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