What are the attributes of an outstanding skipper?

Take a good hard look at yourself, and tell me which
attributes you feel need improvement in yourself.

Tell me what you plan to do to effect such improvements.

I'll start with a look at myself.



Attributes: Giving clear direction. Assigning Tasks.

Empowering my crew.



My problem area. I find I sometimes want to see

things run too perfectly or too quickly when speed is

not really important. So when someone else has trouble,

instead of talking them through it, I jump on it myself.



That does not empower my crew!



To fix this, I intend to delegate more by assigning tasks and

when people have questions, I'll ask them what they think

needs to be done to accomplish the task, and in the mean

time I'll focus on other issues to keep myself busy.


What are the attributes of an outstanding skipper?

Take a good hard look at yourself, and tell me which
attributes you feel need improvement in yourself.

Tell me what you plan to do to effect such improvements.

Interesting thread. I wonder how many people will be honest about their
problem areas.

I think my attributes as a skipper are giving clear direction, assigning
tasks, and giving everyone equal time at the helm or whatever post they
like. I believe I'm even-handed in praise and criticism, and I'm quick to
praise and slow to anger. I believe in the philosophy that says five good
things to say for every negative thing (well, three maybe). I think I'm
appropriately cautious.

I don't yell, but I do raise my voice to be heard. I think I make fairly
quick and fairly accurate judgements about someone's ability, or lack of
ability, to do a specific task. However, I think this is also a problem
area. I've seen this happen when teaching, wherein I make a judgement about
someone and am then proven wrong by later events. I believe that I need to
be more objective rather than subjective.

I think that the only way correct this situation, to be more objective, is
to do a tally at the end of the day, a formal list, of what a particular
person did well and didn't do well with, and then see what the balance looks
like. I tend to go by my impression first, which is not necessarily a bad
thing, but it can be misleading if used exclusively or in excess.

One interesting side note to this is a book I strongly recommend. It's
called Blink: The power of thinking without really thinking, by Malcom
Gladwell. It's short enough to be read in a day or so, but has a lot to say.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message ...
I'll start with a look at myself.



Attributes: Giving clear direction. Assigning Tasks.

Empowering my crew.



My problem area. I find I sometimes want to see

things run too perfectly or too quickly when speed is

not really important. So when someone else has trouble,

instead of talking them through it, I jump on it myself.



That does not empower my crew!



To fix this, I intend to delegate more by assigning tasks and

when people have questions, I'll ask them what they think

needs to be done to accomplish the task, and in the mean

time I'll focus on other issues to keep myself busy.


What are the attributes of an outstanding skipper?

Take a good hard look at yourself, and tell me which
attributes you feel need improvement in yourself.

Tell me what you plan to do to effect such improvements.

I often take crew aside and ask them how they think
they did. In private they are quick to admit their faults
Some of them elaborate, and some just admit making a
mistake. I praise what they did well and stress the
concept of thinking ahead. I then make a few suggestions
on areas to practice. This sounds is very similar to what
you do Jon. Like you I sometimes take notes and hit them
with a list of things so I can get the bad news over quickly.

I always try to make people feel comfortable with me
as a skipper and I can think of only one time when one
girl tried to cover up her mistakes--I overheard her lying
on the phone to her boyfriend about what happened.

On the other hand, I personally have a problem crewing
for someone when I'm expected to be something between
the skipper and crew. My solution is to avoid such situations
and clearly define all roles on the boat.

So, what did you learn from this book Blink?

"Capt. JG" wrote

I think that the only way correct this situation, to be more objective, is
to do a tally at the end of the day, a formal list, of what a particular
person did well and didn't do well with, and then see what the balance
looks
like. I tend to go by my impression first, which is not necessarily a bad
thing, but it can be misleading if used exclusively or in excess.

One interesting side note to this is a book I strongly recommend. It's
called Blink: The power of thinking without really thinking, by Malcom
Gladwell. It's short enough to be read in a day or so, but has a lot to
say.

Actually, my experience has been that they quickly admit their mistakes with
the other students present. Usually, I have to correct them in that... some
of what they say are not truly mistakes, but rather deficiencies in
experience, which are easily correctable with time on the water. In fact,
most of the time, a mistake will only happen once, as they're unlikely to
forget it.

I usually lie about my assistant, jokingly telling the students that
so-and-so has crossed oceans.

More about Blink in a while. I'm off to breakfast.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message ...
I often take crew aside and ask them how they think
they did. In private they are quick to admit their faults
Some of them elaborate, and some just admit making a
mistake. I praise what they did well and stress the
concept of thinking ahead. I then make a few suggestions
on areas to practice. This sounds is very similar to what
you do Jon. Like you I sometimes take notes and hit them
with a list of things so I can get the bad news over quickly.

I always try to make people feel comfortable with me
as a skipper and I can think of only one time when one
girl tried to cover up her mistakes--I overheard her lying
on the phone to her boyfriend about what happened.

On the other hand, I personally have a problem crewing
for someone when I'm expected to be something between
the skipper and crew. My solution is to avoid such situations
and clearly define all roles on the boat.

So, what did you learn from this book Blink?

"Capt. JG" wrote

I think that the only way correct this situation, to be more objective,
is
to do a tally at the end of the day, a formal list, of what a particular
person did well and didn't do well with, and then see what the balance
looks
like. I tend to go by my impression first, which is not necessarily a bad
thing, but it can be misleading if used exclusively or in excess.

One interesting side note to this is a book I strongly recommend. It's
called Blink: The power of thinking without really thinking, by Malcom
Gladwell. It's short enough to be read in a day or so, but has a lot to
say.

What I learned from Blink... trust your first impressions backed up by
experience.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
Actually, my experience has been that they quickly admit their mistakes
with the other students present. Usually, I have to correct them in
that... some of what they say are not truly mistakes, but rather
deficiencies in experience, which are easily correctable with time on the
water. In fact, most of the time, a mistake will only happen once, as
they're unlikely to forget it.

I usually lie about my assistant, jokingly telling the students that
so-and-so has crossed oceans.

More about Blink in a while. I'm off to breakfast.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message ...
I often take crew aside and ask them how they think
they did. In private they are quick to admit their faults
Some of them elaborate, and some just admit making a
mistake. I praise what they did well and stress the
concept of thinking ahead. I then make a few suggestions
on areas to practice. This sounds is very similar to what
you do Jon. Like you I sometimes take notes and hit them
with a list of things so I can get the bad news over quickly.

I always try to make people feel comfortable with me
as a skipper and I can think of only one time when one
girl tried to cover up her mistakes--I overheard her lying
on the phone to her boyfriend about what happened.

On the other hand, I personally have a problem crewing
for someone when I'm expected to be something between
the skipper and crew. My solution is to avoid such situations
and clearly define all roles on the boat.

So, what did you learn from this book Blink?

"Capt. JG" wrote

I think that the only way correct this situation, to be more objective,
is
to do a tally at the end of the day, a formal list, of what a particular
person did well and didn't do well with, and then see what the balance
looks
like. I tend to go by my impression first, which is not necessarily a
bad
thing, but it can be misleading if used exclusively or in excess.

One interesting side note to this is a book I strongly recommend. It's
called Blink: The power of thinking without really thinking, by Malcom
Gladwell. It's short enough to be read in a day or so, but has a lot to
say.

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message ...
I often take crew aside and ask them how they think
they did. In private they are quick to admit their faults
Some of them elaborate, and some just admit making a
mistake. I praise what they did well and stress the
concept of thinking ahead.

Good Grief Bart... that's awfully condescending. None of my crew to the man
woman or child would tolerate that attitude from a skipper. Any poor
performance of crew aboard a vessel is due to the skipper's short
comings.... not the crew. It's not about how quick they did a task, nor is
it about how flawlessly they preformed... it's about having fun on the
water.

A crack race crew behaves much differently than a cruising crew. The
expectations of the skipper should match the conditions. There is no "I" in
team.

CM

There is nothing condescending about it, if done
in private. Most of the time it is the crew that are
talking about how they did. How can that be
condescending?

BTW, most of these are training situations with
students.


"Capt.Mooron" wrote

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote
I often take crew aside and ask them how they think
they did. In private they are quick to admit their faults
Some of them elaborate, and some just admit making a
mistake. I praise what they did well and stress the
concept of thinking ahead.

Good Grief Bart... that's awfully condescending. None of my crew to the
man
woman or child would tolerate that attitude from a skipper. Any poor
performance of crew aboard a vessel is due to the skipper's short
comings.... not the crew. It's not about how quick they did a task, nor is
it about how flawlessly they preformed... it's about having fun on the
water.

A crack race crew behaves much differently than a cruising crew. The
expectations of the skipper should match the conditions. There is no "I"
in
team.

CM

"Capt.Mooron" wrote

A crack race crew behaves much differently than a cruising
crew. The
expectations of the skipper should match the conditions. There
is no "I" in
team.


but there is an ''I'' in 'sailing.

2 of em!

Scotty

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message ...
What are the attributes of an outstanding skipper?

Take a good hard look at yourself, and tell me which
attributes you feel need improvement in yourself.

Tell me what you plan to do to effect such improvements.


Excellent subject Bart.....

I have never questioned my leadership abilities.... they simply exist.
Concerns regarding maintaining discipline, crew dynamics or control have
never materialized. I have no understanding of situations where a Captain
has been challenged or direction has been questioned. It has simply never
occurred aboard any vessel I have skippered.

The ability to deliver command without question is directly associated with
the confidence and respect you have evoked from the crew. Nothing more and
nothing less. No book smarts nor certifications will ever bestow that on
anyone.

The obligations of leadership must be recognized prior to being implemented.
These include the vessel and the crew.

Improvements and strong points?..... Command is a dynamic position
requiring flexibility within a rigid operational structure. The dynamics
change with each crew/vessel

Never question your leadership abilities or commands. If you are taking time
to dissect your leadership skills here.... that uncertainty will in reality
be reflected onboard and will be seen as a sign of weakness.

The crew's confidence is a measure of the Captain's abilities. You'll have
it down pat when nobody knows who the Captain is.... but the crew!

CM