Sunday night, on Day 35 of Vendée Globe race, British yachtswoman, journalist and sailing coach Pip Hare, holding 15th place more than 800 nautical miles from the south coast of Australia, dismasted in the middle of the night.
First, she spent 3 hours stabilizing the boat, and ensuring its safety and hers.
What she did next is a lesson in leadership for all of us.
Not 5 hours after this race-ending and life-threatening accident, Pip recorded a video message for her team. Because while the Vendée-Globe is a solo race, there were hundreds on the team involved in preparing for this race and supporting Pip. Thousands if you include sponsors and funders. Pip is the leader, the CEO, if you will, but the team is massive.
She opened the video by saying: “About 5 hours ago, I dismasted … I don’t know what happened. Medallia just took off, landed, and when it landed the mast came down in two pieces. And so that is the end of our 2024 Vendée Globe race.”
She what she did there?
She took responsibility for the dismasting with “I” … then she switched to “our” to acknowledge the outcome.
Most of the rest of this video is focused on others. Pip thanks everyone “who worked so hard for the last four years to make this race happen,” she thanks her sponsors and partners and even volunteers.
And then she turned attention to the future.
“It is not the end. Never is the end. And by the time I get to the shore, I hope we’ll have a really good plan for how to get Medallia sailing again … and get back on the racetrack in 2025.” And she wishes her competitors well, and implore them to be safe. A class act.
I encourage you to watch Pip’s update on YouTube and think about your leadership communication.
Do you take responsibility for failures as the CEO, and share ownership of the wins? Do you know who your stakeholders are? Do you know what they care about? Are you communicating with them regularly about the bigger vision, and keeping their sights – and yours – on the future?
If your answer to these questions is: ‘I’m not sure’ or ‘no’, contact our team. We can help you get clarity about who your stakeholders are and what they care about, get everyone on your team on the same page with the insights we gain, and help you as a leader use that page to communicate more effectively with all the audiences you need to reach
