Lessons in Leadership, Communication and Change Management (Even On a Cruise!)
Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!
Does that mean anything to you? It didn’t to me — at least, not until this summer, when I learned some important lessons on leadership, communication and change management from the deck of a cruise ship.
To catch you up: This summer, I went on a cruise in the Caribbean with my family. On one of the beautiful, sunny days, we were all lounging on the deck when the public-address system blared to life, with someone saying loudly, “Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!”
We had no idea what was going on. But we saw many of our fellow passengers jumping up to the railing and excitedly looking over to the ocean to see what was going on. This seemed like one of those times to take my cues from other people. It wasn’t like joining a line just because you see people queuing up, of course — we thought that someone might have spotted whales or other marine life, and we didn’t want to miss it.
A few moments later, one of the staff members came up to me and asked if I saw anything. I said, “I don’t even know what I’m looking for.” That’s when I learned that “Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!” meant “man overboard.”
This was a scary thing to think about because we were on a very big ship. Shortly after my mind began to race with the possible ramifications, the captain got on the public address system and said, “Ladies and gentlemen I want to let you know that we had two passengers report that they saw people floating in the ocean. We called ‘Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!’ to get everyone’s attention, and now — as marine law dictates — we have notified the Coast Guard and must turn our ship around to perform a rescue mission.”
A minute later the co-captain made a follow-up announcement: “You are all part of this rescue and we would like everyone on the ship to keep their eyes peeled and look to see if they spot anyone in the ocean. Let us know right away if you see something.” Two minutes later — just as the captain predicted — we saw the Coast Guard airplanes flying over and we saw boats everywhere, searching the water.
As five, ten, then thirty minutes passed, we were still looking for these souls in the water. Not unexpectedly, the rumor mill had spun into high gear. One passenger said that they heard from other passengers that it was two kids overboard. Someone else chimed in, saying, “We think it was a mother and her three-year-old daughter.” Yet another passenger said, “We heard it was two people who got drunk and jumped.” At this point, of course, none of us had any accurate information.
Which is why we were relieved when the captain got back on the PA system and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we hear that there are lots of rumors about what is going on. So let me tell you what I know, what I don’t know, and anything else I can tell you. We know that there was a report of two souls in the water. We don’t know if they are from our ship or from somewhere else. As I said earlier, the Coast Guard has been notified. When we do know more we will share it with you.” He repeated the message, making sure that all rumors had been put to rest.
Twenty minutes later — almost an hour after first hearing the call “Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!” — the captain got on the PA system again and said, “We have found people in the water. If you look to the port side, you can watch the rescue in process. They are floating in a dingy, the Coast Guard is taking over the mission, and when we know more, we will share it with you.”
The rescue itself was quite amazing. After the people were aboard the other vessel, the captain came on the PA system one more time and said, “Good news everybody! The people have been rescued. Apparently, the Coast Guard was looking for them for the last 12 hours. Thank you to our passengers who we so helpful in making this rescue happen. It looks like these people came from the coast of Cuba, which you can see from the ship. They are alive and will be helped. We will now turn the ship around and continue our journey to Mexico. Enjoy your cruise!”
Lessons for leaders:
What did I learn from this experience? A lot — certainly more than how to conduct a rescue at sea! I learned a number of great lessons about leadership, communication and how both play an important role in managing change:
1. Tell the truth. Transparency is essential. When people understand what is happening, why things are changing and how they will be impacted, they are much more likely to get on board.
2. Communicate more than you think you should. In a world overfull of texts and emails, we often go overboard in our efforts to be concise. We leave out important information or convey the wrong impression when we hope people will read between the lines. If forced to choose between length and accuracy, always be accurate. And be willing to repeat yourself — research demonstrates that to get your message through you have to say it at least nine times. On our cruise ship, the captain was speaking to us every 10-15 minutes to give us information and updates, even when he didn’t have all the facts.
3. Reinforce the contributions of every individual in achieving a positive outcome. Make sure that responsibilities are clear and those who are so tasked know exactly what is expected of them. Last summer, the captain told us what our job was: We were each responsible for helping find two people floating in the water. Even if I wasn’t the one who ended up spotting the people, someone like me did. We all played a part in the rescue.
4. Listen to your employees at all levels. The positive outcome of this summer’s cruise-ship incident was a result of passengers who saw two people floating in the ocean and notified the staff, and of the staff taking immediate action and telling the captain. Information ran up and down the chain of command, without impediment. For business leaders, this means asking employees questions and taking action when necessary.
5. Stop the rumor mill before it starts. As soon as staff on the ship noticed gossip about what had happened, they informed the ship’s bridge. The captain responded immediately and was able to put the brakes on the flow of inaccurate information.
6. Close the communication loop and show appreciation. Once the rescue was complete, we were informed that the people rescued were alive and safe. We were thanked for playing a part in saving two lives, and were told we would resume cruising right away. In other words, we received great feedback.
Lessons we learn in unexpected places are sometimes the most powerful of all. They leave the realm of theory and demonstrate quite clearly their value in our personal and professional lives. This experience on the seas to Mexico was just such an event. I’ll never forget it.
What sorts of leadership, communication and change-management lessons have you learned when you least expected them?
