Manage by Pirating around
While being a Pirate can be quite enjoyable, all the freedom and adventure also comes with a bit of responsibility. A good pirate captain is only as good as her ship and crew. That means that a pirate is always responsible for growing and maintaining a motivated, committed and innovative crew.
What are the best ways to motivate a crew, any crew? With mentoring, praise, a share of the treasure, and alignment of values.
It is a Pirate captain’s main job to mentor the crew. How can someone handle the rigging or sheets without training? How can someone learn to read the wind and follow the currents without a mentor? Pirates know that it is unfair to grade someone on a task without first training them, and then training them again, and then letting them make a few mistakes, and then trusting and mentoring them.
A trusted crew will rise to the challenge of sailing the ship. A wise captain will notice and praise success. This is not about giving out T-shirts and ribbons for 15th place, or celebrating coming in last even though we tried. This is not handing out random "good job" awards. This is praise that states clearly what was done well so the crew knows what to be proud of and what to do more of. A wise pirate can say: I appreciate the way you handled the sheets in the wind; You did a great job navigating that shallow reef. Specific praise while looking the person in the eyes.
Anyone who helps find the treasure by sailing in rough seas deserves an equal cut of the treasure. Sharing is something that we should all of learned in kindergarten, and something that we need to remember to keep doing.
While being a Pirate can be quite enjoyable, all the freedom and adventure also comes with a bit of responsibility. A good pirate captain is only as good as her ship and crew. That means that a pirate is always responsible for growing and maintaining a motivated, committed and innovative crew.
What are the best ways to motivate a crew, any crew? With mentoring, praise, a share of the treasure, and alignment of values.
It is a Pirate captain’s main job to mentor the crew. How can someone handle the rigging or sheets without training? How can someone learn to read the wind and follow the currents without a mentor? Pirates know that it is unfair to grade someone on a task without first training them, and then training them again, and then letting them make a few mistakes, and then trusting and mentoring them.
A trusted crew will rise to the challenge of sailing the ship. A wise captain will notice and praise success. This is not about giving out T-shirts and ribbons for 15th place, or celebrating coming in last even though we tried. This is not handing out random "good job" awards. This is praise that states clearly what was done well so the crew knows what to be proud of and what to do more of. A wise pirate can say: I appreciate the way you handled the sheets in the wind; You did a great job navigating that shallow reef. Specific praise while looking the person in the eyes.
Anyone who helps find the treasure by sailing in rough seas deserves an equal cut of the treasure. Sharing is something that we should all of learned in kindergarten, and something that we need to remember to keep doing.
Share the rum and the gold.
Finally, why would someone sail on my ship if I did not value their efforts and their spirit? How could they be a good crew member if I did not acknowledge the ways that their values were also the values of the ship? Wild seas and capricious winds demand that a crew and captain can work together. A wise pirate makes sure that values are aligned and valued before the ship leaves port.
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