Leadership in Action: Reader Forum - Leadership Lessons from a Whaleboat

PACE

Leaders must be in it for the long haul. Even in short races a crew cannot be expected to exert maximum effort continuously. Such effort involves pulling the oar with the legs and back to the extent that the rower rises out of the seat. It is required at the start of a race to get the boat moving and for periodic sprints, but even in a sprint the focus is on a harder pull, not a faster pace.

Nineteenth-century whaleboat rowers in chase could row for hours, and modern rowers make the fifteen-mile, four-hour row from New Bedford to Cuttyhunk Island in Massachusetts. The pull for such long rows must be rhythmic and from the back, using 50 to 60 percent effort. However, as rowers get into a rhythm there is a tendency for their minds to wander. ...