December 9, 2024
Top 10 leadership insights for building a high performance sailing team
In 2000, I was selected to skipper LG FLATRON, one of 12 identical boats competing in the BT Global Challenge 2000-1. Each skipper inherited a team of 30 crew volunteers, drawn from all walks of life (the youngest on my team was 18 years, the oldest 60). We had just 5 weeks together before the start to build the team and establish our culture, values and the way we would operate.
The race itself started in September 2000 and would last 10 months, racing against the wind through some of the most dangerous oceans of the world.
Our team dominated the race from the start to the finish, winning 4 our of 7 legs. I put this down to our values and culture that was pre-determined before the gun started.
Here are my top 10 insights for why we won the race
On every leg of the race we focused on winning the start and getting our nose out in front within the first 72 hours. If you can give your team an early advantage and establish the pecking order. Competitors tend to follow.
Focus on doing the basics well and weight the key factors for success. On Team LG, we sailed the shortest distance, instilled a culture of continuous improvement, looked after the boat, looked after each other and let our competitors worry about why we were fast.
Winning is infectious and breeds self belief, as acclaimed NFL Coach, Vince Lombardi said “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”
Every four hour watch there was a handover and this was a moment when there was a measurable lack of focus as team members adjusted to their new surroundings. We minimised any losses by ensuring that every key crew member took time to share knowledge with their counterpart.
The Challenge 72 was a brand new one-design yacht, so we had to develop a learning culture onboard to ensure we optimised the yacht’s performance. Every 15 minutes we manually datalogged the boat’s performance and timed every sail change so we had a benchmark to improve upon each day.
Do you have the opportunity of doing what you’re best at every day? One of my coaches, a senior executive of British Telecom who was a crew volunteer onboard Team LG said in one of our team meetings, “We need to ensure that Conrad plays to his strengths and stays focused on strategy and helping us sail fast.”
This links to my next point about shared leadership and also the art of followship. Create a shared leadership environment and then back your team to take tough decisions. They will reward you by stepping up at critical moments, allowing you the space to plan your next move.
Build a leadership team around you and empower them to take decisions. Don’t succumb to the need to rubber stamp every decision which demotivates and undermines your team, see also point number 7.
My worst moment in the BT Global Challenge was when our closest competitor Compaq beat us into La Rochelle and closed within 5 points for the overall win. We came out on the next leg and match-raced them off the course. We absorbed the pressure and then counter attacked to win the leg and the overall Princess Royal Trophy.
Reward successes as they arise rather than waiting for big year end or quarterly reviews. Create and celebrate mini-victories “First give people a battle they can win and they will go on winning tougher and tougher battles for you” Viscount Slim. Remember success breeds success and winning is infectious.
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."
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