Making Waves: Lessons in Leadership from Teaching Swimming

As a seasoned professional who's written about managing remote teams and navigating the ecosystem of clinical research, I often reflect on how my circuitous professional journey began. While I've built a rewarding career in higher education and healthcare, some of my most formative experiences came from an unexpected source: teaching swimming to people aged 4 to 70+.

My journey as a swim instructor began at the age of 17, coaching for the Ann Arbor Triathlete Club. Guiding adults (mostly twice my age) through Ironman swimming training taught me early on about the power of combining fresh perspectives with seasoned experience - a principle that continues to shape my approach to collaboration and leadership today.

During a high-school/college gap year in Seattle, I was a lifeguard and swim instructor for the Recreation Department. It was there that I discovered my true talent as a swim instructor. I learned the delicate art of teaching young children and working with students with disabilities to do something mostly outside of their comfort zone. This experience opened my eyes to the transformative power of adaptive teaching methods and the importance of meeting each student where they are - literally and figuratively.

The real entrepreneurial chapter of my swimming instruction career began with an acquaintance's two children at a local Ann Arbor pool. Word spread quickly among parent groups about my teaching style, and soon I found myself with a thriving business, teaching in backyard pools across the community. What started as a side hustle alongside my waitressing and full-time schooling, continued as a side hustle after I landed my first 'real' job at the university. It blossomed into something much more meaningful than just a supplemental income. My greatest reward was knowing I was teaching a life skill that could literally save someone's life someday, followed closely by the joy of watching students ‘get it’ and their parents sighs of relief at realizing their child was safe around the pool and on a boat.

I also did 1:1 coaching with competitive swimmers. For that, my coaching philosophy was deeply influenced by an exceptional coach at the Ann Arbor Swim Club I had for 7 years – Johanna High. She taught me the importance of quality over quantity - focusing on technique rather than mindless "garbage yardage" that risked shoulder injury. She encouraged finding the "hard water" with my hands, ensuring my kick complemented my upper body movements, and she was adept at creating engaging workout sets that maintained both interest and endurance. She was an innovative and creative coach.

Working with such a diverse range of students - from competitive swimmers fine-tuning their technique to adults overcoming aquaphobia, from children putting their face in the water for the first time or those with developmental delays to seniors starting their swimming journey - taught me invaluable lessons about human potential and the power of patient persistence. Each student required a unique approach, whether it was breaking down complex movements for a first-time swimmer or helping an experienced athlete perfect their racing starts and turns.

The experience gave me something equally valuable: self-realization. Discovering that I excelled at teaching swimming boosted my confidence and showed me the power of playing to one’s strengths. This self-awareness has influenced my career choices and professional development ever since.

The skills I developed as a swim instructor continue to influence my professional life today. The ability to break complex skills into manageable steps, adapt teaching/training methods to individual needs, and maintain calm leadership in challenging situations has proven invaluable across all of my roles in higher education and healthcare.

Looking back across decades of professional experience, I realize that those years of teaching swimming weren't just a side job - they were a masterclass in human connection, adaptability, and the art of nurturing potential. While I eventually had to give up teaching swimming to make room for a growing family and career in higher education and eventually healthcare/clinical research, these foundational lessons in leadership and teaching continue to influence how I innovate, collaborate, and guide teams and colleagues.

#LeadershipLessons #CareerDevelopment #AdaptiveTeaching #LifeSkills #ProfessionalGrowth