10.04.05

Helms Alee

Posted in General at 2:12 am

I just sent an email to the Yacht Club email list with the above subject. In the nautical world, “helms alee” is what you say when you jibe (turn the back of the boat through the wind, causing the boom to swing across very quickly), it mostly serves as warning to the crew to duck, but it can be roughly translated to mean “we’re changing course”. Since my Commodore term is over, I think it’s a fitting subject. The email:

Sailors,

Well, it looks like my Commodore term is over. It’s been
interesting—I’ve learned a lot about what I’m good at, and even more
about what I’m not good at it. Though I’ve complained about the job
from time to time, it’s been a net-positive experience—I don’t think
I’d have it any other way. In fact, I’m almost sad that it’s
over…almost.

I really appreciate all the support I’ve received from previous officers
and other club members. I absolutely could not have done it without
you. I won’t make a list, because I’d inevitably leave someone out.
You’ve all been invaluable in one way or another—sage advice in a
difficult situation, or a kind word when the job was tough, even
not-so-subtle hints to stop slacking off and do my job—I would have
been clueless, depressed, or worthless, respectively, without your help.
Thank you.

[For brevity, I've removed the part where I introduce the new officers and all that stuff]

For better or for worse, I’ll be around for at least a few weeks getting
the new Commodore and Program Director on track. After that I intend to
go back to what I did back in the good old days before they made me an
officer—fixing boats and going sailing, though not necessarily in that
order. I think I’ll also consider going to class and graduating.

Thank you for the opportunity to lead this club. I’ll see you around…

God Bless,

Matt MacAdam
Former Commodore (i.e. Free Man, after a fashion…)
WYC

So yeah…I am kind of sad. I’ve been doing this for a year and now it’s over. It has certainly been an interesting experience. This was sort of a grand experiment for me—I’d never been in charge of anything in my life and always wondered if I would be any good at it. So I decided this would be a good way to find out. The conclusion? I’m still not sure—some things I’m good at it, others I’m not so good at, but could probably be good at with more practice. The dealing with people aspect is hardest for me—this is no surprise. I think if I were more comfortable with that I’d be a lot better overall. I seem to suffer from a strong desire to avoid conflict of any kind, as well as not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings. This became painfully obvious to me today when I sent emails to two of the three Program Director applicants telling them that they didn’t get the job. It was a short email, but pressing send was really hard—it took me half a minute to actually do it.

I remember before I was Commodore I said I would have no problem telling people to go to heck, but when you’re actually in charge and need to say something like that (although usually a much milder form), it suddenly isn’t so easy. Every job I’ve ever been in I’ve been able to thrust real responsibility onto people above me—I couldn’t do that here (I was the person responsibility was thrust upon!!)—and it was difficult. So…yeah. I’ve learned a lot, and it was hard, but that’s the only way we really learn.

Permalink