 10:00 a.m. It was light wind. Our competing sailors were light and jovial, expecting the race was blown off due to the light wind conditions. Still, we kept our heads in the game. Quietly, persistently, we altered course as we dealt with the changing conditions. We caught a slight breath of wind while others behind us were blowing off the race, anticipating the 3 gun signal that would cancel the race.

Instead, we got 2 guns – signalling a shortening of the race course. We needed wind to carry us another half leg of the course, and we could finish the race! Most of the fleet were so far behind that they didn’t have a hope of finishing.

We finished the first race in the top 3! Our competitors brushed it off as “beginners luck”. We knew our teamwork and tenacity paid off. The win built our confidence and inspired us to continue to perform at our best.

Although the wind conditions continued to be light, it picked up enough to allow for the requisite number of races. We scored 1st place in 3 of the 6 races. We turned out to be the boat to beat! We won the National Championship!

Why did we succeed? We had a shared vision: we were in the regatta to have fun, be challenged, and race our best. We were committed: we stayed in the game, and were tenacious despite the atmosphere around us. We communicated well: while others were joking, we whispered our strategies, made decisions, and carried them through. We knew our strengths: the boat performed best in light wind, and we were competent in our individual roles. We demonstrated the power in teamwork. "Together Everyone Achieves More".



"The strength of the team is in each individual member...the strength of each member is in the team."

Coaching Challenge: What experience have you had with a team producing results that surpassed your expectations?

Share your success stories! E-mail mailto:Sylvia@SylviaGoodeve.com