By any account, the last year has been momentous in my personal life. I was the first female skipper to win the Transpacific Yacht Race (Transpac) from Los Angeles, CA to Honolulu. Often, I’m asked about how my approach to the race, specifically in terms of leadership and planning, led to my team’s success.
After several presentations on the topic and hours of reflection, I have clarified my philosophy to be made of five central tenets: Vision, authenticity, receptivity, perseverance and community. Conveniently, each of these also contributes to my success and enjoyment in private club leadership (as the commodore of the San Diego Yacht Club) and strategic planning (as part of the team at Strategic Club Solutions).
Vision
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else - Yogi Berra
It was always my dream to skipper my own boat in Transpac. I knew what kind of boat I wanted, how I wanted it to look, and the kind of experience I wanted to have. I made plans and worked hard to prepare for the race. Leading up to the race, every decision I made was with my vision in mind. Club leadership and planning is no different. As commodore, I think about what I want the club to be, how I want the members to feel. As a strategic planner, I think about how I want the process to go and what I want the end product to look like.
Authenticity
Be yourself because the people who matter don’t mind and the people who mind don’t matter - Dr. Seuss
Authenticity is about being genuine and having the confidence in yourself to keep moving forward. Especially as a female in a male-dominated sport, I had to believe in myself and shut out the naysayers, even after our finish. Fortunately, authenticity now comes easily to me, but I wasn’t always comfortable being unapologetically me. The benefits both personally and professionally of me building my confidence, vulnerability and genuinity have been immeasurable. I’m able to build rapport and trust easily, both of which are essential in private club leadership and planning.
Receptivity
I used to give the advice of saying yes to every opportunity. I no longer give that advice. Instead, I say be receptive to the opportunities your way and prepared to be able to take them. In ocean racing, this meant pushing myself outside my comfort zone to gain experience and properly preparing the boat so that during the race we could take advantage of weather that propelled us ahead. Being open and receptive to new ideas is essential in dealing with membership and leadership at private clubs. This is true both as the commodore and as a consultant.
Perseverance
When you’re going through he**, keep going. - Yogi Berra
I was never the kid who won a lot of races. I was never the adult who won a lot of races, for that matter. But I kept at it. I was true to my vision and myself. I just kept going. During the race, there were some boring moments, some scary moments and a lot of tiring moments, but we kept going. In the grand scheme of things, it’s hard to say that private clubs endure a lot of adversity, but we do have challenges. Whether I’m commodore-ing or consulting, I think it’s important to not only persevere, but to encourage others to as well. We all end up in a better place.
Community
No man is an island… - John Donne
This is the most important tenet of all, and central to my life. It wasn’t me who won the race, it was the team. That includes people on the boat as well as the hundreds who supported us. My advice? Listen to the advice and take what suits the situation, ask for and accept help, build bridges and relationships, and remember that it’s about the people at the end of the day.
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