Everyday’s Resolution: Delegate!
It was beyond my understanding how two small wires could get into such a state of quantic entanglement. We are one hour late. Even for a family of five — that is late. While the two little girls are fighting about who gets the middle seat, the boy is struggling to get his shoes on. Oh dear, I thought, my mind already engaging with what laid in front of us: too many cookies dipped in too much family drama. To speed things up, I offered my help. We argued, I shouted, and finally I kneeled down to grab the overstretched shoelaces. I caught myself sighing at such a minor inconvenience. While showing my kid how to fix his shoelaces, suddenly my mind was transported back in time…
Hans* was way into his sixties. He had a big family, a bigger lake-house and a huge dog. For me, the 10-year-old, however, there was something else of high interest. I was fascinated by his sailing boat, well one could say his yacht. Hans needed an extra pair of hands and because no family member ever wanted to join, I was fortunate to be there at the right place and the right time. And of course also very lucky that his dog, the size of a small horse, somewhat accepted me as the lowest ranking addition to the crew.
I managed to invite myself regularly on the boat with a function to pull or ease the ropes in time — in silence — as the dog was sleeping on deck. Hans would sail alongside the shore waving to all neighbors spending the weekend at the lake and, of course, showing off his marvelous beauty of a boat.
No, we never participated in an official race — just lovely Sunday Afternoon Sailing. Nevertheless Hans always wanted to sail faster than anyone else on the lake — and I have to admit : I loved it
One day, it was a bit more windy than usual, our relationship changed significantly. Because yachts need to be both stylish and fast, ropes are often conveniently running below deck. Like in other parts of life: what looks good on the outside often becomes quite challenging on the inside. Some ropes were tied in such an enormous knot that we couldn’t turn the front sail anymore, thus Hans could not turn the boat without risking ripping the sail.
Sailing straight towards land, Hans sent me under deck to untangle what might have put the Gordian knot in the shade. He gave me orders, then more orders, I would attempt to execute whatever my brain managed to unravel of his laconic instructions. Normally, our modus operandi was a great arrangement. Unfortunately on that day it wouldn’t work. Going back and forth with words, the dog woke up. Being below deck in the front part of the boat I could only hear the dog barking not Hans’ instructions anymore — my hands sweating, my heart racing, until Hans let out an unmistakably angry sigh and asked me to do the unthinkable: He ordered me to come back, take over the steering wheel while he would go below deck fixing the problem. So a second later I am steering the boat. A multi-million boat! Actually it wasn’t that expensive, not even close. But you know, for a 10-year-old it definitely felt like one.
I’m steering the yacht, while the millionaire is on his knees, the dog still barking, the shore coming closer and closer at a rapid speed. Hans let out multiple grunts as he was tying off the mess. At the same time, unable to watch me, he was shouting instructions fearing I’ll sink the ship. We must have been quite an amusing sight — no visible helmsman — just a dog and a tiny tot steering the ship towards the lakeside. Then the dog stopped barking — I could have sworn — he was giving me a smug look raising a pretty judgmental eyebrow. Only seconds before we’d hit the shore, I shouted: Tack! I need to tack now! While shouting I turned the boat back to the middle of the lake. I made a decision. I had to. While turning could mean ripping the sail, sailing away from the land meant not losing the boat. Not only did I take the decision to potentially lose the sail, I literally took ownership of the boat. Despite his old man’s grunt protests, Hans could fix the problem just in time. “Like Alexander The Great” he said while getting back up on deck with a big smile in his face and a sailor knife in his hand. We tacked and the sail did not break.
I couldn’t help but notice that Hans had found some enjoyment in both, fixing the problem and starting to trust my juvenile steering skills. What was supposed to be a short interlude soon became a routine. Switching roles was exciting, peaked my curiosity and was eventually the best learning I could ask for. But it did not only benefit myself. Hans’ move made us a team. The stronger guy could better pull the ropes while the smaller guy steering, we could sail faster, thus further. It allowed us to use the huge extra sail to go back and forth to the other end of the lake in one day. Hans could use his binoculars, contemplating those shiny new yachts glimmering on the water or, in hindsight, perhaps also other beautiful subjects enjoying the sun.
Hans realized that despite my imperfect trajectory in steering, when he let me operate, he could focus on the surroundings rather than on the boat itself. He had much more time to screen the waters, watch out for other boats, read waves and clouds, constantly looking for that extra breeze or tactical move.
Back then I did not know where Hans wealth came from, also I couldn’t care less. Now I know. His wealth came from the sale of his company that he scaled from scratch to one of the market leaders in Europe. Just like most successful entrepreneurs, Hans was willing to delegate in order to scale up. He managed his boat like he managed his company.
“Like Alexander the Great”, I heard myself whispering, while I finally managed to open the laces. Also we found a compromise about the middle seat. I apologized for shouting to my son and put all three kiddos in the car. While driving off to our family gathering I had to think about my little deja-vu a lot.
Everyday’s resolution: Delegate!
Entrepreneurs, like sailors, start as a crew. If you don’t know how to crew, you’ll never be able to show your team how to untangle a difficult situation. Entrepreneurs lead their team, like Sailors lead their crew. Entrepreneurship, like sailing, is a continuous storm. To win the race you need to be faster. Delegate to sail faster! Delegate, to take over competition! Delegate to win.
A founder recently told me that his recent exit everybody is talking about these days would have been impossible without his COO and CFO who came on board long before the transaction. They have been steering the company for a while. The founder drastically reduced his operations while working on the exit. He could only look further than the daily grind, because someone was steering the boat.
The bigger the boat the more you are depending on someone else to be able to sail it. Realizing this is a hard thing. Not only for sailors, also for entrepreneurs. The hardest thing though, is delegating your most precious piece to someone who might not think like you, and who is less experienced than you. It is clearly a gut-wrenching experience but it is utterly inevitable…
*names were redacted for privacy
