Peter A Derow Sheds Light on Lessons Rowing Can Teach About Leadership, Collaboration and Productivity

Seamless collaboration and good leadership are vital to the success of any team. As Peter A Derow points out, in professional rowing, rowers learn how to maximize their collective potential to complete their job to the best possible standards. Transferring this work ethic to the business setting can help people to make waves in their industry and achieve success.

Peter A Derow underlines the lessons rowing can teach about leadership, collaboration and productivity

It is pretty easy to equate rowing with leadership. After all, communication, synchronicity, and teamwork are critical to rowing. These traits of moving a boat fast are essentially byproducts of a single thing, the mindset. Rowing is a gruelling physical activity, and to be a good rower one needs the right attitude. They have to be open to trying out new things, have the willingness to accept feedback and be ready to step outside their comfort zone. All these qualities are important in a corporate setting as well.

There is quite a line between motivation and micro-management, and learning to walk this line is vital for a productive team dynamic. The cox organizes the rest of the crew in a rowing boat, keeping their strokes in time. In an office setting, the leadership skills of the company management would dictate the cohesion of the team.

Everyone requires a finish line to work towards, but that does not have to be all the way out on the water. Agile goal setting helps boost productivity, as well as identifies areas for improvement. While it is okay to set lofty targets for the team, one also must follow the example of rowing and make sure that their targets are attainable and measurable. The cox recognizes when their team has to push on and when they may conserve energy, in order to have the highest odds of staying the course.

As per Peter A Derow, unless one is engaging in single sculling, rowing is a team sport. The efforts of the entire crew would be necessary for the boat to move forward. Peter A Derow says that in every crew, there is someone to take the lead, generally it is the stroke of the crew. All of the other rowers follow their lead. The leader is not always the person who has been there the longest. Hence, it enables people with varying skills and qualifications to step into leadership.

Many people think that rowing is all about arms and shoulders, but that is not the case. In rowing, timing and placement are the most important factors. If a crew is able to synchronize their timing, they would have good odds of winning races.  Rowing can be of multiple types, like sculling and sweep oar, and each of them has technical elements that one may adjust. This includes the length of the oars, the shape of the boat or the position of the feet. However, without teamwork, none of that would matter. Team coordination is needed even for just lifting the boat off the rack and into the water.