5 Strategies From The Book, Into The Storm

Imagine navigating a tiny boat through a sudden, violent storm at sea -- with winds roaring at nearly 100 mph and waves soaring to 80 feet -- to not only survive, but triumph over formidable competitors in one of the world's toughest ocean races.

It's a feat claimed by the crew of the AFR Midnight Rambler, overall winner of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart -- the most treacherous and tragic race to date in the six-decade history of Australia's iconic competition.

As Dennis Perkins, an expert on thriving under daunting conditions, shows in his book, Into The Storm, it's also a feat rich in lessons for anyone tasked with maintaining smooth, effective teamwork -- and delivering winning results -- in the unpredictable, turbulent waters of today's business environment.

Inspired by the Ramblers -- the Midnight Rambler's team of one determined skipper and six dedicated amateur sailors -- here are five crucial strategies, with proven tactics, for Teamwork at The Edge of human endurance.

Strategy #1: Put team unity first. Make the team the rock star.

Winning tactic: Find committed team members who want to go to Hobart. "A business team that aspires to excellence may not have the same physical challenges as an ocean racing crew," Perkins acknowledges, "but lofty goals require sacrifice, dedication, and the ability to persevere. Selecting people with the right levels of confidence and motivation is fundamental. Realistic job previews are important."

Strategy #2: Prepare, prepare, prepare. Remove all excuses for failure.

Winning tactic: Keep preparing while you're racing. Preparing in advance for everything the team needs to do to succeed is crucial. But so is continuing to prepare while racing toward the team's goals and while navigating through a crisis. "Successful teams master the art of bifocal vision," Perkins attests. "They have the ability to focus on current challenges while, at the same time, preparing for longer-term threats and opportunities."

Strategy #3: Strive for balanced optimism. Find and focus on the winning scenario.

Winning tactic: Be absolutely clear about what it means to win. For some team members, winning means being the first in their field to achieve a breakthrough result. For others, it means coming in under budget. For any team that aspires to win, the first step is to define winning. "Only then will the team have a clear shared understanding of their race," states Perkins. "With that awareness, the team can plan a strategy for taking home their trophy."

Strategy #4: Reinforce relentless learning. Build a gung-ho culture of learning and innovation.

Winning tactic: Think gung-ho -- a phrase rooted in teamwork. Originally an abbreviation for Chinese industrial cooperatives, gung-ho came to be translated as "work in harmony" by some Americans -- including Colonel Evans Carlson, who, during World War II, implemented the radical practice of gung-ho meetings, where everyone, regardless of rank, has a right to speak up. As Perkins notes, "The ability to talk honestly about what works, what doesn't work, and what might work is critical to effective teamwork."

Strategy #5: Take calculated risks. Be willing to sail into the storm.

Winning tactic: Test your limits before the storm hits. The Ramblers, who had sailed together for years and knew what they were capable of as a team, deliberately pushed their limits early in the race. They broached twice, and each time recovered. As a result, they were ready to take on the storm, with confidence, when it hit. "Only by taking small risks will teams be able to assess their ability to take on big ones -- and to sail into the storm when they need to," declares Perkins.

Authors Bios
Dennis N.T. Perkins, author of Into the Storm: Lessons in Teamwork from the Treacherous Sydney to Hobart Ocean Race, is also the author of Leading at The Edge and CEO of Syncretics Group, a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders and teams thrive under conditions of adversity, uncertainty, and change. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, he successfully completed his first Sydney Hobart Race in 2006. Follow Dennis on Twitter.

Jillian B. Murphy is the Director of Client Services at Syncretics. Follow Jillian on Twitter.

Comments

How To Transform The Influences Of Your Childhood Into Your Unique And Most Effective Leadership Style

The most significant predictor (up to 80 percent) of how someone shows up in their interpersonal interactions as a leader, and as a human, is their childhood, claims Pam Manfredo Curtis, PhD , author of the new book, The Origins Of A Leader: Transforming Family Patterns Into Leadership Power . Grounded in decades of psychological analysis, executive coaching, and behavioral data, Curtis elaborates that how leaders perform today is dramatically influenced by their childhood, with patterns formed early in life continuing to shape behavior, decision-making, and relationships at the highest levels. “When you know your why , you can change your how ,” says Curtis. “Put another way, when you understand the influential factors of your life, you can choose how they affect you. Curtis encourages you to explore specific childhood environments and discover how they shaped your strengths, communication patterns, and hidden limitations. Regarding the implications o...

James G. Ellis Shares The Leadership Lessons Behind A Lasting Legacy

In his new book, James G. Ellis shares the lessons he learned throughout his career as an entrepreneur, CEO, professor, mentor, and one of the nation’s most respected business school leaders. He is the former Dean of the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. For aspiring leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs, A Journey of Insights: Lessons In Leadership And Legacy , offers a roadmap to success grounded in real-world experience, with a focus on humility, listening, and building strong, collaborative environments. The book is both a personal memoir and a strategic guide for those aiming to leave a lasting legacy in business. At the core of his message is the central theme that listening to voices around you throughout life is the key to success. “In essence, ears can speak louder than voices,” shares Ellis. The book also explores pivotal moments that helped define Ellis’ understanding of leadership, including encounters with Pres...

How To Rewire Your Mind To Build Your Adaptability Quotient

Alec Litowitz argues that the most valuable skill of the next decade isn't IQ or even EQ (Emotional Intelligence). It's AQ: your Adaptability Quotient, the ability to question assumptions, update beliefs, and respond effectively when reality changes. Litowitz is the author of the forthcoming book (releasing on September 15, 2026) The Adaptability Quotient: Rewiring Your Mind For Success In The Next Human Era . And he shares that “AQ is a learnable way of using your mind like a high-performance machine: to model risk, absorb feedback, make faster corrections, and create repeatable advantages in conditions where most people stall out—or drown.” In short, it’s all about how to move from “making the right decision” to “making decisions right.” “As artificial intelligence, media, and scientific advances reshape the cognitive landscape, adaptability becomes the essential discipline for reclaiming human agency,” adds Litowitz. “And a s AI resha...

10 Best Quotes From The 5 Levels Of Leadership

Here are some of my favorites quotes from John C. Maxwell's book, The 5 Levels of Leadership -- a book I believe should become a must-read for any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust. The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes. In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter. In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catalyst for bringing out the best in the team. Progress comes only fro...

How To Become Your Best-Self Leader Everyday

“By focusing in specific ways on five key leadership elements— Purpose, Process, People, Presence, and Peace —you can increase your time, capacity, energy, and ultimately your leadership impact,” explains Amy Jen Su , author of the book, The Leader You Want To Be: Five Essential Principles for Bringing Out Your Best Self—Every Day . Su shares both Western management thinking and Eastern philosophy to provide a holistic yet hands-on approach to becoming a more effective leader with less stress and more equanimity. She draws on rich and instructive stories of clients, leaders, artists, and athletes. And, she focuses on three foundational tenets: s elf-care, self-awareness, and personal agency . Most important, Su explores in depth, chapter-by-chapter the Five Ps : Purpose – Staying grounded in your passions and contributions, doing your highest and best work that has meaning and is making a difference. Process – Relying on daily practices and routines that honor your natural energy rhyt...

Encourage Personal Growth

Encourage your employees to grow professionally. If your budget allows, send them to a training program to learn a new computer skill or how to improve their customer service skills. Perhaps you don't have training dollars to spend, but you have a budget to send your employee to a trade show or industry conference. If you don't have any budget for outside training or travel, then invite your employee to sit in on a meeting or discussion where they'll be exposed to something new and enlightening.

How To Maximize Employee Involvement

Here are 10 tips for how to maximize employee involvement : Have active ways to listen to your employees. Check often with employees to see if the information you are sharing with them is what they need and what they want. Share information about customer satisfaction with employees. Discuss financial performance with your employees and be sure everyone understands the importance of profitability and how they can contribute to profitability. Allow ad hoc teams among employees to form to address organizational problems and work with those teams to tackle the identified issues. Encourage employees to make suggestions for improvement whether those ideas are large or small. Take an idea from one employee and share it with other employees and teams and let everyone make a contribution to build upon that idea. Train! For long-term employees, find ways to keep their jobs interesting through new assignments and challenges. Conduct meetings around specific issues and brai...

Honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day On January 19 By Volunteering

As the nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 19, volunteer or make the decision to volunteer in your community. King routinely asked “ What are you doing for others ,” and January 19th is the ideal day to ask yourself that question. The federal holiday was first observed in 1994 when Congress designated it as a National Day of Service, inspired by King’s words, “everybody can be great because anybody can serve.” You can turn to Idealist (.org)* and similar types of websites to find volunteer opportunities right in your neighborhood or nearby surrounding area. Visit the web site, type in your zip code/city, and you will be presented with a variety of organizations seeking volunteers. And, if you are a leader in the workplace, encourage your team members to volunteer in the community as individuals. Or organize team volunteer afternoons or evenings for your employees. *VolunteerMatch merged with Idealist in January 2025.

Daily Intentions For Leaders

Everyone can benefit from the book, Dear Friend , which features bite-sized, daily notes for contemplation, inspiration, connection, and clarity. Busy and stressed business leaders can particularly benefit from the 365 profound, heartfelt reflections from author Michelle Maros , founder of Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life and cohost of the podcast, Life Happens with Barb and Michelle . Dear Friend invites readers to go deep and use the notes as a daily practice that compounds over time, nurturing strength, resilience, and clarity. In just a few minutes each day, this book will offer you a daily reprieve when you feel burned out, beaten down, or overwhelmed by the strains and stresses of modern life. The heart of Dear Friend began in the quiet mornings Michelle shared with her mom, Barb. Every day, they would sit together, reading affirmations or passages from Barb’s beloved books. These small rituals—simple but powerful—set the tone for each day, grounding them in g...

Five Essential Principles For Sustaining Growth Through Innovation

Even though many companies strive for innovation, most struggle to achieve meaningful change. The largest reason for this disconnect? Playing it safe. Leaders and organizations want to implement new ideas, but too often they are held back by the fear of failure, even though setbacks are intrinsic to the innovation process. In the new book, No Fear, No Failure , by Lorraine H. Marchand (with John Hanc), readers will learn how to overcome the status quo that stifles creative thinking and how to create a culture that encourages innovation. Marchand provides a framework for sustained growth built on the “ 5 Cs ”: Customer First Culture Collaboration Change Chance She draws on more than 120 interviews with leaders across industries, real-world case studies, and her firsthand experience and shares step-by-step, field-tested strategies, tactics, and tools that practitioners can use to embed creativity within organizational cultures. Marchand is a former Big Tech and Big Pharma ex...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog