Rod Davis
Looking ahead
For the past few months I have given a lot of thought to how the world has changed in the past couple of decades. Not only in racing sailboats but in the way people work, think and commu- nicate. A generation of people born after 1990 are now coming online, in every facet of work, sport and play. They grew up in a different time
from those before them, thus respond to different stimuli. It’s not so much that the lessons need to change but the delivery of those lessons needs to be adjusted. This is not an aimless philosophy session, it has a point. How
to update the skill set to get the best out of our younger sailors, and how to motivate them to get the best out of themselves. I look at it from a coaching point of view but you can look at in your business or whatever endeavour you are into. To this end, I arranged a meeting with Nathan Handly and John
Cutler (both past Olympians, and now very successful, full-time yachting coaches) to open up Pandora’s Box! How can we do a better job with our coaching? It was great, as all three of us opened our notebooks and shared information. ‘Coaching in the 21st Century’ you could call it. We looked at (or made our best guess at) what coaching and
motivating sailors will look like in the year 2027 when the new crop of sailors is fully online. The Millennial Generation (born between 1980 and 2002) have been plugged into technology from day one, so they don’t necessarily relate to the old-school style of workplace or coaching. The good thing about these open think-tank discussions is that
you can take away from them what you think is important. For me the bottleneck does, and will continue to, lie in the delivery of the information. This challenge will be all important in the next 10 years. We already have plenty of ‘shock and awe’ with our technology;
with split-screen TV displays, drones, 360° cameras, telemetry, onboard data, weather info and so on. The America’s Cup teams have simulators (as good as flight simulators) that allow you to practise match race starts each morning before racing, or with which to test different foil settings. It is mind boggling where that is going to go.
28 SEAHORSE All that is useless, however, if we can’t deliver the message
clearly and effectively. Millennials grew up in different times and absorb information very differently. Some things remain a constant from the beginning of time. We
need to get the best out of them if the team or business is going to be truly successful. And that comes down to motivation and com- munication in the 21st century. If you are dealing with your under- 30-year-olds in the way you always have, you are going to need to update your ‘app’. That much my little reflection has shown me. The strongest motivation comes from self-interest and trust. This
has been true since man discovered fire. Don’t jump back at the thought of ‘self-interest’ – it is not necessarily a bad thing, it just needs to be channelled correctly. Dennis Conner used to say ‘bet on self-interest, it’s always running strong’. Self-interest is a good thing when your player (your player = co-worker, employee or, in my case, sailor) wants to be the best helmsman, plumber or commodi- ties broker he can. Your job as a coach or boss is to guide them along, all the while showing them why their self-interest is being served, along with the team’s interests. My self-interest, in looking at this game, is simple: I want to be
the best coach in the world. I may or may not be, but I certainly won’t be if I don’t constantly find ways to improve. As I write this column I am working out how to do that. You’re witnessing the making of the blueprint, the drafting part of the plan. Trust is really about having a relationship with your fellow players
that promotes open thinking and learning. That trust is what knits the individuals into a unit. Trust deflates egos and makes teams. To get the best out of your players as individuals you need to
build a relationship of trust with each one of them. Show them why they should take more ownership of their role. That is best done one to one, and often – very often. The old world, where bosses or coaches stay at arm’s length, is as outdated as a flip phone. Every time you talk to your players (or co-workers), your #1 goal
is the need to build the trust between the two of you. The more trust, the more real communication, the more you become coach and mentor. From there you will have built the launchpad of an environment to get the best out of them.
MAX RANCHI
SANDER VAN DER BORCH
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