ASK Leadership Coaching

What does Sailing have to do with Coaching?

I had the good fortune to attend a summer camp with sailing lessons as a tween. I was enthralled but scared. The first time in a small boat by myself I was pushed sideways 100 yards rather than moving forward…and immediately took the boat back to the mooring area. Someone on shore pointed out the simple mistake that could have had me making forward progress. I was defeated, and embarrassed.  

This didn’t feel like a life lesson to 13-year-old me.  I didn’t see a parallel between this and my life as a whole…not yet anyway.  But I did get back in the boat. A few years later, I discovered a book by Richard Bode titled, First You Have to Row a Little Boat¹.. Here’s a wonderful quote from the book:

“…when I learned to sail as a youth, I had no idea that the lessons of simple seamanship had such universal applicant and would stand me in such a good stead later on. I did not sense a wind shift and say to myself, aha there is another one of life’s little lessons. I tacked, jibed, drifted, anchored; I adjusted myself to the conditions I found…”

I later taught sailing for several years. Over countless lessons I saw fears calmed, confidence boosted, and partnerships built. In my professional career I was drawn to providing these same tools to others. While Higher Education and Academic Medicine might seem as different from sailing as possible, I found a great parallel. 

And now I am launching myself into the world of coaching. Why? Because everyone needs a partner when they find themselves “adrift.” We all need to find what grounds us and, ultimately, an objective thought partner to help navigate the choppy waters of life.

Bode, Richard. First You Have to Row a Little Boat. Grand Center Publishing 1993. ↩︎