When working in team situations, collaborating to solve a problem or reach a goal, there are great opportunities for you to become a leader. The concept is to act “as if” you were the leader already.
I was reminded of this when we took our sailboat Dragonsinger through the Corinth Canal in Greece. The canal, built in the 1800’s by over 2,500 laborers, is steep sided and narrow. Traffic is restricted to one direction only. You advance only when told to by the pilot boat and Corinth Canal control.
The day we transited the canal, our daughter Jocelyn, who was 13 at the time, took the wheel. She acted “as if” she was captain of the boat. She was outwardly confident and projected that confidence in her commands and directions to the rest of us. With Jocelyn at the wheel, I felt comfortable going up the mast and taking some fabulous photographs of our passage through the canal. Even Jocelyn’s Mom, normally nervous with other people at the wheel, felt comfortable with Jocelyn’s leadership. By acting “as if” she was captain, Jocelyn was in fact captain at that moment.
How can you enable one of your team members to act “as if”?
