As sailing week comes to an end, I want to leave you with a few of my favorite sailing quotes.

There is a hint of leadership thinking in most of them.  I hope they will serve to remind you of how important you are as you lead your crew.

“A sailing ship is no democracy; you don’t caucus a crew as to where you’ll go anymore than you inquire when they’d like to shorten sail.”  – Actor, Sterling Hayden

“I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.”  – Tennis great, Arthur Ashe, while battling cancer

“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” – Roman philosopher, Lucius Seneca

“If you live a life of make-believe, your life isn’t worth anything until you do something that does challenge your reality. And to me, sailing the open ocean is a real challenge, because it’s life or death.”  – Actor, Morgan Freeman

“My goal in sailing isn’t to be brilliant or flashy in individual races, just to be consistent over the long run.”  – 4 time America’s Cup winner, Dennis Conner

“Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea.”  – American novelist, John Updike

And one final one passed on to me this week by the man who taught me to sail.  The picture above is of him and his brother, last week on the Gulf.

“The problem with a storm that blows through your life is that there aren’t any forecasts: there is no warning that you are headed for troubled waters.”  – Sailor, Gary Jobson

Here’s to smooth sailing in your life and leadership . . .

i2i,

Randy

What has been your biggest takeaway from “sailing week?”