Is your team compliant–doing what they’re told and no more? Do they exceed expectations–in expectation of reward? Do they sacrifice in service of an aspiration? Do they invest?
If you want to understand why your team approaches work the way they do, look to leadership.
I read Rudyard Kipling’s novella Captains Courageous recently. It occurred to me that there were some lessons about leadership in this tender story about a boy growing into the first stages of manhood.
The book tells the story of Harvey Cheyne Jr., a spoiled young boy from a wealthy society family. Harvey is quickly–and literally–tossed out of his comfort zone when thrown from his father’s yacht into the raging sea during a storm.
He is rescued by the hard-scrabble crew of a fishing boat, the We’re Here. Her captain, the stoic Disko Troop, refuses to deviate from his quest for cod in order to take Harvey to shore, back home. Livelihood first. Everything else second.
Harvey is stuck, for the time being, in an alien world without servants and luxury. And without illusion. His father’s wealth and position in society are worthless currency on the We’re Here. And he is, to his dismay, at the absolute bottom of the pecking order.
Second to the bottom of the pecking order is Disko Troop’s young son Dan, similar in age, but in few other ways, to Harvey. Dan is a child of the sea and of the We’re Here. He introduces Harvey to the way things are done on the boat.
Dan shows Harvey the ropes. That expression comes from sailing vessels, which are elegant systems of ropes, pulleys, sails, and masts. Disko Troop raised his son Dan on the ropes of the We’re Here. Dan passed that experience on to Harvey. Harvey begins to take to the work of running a fishing boat.
Dan also shows Harvey the way of the boat’s culture. How the members of the crew interact with each other. Harvey also begins to take to the boat’s ways and customs.
Harvey’s journey is by no means easy or without failure. But midway through the story a new Harvey has emerged. He endures the physical abuses of life at sea, including, “a string of boils between his elbows and wrists” with equanimity. He accepts the injury and the pain added by the sting of salt water as “the mark of the caste that claimed him.”
As Harvey adjusts to the ways of the We’re Here, he becomes a better version of himself, more able to contribute. He learns the ropes and has scars to prove it.
And he earns his place in the boat’s crew:
“He was a recognized part of the scheme of things on the We’re Here; had his place at the table and among the bunks; and could hold his own in the long talks on stormy days, when the others were always ready to listen to what they called his ‘fairy-tales’ of his life ashore.”
Harvey did his part. He knew what to do because the We’re Here operated with a simple, direct mission under a clear, non-negotiable set of expectations. He found courage through hardship and satisfaction in contribution. He grew up.
But he also grew in. Hardened fishermen claimed him as one of their own, as a “recognized part of the scheme of things.” He was shown the way. He took his lumps. And no matter what happened before, he earned “his place at the table and among the bunks.”
Imagine if we leaders of teams, of organizations (and of families) could create such clear expectations. If we could guide teammates through experiences as challenging as possible, but no more challenging than necessary, in service of those expectations, to help them make their greatest contribution. If, alongside the work, we could initiate teammates in the ways and customs of the organization, accepting them as one of our own.
As a “recognized part of the scheme of things” with a “place at the table and among the bunks.”
How do we suppose that would make them feel? What kind of energy would that culture elicit from our teammates? Mere compliance? Sacrifice?
Harvey Cheyne Jr. does eventually make it back to shore, to his family, to his destiny. He does not remain a crewman on a fishing boat. But from the perch of his life’s success he looks back with gratitude on that formative trial of his boyhood. Gratitude to the We’re Here, to its crew, and to its captain.
What one thing could you change this year to give that kind of experience to the people who work in your organization? To create a culture with clear expectations, formative experience, and a sense of belonging?
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