“The wind will do what the wind wants to do!”
This March, Better Your Best’s first cohort of our flagship leadership development course Leading Self celebrated its completion of a year “learning journey!” An interesting theme emerged over the year: the correlation between sailing and leadership. As sailboats at sea, without a clear destination, good charts, and a compass, companies without a plan will find themselves at the mercy of the wind. It’s easy to veer off course without a team of people equipped to rise to every leadership moment.
With this theme in mind, we were thrilled to have Dorian van Rijsselberghe join our cohort’s last session and share lessons in leadership he has learned as a two-time Olympic windsurfer. His message resonated deeply with all of us:
“There are many ways that a ship and a company are similar. There needs to be a destination, someone at the helm, someone needs to be a captain, someone to work the sail, and others to work all the different aspects of the company/ship. The wind does what the wind wants to do – how you respond to it, is what makes the difference. It only takes one person to recognize a change in course (in the wind) – for that person to open their mouth, to communicate, that is crucial, that is important. Not everyone is looking the same way.”
Great teams are made up of leaders who are not only able to notice the wind doing what the wind wants to do; they are ready and equipped to respond and guide the ship along its course to meet any moment.
Leading Self participants completed their year confident in:
- Knowing and playing to their performance strengths, driving forces, and core competencies
- Taking Radical Responsibility for their thoughts, words and actions
- Leaning into the important conversations that matter most to organizations
Equipping leaders to rise to the moment with confidence and purpose is the chief objective of Leading Self. We’d love to include your leaders (and leaders-to-be) in our next cohort; every boat deserves a great crew!
Our Next Cohort starts MAY 1st.
Want to learn more? Let’s set up a call!
TestimonialThursday – We asked our 2023 cohort what they are celebrating as a result of having finished the first stage of LEADING SELF in March! Here’s what Wendy had to say:
“So many things: our group as a whole, how far everyone has come, and how they committed to the course and doing the work. The relationships and trust that has developed. We put the time in and the leadership differences I see around the firm have permeated across the organization.” Wendy Allen COO Digby Leigh & Co.