Good Practices Are Your Launchpad

When a business client was asked by a potential funder for the company business plan, it could have been a full stop since they had never written one. When a minister heard a critique of their pastoral capabilities in a public forum, it could have been a shutdown moment. And when the backstay pennant broke on our boat and the mainsheet trimmer fell overboard, it could have been a tragedy.

Fortunately, healthy practices of different stripes reduced each of these events from potential crisis to, at worst, unfortunate events and surmountable challenges.

On our 30-foot Shields, Reed was on the weather rail, pulling on the backstay when it broke and he fell over the side. He let go of the control line rather than get dragged under water, but his foot caught in a loop of the line, and he was dragged down by the boat’s forward motion. Fortunately, we stopped the boat quickly, and he resurfaced, disentangled his leg, and swam over to my out-stretched hand. We then helped him back aboard and dealt with the broken backstay…but it could’ve been much worse. What was our good practice, you might ask? It’s simply that when there’s any breeze, we all wear lifejackets. These devices are something you almost never need—except when unexpected things happen.

In the case of the minister dealing with criticism, my client was upset, but chose to double down on their practice of expressing the vision for their ministry instead of taking the bait and reacting to the critique. By relying on vision instead of putting up a defense, a leader naturally places criticism within a larger context where it must stand up against all the positive works in which the leader is engaged. This has the extra personal bonus of allowing you to let go of what was said and replace it in your brain with all the good stuff you’re doing.

In the case of the missing business plan that might have deterred others, my client simply acknowledged what was missing and started writing one, which fits their practice of consistent improvement. Five weeks later, the project was complete, with a renewed commitment to the company mission, a clearer understanding of key target markets, and new financial reports that graphically demonstrated the rationale for the requested funding. Close on the heels of those insights came other ideas to streamline business processes, now underway.?

When we’re put to the test, our practices make us stronger. Aboard our boat, my partner recovered, we were able to fix the broken pennant, and we sailed competitively in the regatta and had a fun week, finishing sixth. Plus we have a new schedule for backstay inspections, and—just in case—a short backup line on it, too.

While we can’t control the course of all events, our practices give us a launchpad to keep coming back from whatever surprises do occur. Along the way, they also invite discovery and can even boost our confidence. As my client said afterwards, “Writing the plan showed us we’re actually doing what we’ve always said we wanted to do.