7 Things I’d Tell Anyone Unexpectedly Captaining the Whole Ship

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In April last year, I posted a piece about what it was like being new to senior leadership. While I didn’t know it at the time, the analogy of the ship I used in that post has come to signify something deeply important as I have journeyed through a period of transition and of significant change in my world of work. It’s been a bit like sailing in a storm. The ship’s not yet at the shore but I can see land on the horizon. So here, I write about 7 things I’d tell anyone who unexpectedly finds themselves captaining the whole ship!

Take Your Sea Sick Tablets – the non drowsy kind…

Sometimes unexpected change can be traumatic for a community. Because communities are made up of people and because people are enormously feeling and caring, unexpected change can bring anxiety, anger, fear, uncertainty and distress. People express these genuine emotions in a range of ways and sometimes, in their confusion or hurt, they can be a bit mean. The adage, ‘hurt people hurt people’ is pretty accurate.

Here’s the thing; if you take it personally, it will make you sick. So don’t. Know that sudden change may bring rough seas and be prepared. You may find yourself pushed from pillar to post and back again. There are sure to be times when you’re not sure which way is up. It’s unpleasant but it will pass.

Batten Down the Hatches

Any good captain sees the storm building and commands the crew to prepare. This is not usually done with any degree of double mindedness. It involves strong, clear and specific directions. Faffing about will only make people more anxious. The message is that we’re well prepared. We know how to do this. We know our jobs. We trust. We have each other’s back. We’re committed to everyone’s success.

Don’t be surprised or alarmed by the first wave that crashes over the deck. It was inevitable. Brace yourself and follow your plan with conviction.

Empower Your Crew

Any captain who tries to navigate his or her way through a storm alone is an idiot. Any captain who doesn’t know the skill set and the potential of his or her crew is ignorant. Any captain who fails to release others to do what they do best is incompetent.

Your crew have skill sets. Create opportunities for those skills to be exercised. If you try to do it yourself, you will end up exhausted and your team will feel redundant.

One of the greatest joys for me in these past 12 months has been to give permission to those who lead with me. They have such clever ideas. I dare not limit them. Nor should you.

Keep Your Eyes Above the Waves

When your community is in distress, the waves appear to overwhelm. In truth, waves come and go. They do not last forever.

I grew up on a farm and in our family, we used to say, “If you look up, you don’t notice the pooh on your shoes!”. The same applies to waves. Look up. Look up. Look up!

I have an enduring memory on Wamberal Beach (NSW) growing up in the early 80’s. There was a storm. My sister & I stood in the surf holding hands as the water was sucked from beneath our feet. The wave looming above us appeared huge and overwhelming. We were frightened. We looked each other in the eye, determined to never let go, held our breath, then looked to the horizon. The wave crashed down. We tumbled. Our faces got smashed in the sand. Our arms and legs were akimbo… but we survived. We came out the back of the wave.

You will too!

There is no guarantee you won’t get knocked about but look to the horizon. Looking at the height and power of the waves will only terrify you. Keep your eyes above them.

Know That Storms End

No storm lasts forever. A storm can be hard to endure but in truth, it will pass. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Eventually your ship will pop out the back end of the storm and you will find yourself staring about in wild eyed wonder at the stillness of the water, the calm of the breeze and the colour of the horizon – but pay attention. You may not know whether it is a sunset or a sunrise that you see. Take the time to discern the difference.

Anticipate the Squalls

When I  described my year to a friend, he encouraged me to think of it in terms of earthquakes and aftershocks – the main event followed by smaller and less devastating events. Storms still sit with me and the image I have of a boat and waves is so strong, I can’t let it go. Rather than aftershocks, I think of squalls – sudden, violent, high pitched whiney things that have little strength but the power to scare those who listen to the noise.

Don’t listen. Look up, look out, point to the shore. Everyone on board needs this.

Remember it’s your job to bring the ship to shore

In this season, there is little room for the pity party or a victim mentality. Sorry, but it’s true. If you are a leader, too many people are depending upon you to bring the ship safely to shore – here and now, there is no time for the ‘woe is me’. Certainly, you will need to pay attention to your physical, spiritual and mental health – no question – but don’t indulge the describing or reliving the storm you have encountered. Once the ship makes it to shore and you have disembarked, there will be plenty of time for reflection. Raul Armesto says, The world isn’t interested in the storms you encountered, but whether or not you brought in the ship.

Personally, people’s journeys and the storms they face do interest me – I am overwhelmed with compassion for them – but I understand his point. There’s an end goal and it’s the safety of all on board. When that is what drives you, you will find energy and drive as you have never known. Leaders all, bring your ship to the shore and when all have disembarked, raise your glass to the horizon and declare, salut!

Tackling Tin Gods

I took the plunge and read the book!

After all the hype and the “Don’t think I can bear it if it’s not as good as To Kill a Mockingbird!” I jumped in anyway. Last week on the day of its release, my husband presented me with a copy of Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee’s second novel. I was so excited I squealed out loud and proceeded to display my gift to anyone within a 2 mile radius.

“Look!” I said. “I can’t wait to get home and start reading it!”

Those within 2 miles seemed less impressed. Either they thought I was weird for squealing over a book they’d never heard of, or, and this was the majority, they were scared to read it. That’s right. Scared.

I was agog.

“What do you mean, ‘scared’?” There was even a late night email exchange between teachers.

It seems that those who had read and loved To Kill a Mockingbird were afraid they would be disappointed – disappointed either in the plot or the quality of the writing but, more than that, they were afraid that Atticus wouldn’t be Atticus. Now those of you who have either read the book or watched the film know what I mean. For those who don’t, Atticus is the father of Jean Louise Finch (Scout). A lawyer living in Southern Alabama in the 1930’s, he’s a wise, good and noble man who defends a black man wrongly accused of a terrible crime. The jury is all white. The world loved Atticus Finch even before Gregory Peck sealed the deal, performing the lead role in the 1962 film version of the novel.

Without causing any spoilers, the Atticus of Go Set a Watchman is indeed different but we do need to bear in mind that while the novel has been publicised as a sequel, it is in fact a first draft in which the publishers saw a different story. While I believe they were right to urge Lee to re-write, I don’t believe this makes the story inferior and nor do I believe readers will come away believing Atticus to be the dreadful bigot we begin to suspect.

The title of the novel comes from Isaiah 21:6 in an oracle against Jerusalem. In the novel it alludes to Atticus’ role as the moral agent of his time and Jean Louise’s disillusionment with the man she saw as a god growing up. Jean Louise’s journey is the reader’s journey. She turns and tackles the ‘tin god’ she had made of Atticus and readers must do the same. He is neither a god, nor Gregory Peck (sorry girls!)

So what’s the point of a novel review as a blog post? Simply this. After finishing the novel I was reflecting on Atticus’ humanity in all its flawed reality. I questioned whether I had made a tin god of my equally wise, good and noble father (a true and absolute gentleman by the way). I wondered about my expectations of others and how unrealistic and unfair some of these might be. And I was reminded that I am no man’s (or woman’s) judge.

What’s great is that in the end, Jean Louise chooses to see the good and chooses to love despite the imperfection. What an example to us. When we are disappointed, even shocked, by the flaws in others we have never been previously aware of, by the raw and sin affected nature of humanity, let’s choose to see as God sees – as hard as that may be. Not the disappointing and unreliable but the redeemed – the restored – perhaps even the reconciled.