How to Lead Like a Coxswain
Anyone who has ever seen a crew team rowing down the river has likely wondered why one person is a passenger and everyone else in the boat is rowing like mad. It would seem the coxswain has the easiest job in the boat.
It’s actually incredibly difficult and my 16 year-old daughter (who is a coxswain) has taught me a few great leadership lessons as I’ve watched her cox over the past few seasons.
As you run your organizations there are a few lessons you can take from her and apply to be better leaders of your teams as well. They’re counter-intuitive approaches to leadership but if you apply them well I think you’ll be very pleased with the results.
Those lessons are:
– Know your team’s needs at any given moment
– Small tweaks can have a big impact
– Being small doesn’t mean being weak
– Demand a lot from your team – they’re up to it
Here’s how those lessons can be applied:
Know your team’s needs at any given moment
Crew teams tend to have long days on the water and races can take them from elation to despair depending on how well they race. Great coxswains know where their team members’ heads are at. They know when the team is down and needs picked up. They understand if the team is stressed and they calm them down. They know if the team is excited and they channel that energy. A great coxswain pays attention to the team’s mood and adjusts their coaching accordingly.
Where is your team’s head at today? What kind of mood are they in? Do your coaching and leadership techniques take that mental state into account? Are you flexible enough to change styles quickly to match the mood of the team?
Small tweaks can have a big impact
When I first saw my daughter cox, I was completely unaware of the little steering movements she was responsible for by way of a hidden steering system. The adjustments she makes make the difference between winning and colliding with another boat. The steering corrections she makes by guiding the rowers to change stroke determine if they pull ahead in the race or run aground. Those changes in direction are miniscule but they have a big impact. If she overcorrects, it’s a disaster.
When you change direction for your team, are they small and subtle movements or massive changes? Do you gently guide the team in a new direction or do you make huge shifts all at once? Many smaller yet frequent changes are sometimes better and less disruptive than large shifts.
Being small doesn’t mean being weak
Coxswains are physically tiny. Like *really* tiny. That said, they’re usually the strongest member of the team in terms of leadership and direction. They have to get four or eight other highly-accomplished athletes rowing in perfect synchronicity. They also have to lead all team movements from the boat trailer to rigging to launch to recovery. A coxswain is always performing some leadership task to get the team to its destination safely and in a winning way.
No matter your physical presence or your tenure with the organization, do you take full control of the team at all times? Do your words and action carry weight for your team and get them moving in the right direction? Regardless of stature (physical or organizational) remember your team looks to you for leadership. Get over any hang-ups or insecurities then step up and lead.
Demand a lot from your team – they’re up to it
A great coxswain knows what the team is capable of. They push that team to row as hard as they can when the occasion calls for it. They balance between an even, steady pace and what is called a “power 10” or even a “power 20” which is 10 or 20 strokes as hard as the team is able. They push the teams as hard as possible when it makes sense to do so. And I’ve yet to see a time when she pushed a team and they didn’t step up regardless of how exhausted they were.
Do you know your team’s limits? Are you demanding of great performance? Do you push them hard when the occasion requires it? Are you unafraid to ask the impossible and guide them and cheer them along the way to achieving it?
Go be a coxswain for your team
Know your team and push them hard. Make small tweaks and changes in direction rather than taking a sudden herky jerky approach. Forget about size and tenure and let your leadership speak for itself.
– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC
– Get the latest updates on my upcoming book One Piece of Paper – CLICK HERE
Photo: In Unison by Michael Coghlan
As a rower, I liked this blog. I would add that self-reflection and true self confidence is a more important attribute of a leader http://stepwise.tumblr.com/post/4943694178/ready-to-wear-leadership-advice
Steph
Thank you for writing about the leadership of the coxswain on a rowing team. I also like to think about rowing teams as a metaphor for “leading from any position”. I see leadersip as a reciprocal relationship, the key word being reciprocal. On a successful rowing team the relationship of the coxswain and the crew members also illustrates the relationship between a high level of cooperation and the quality of outcomes that the group achieves, quality that is compromised in many organizations by the most perplexing question of all, how do you prevent "politics at work" from sabotaging a department, a team or the whole organization? I believe the hallmark of successful leadership is the capacity to inspire others to perform well, enabling the success of their work unit (team, department, etc.) and in turn the organization. Individuals who regularly do that are leaders, regardless of their position in the hierarchy. They are individuals who by their very presence have a positive effect on co-workers. Individuals engaged in "politics" are not leaders, they are not focused on the success of the group. They are reactive and unable to manage their own anxiety. Success comes when each individual takes responsibility for self, with an awareness of what the group needs most from him or her.
In my experience, when individuals engage others in a way that reduces anxiety in the system, the functioning of those around them improves, and the work group has better outcomes. Typically, when people in an organization identify politics as a workplace that compromises their functioning, anxiety and reactivity in the organization are high and going higher. Politics at work is a manifestation of anxiety that plays out in behaviors that get in the way of success. The leader who is a non-anxious presence calms the organization, so that others can start thinking instead of reacting, and the stage is set for greater cooperation, creativity and productivity, all characteristics of a winning rowing team.
@Leslie – great thoughts! Thanks for sharing and for being so complete. Interested in writing a guest post sometime?
Hi Mike! I love the rowing metaphor you used and believe it fits well with the role of leaders. In fact I just wrote and published a book entitled "power10" LEADERSHIP: How to Engage People and Get Results. It has the rowing metaphor woven throughout and includes a collage of the Gonzaga University Women's Rowing Team. I will look forward to reading your upcoming book!
@Linda – I reposted your comment (somehow it disappeared so if you deleted it, let me know and i'll remove). I'd love to learn more about your book. Interested in sharing an excerpt as a guest blog post? Drop me an email if that's something you'd like to do.
Hi Mike.
A friend referred me to your post. I coxed for the USA in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, and won the gold medal in '04. Your post draws some excellent parallels between coxing and business leadership. I wrote a post on what makes a great coxswain for a friend's site, which I thought dovetails nicely with this post.
Above all things, being a great leader means working your tail off to make your team better. This is obvious, but is it something we as leaders commit to working on every day?
@Pete – thanks for your thoughts. Glad you enjoyed the post. I enjoyed yours too (and passed it along to my daughter – the coxswain). I'll let you know what she thinks of it. Thanks for reading.
Very nice tribute to your daughter.