The
other day at the next marina, there was a 32-foot cabin cruiser
attempting to tie up to the dock. The captain was having a difficult
time bringing the boat near the dock – very entertaining for the
observers in our marina.
First,
the boat was aiming at the dock on an angle instead being parallel to
it – and it was coming too fast stop before running into the dock.
The captain reversed the props and shoved the throttle to full power,
jerking the boat in the opposite direction (toward our marina's
dock). The captain then jammed the transmission into forward and
again pushed the throttle to the max – the boat came to a sudden
stop, then jumped forward quickly gaining speed, so the captain
jerked the wheel which took the boat out into the channel.
The
two marinas were temporarily safe, but boat traffic in the channel
was now in peril. Captain Dangerous spun the wheel, reversed the
transmission yet again, and went to full throttle again. Now he was
traveling backwards in a U toward boats in the channel that had
stopped to give him room to maneuver. He did another spin, shift,
full power cycle and was now going 180 degrees from the original
direction, heading toward moored boats in the marina.
For
the next 20 minutes he continued these maneuvers with no better
results, stopped traffic in the channel, and threatened several
marinas in the area. Finally got close enough that a dock hand could
toss a line to boat and he pulled the boat into the dock (first mate
was almost pulled out of the boat before the captain thought to cut
the engines).
It
takes skill and planning to 'drive' a boat – and plenty of practice
to do it well. Moves are deliberate, changing paths are anticipated
well in advance and made gradually.
As I
was watching Captain D from one of the boats at risk in the channel,
I realized how similar captaining a boat is to leading an
organization.
A
leader should have a vision of the outcome, steadily move toward the
goal, make deliberate changes when appropriate, and learn from
experience (good or bad) to become a better leader.
Failing
to do this may entertain outsiders, while putting the organization and
others at risk.
