I’ve never sailed. You know, as in take a vessel out on water and navigate it myself. I was allowed to drive / steer a fishing boat on Lake Kariba when I was twelve. But that was it. I don’t even know if I’ve used wrong terms or whatever… This isn’t my forte hence the self-doubt.
However, I’ve seen enough on videos, TV, movies etc. to have an idea. Particularly films where they used the ol’ fashioned sail boats.
I’ve made many plans before, as have many, and a lot of them never panned out the way I imagined. Looking back on my life a lot has had to do with adjusting my sails to the wind. Life and leadership demand that.
Control over our plans varies with contexts. The dynamics of the environment demand our responses. Anyone who fails to understand the demands of his environment and the future cannot lead well. Innovation is crippled and irrelevance is guaranteed.
This is where sailing applies to all. Navigating and defining any future is a lot like sailing. I have to remind myself and everyone in the process; change is necessary for progress.
Successful sailors constantly read the wind. Just a reminder: “the wind” can be anything in your environment that determines your progress. It is often something that you cannot create but harness.
Frustration often the results when we try to create and dominate what can only be harnessed [Click to Tweet]
As you peer into the future, identify the wind in your present surround. That which has momentum of its own, when you tap into can become your momentum…
Identify the work you need to do to harness what already is. When was the last time you considered the things in your environment you need to adjust to?
Momentum doesn’t always need to be created, just harnessed [Click to Tweet]
Your work or focus is not always creating, but doing things that help make your creations relevant. That is what progress is about; giving our labour purpose and relevance.
You don’t have to fight everything in your surround; some things are power waiting to be harnessed.
Identify your sails, things that must shift. Identify your wind, things that enhance your movement toward goals. Live and lead boldly. Dare. Start.
[Photo Credit: Nouhailler | cc]