The annual Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta 2009, now in its 20th year, took place from Nov 13-22. My husband, Aubry, was part of the crew on Eveline (a 43-ft boat built of wood in Shanghai in 1911) and I joined them for the final race. I discovered sailing is not as easy as it seems. In fact, it requires teamwork, leadership and management skills — all essential success factors in the corporate world.
I witnessed some of these extraordinary skills displayed by the teams during the Regatta. Everyone knew exactly what they had to do and worked seamlessly. I spoke with Malcolm Elliot, skipper of Coup de Soleil, a 46ft 1978 Peterson Cutter that has already sailed around the world once. Elliot also takes his yacht out for teambuilding exercises, and he stressed the importance of teamwork in sailing. “There is no point in having someone who is great at one job, but who just gets on with it regardless of what other people are doing… both their, and other people’s efforts, would be wasted,” says Elliot.
Datuk Richard Curtis, skipper and owner of Eveline, says: “Sailing requires each and every person on the yacht to know their role, the limits of their competencies, the risk of their improper actions and the need to be paying attention.” No role is too small not to have the potential for causing trouble, he adds. It made me think that sailing must be a great training tool, and Malcolm and Richard agree. Both say taking people out of the workplace environment and putting them into an unfamiliar and challenging environment like sailing forces them to work together to solve problems.
“This way they find themselves solving problems and communicating quickly without any hidden agendas. There simply isn’t time to debate other issues other than what needs to be done at that moment in order to keep the boat and crew sailing safely and as fast as possible,” says Malcolm. Richard says: “There is nothing more satisfying than, for instance, a sail direction change under strong wind that has been executed perfectly by the crew working together, knowing what to do, when, and getting it right.”
Malcolm says sailing also teaches leadership skills. What you learn from sailing as a skipper is “how to best understand people’s strengths and utilise them effectively, while also helping that person overcome certain weaknesses. It is important to try to help people understand how the boat sails so that they can see how the job they are doing affects the overall efficiency of the boat… that way you can get the best from everyone”, he says.
Says Richard: “As a skipper, I have leant that I am always learning, that I can never be too prepared for eventualities and that I need to ensure my crew is a team since overall safety of the crew and the yacht is my personal responsibility. I also realise my crew is only as good as the leadership and attention they are given by the skipper. I discover more and more that sound preparation is vital. I recall a US$2 million-professionally skippered yacht stranded without power or navigation in the Straits of Melaka after a lightning strike in a storm.” Fortunately, Richard’s yacht carried a generous stock of batteries and this was passed to the stranded yacht. Richard says that sailing teaches not just teamwork and leadership skills but also tactical thinking. “When racing, a key skill you have to develop is that of thinking tactically. First is to develop a strategic plan before taking into account the winds, tides, crew and yacht capabilities/competencies and of course your competitors, establish some goals in terms of results targeted and then set up the platform for it to be implemented. Having done so and checked it, discussed and refined it with your crew, you then need to be ready to change it immediately should conditions change (for example, wind direction). Frankly business can sometimes seem like a walk in the park after a day’s hard yacht-racing,” he says, adding that to tack (or turn) Eveline in a strong wind when racing requires six people working in sync.
Richard laments that sadly, sailing is rarely used in Malaysia as a training tool or for teambuilding. “I think the lack of air-conditioning, a latent fear of the uncertainties and of water generally (too many Malaysians either cannot swim or are frightened of the sea!) have put people off. Sailing needs a tradition led by corporate leaders to develop this… Hopefully given time this will change!”
I couldn’t agree more. Since Malaysia is targeting the MICE market, I think we should sell the country as a key corporate training ground using sailing. There is fabulous sailing to be had in our waters and with all that it can teach about teamwork, leadership and management development, sailing seems like an ideal training tool. After all, isn’t the skipper the CEO of his boat?
Tengku Zatashah, daughter of the Sultan of Selangor, is a former journalist who has worked in Paris, London, Barcelona and Kuala Lumpur. She is in the process of launching a venture in Malaysia together with her husband, Aubry Rahim Mennesson.
This article appeared in Manager@Work, the monthly management pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 783, Nov 30 - Dec 6, 2009.
