Rowing is an exceptional sport that requires a high degree of endurance, strength and teamwork. It involved a crew of rowers who work in sync to move a boat through the water. As Peter A Derow says, rowing requires every member of the crew to be highly disciplined, skilled and committed towards a common goal. As teamwork is integral to rowing, no wonder this sport is widely associated with developing leadership skills.
Peter A Derow briefly discusses teamwork and leadership in rowing
One of the primary reasons why rowing is highly effective in developing leadership skills is that it requires every member of the crew to take responsibility for their own performance, while working towards the success of the team simultaneously. The rowers need to have the capability to seamlessly adapt to changing conditions, like wind and water currents, and work together in order to navigate the boat through the water.
Rowing can be a very demanding sport and only the ones who are tenacious, self-reliant and self-motivated tend to succeed in it. Yet there is no other sport that demands the complete abandonment of self in a manner that rowing does. A crew may have women or men of exceptional strength or talent. They may have extremely skilled coxswains or stroke oars or bowmen. However, no rowing crew has superstars. It is the team effort that truly matters in rowing. The team spirt shines in the perfectly synchronized flow of muscle, oars, boat, and water. A good rowing crew acts like a well-oiled machine.
While team building is integral to rowing, it also provides individuals with opportunities to take on leadership roles within the crew. The team captain, for instance, shall be responsible for leading and motivating the team. They would communicate with coaches and other team members, as well as make strategic decisions in regard to the training and competition. Leadership roles allow rowers to gradually develop and hone their leadership skills in a challenging yet supportive environment. The leader in the boat puts all their energy into every race and competition. This is how natural leaders emerge in the boat. Someone shall take the lead in every crew, generally it is the stroke of the crew. Everyone else on the crew has to follow the lead. This leader is not always the person who has been in the crew the longest. Hence, rowing ideally allows people with different skills and qualifications to step into leadership.
The link between rowing and leadership development is pretty simple. Rowing provides people with adequate opportunities to develop and hone a range of leadership skills, starting from communication and teamwork to adaptability and resilience. As Peter A Derow mentions, rowing requires every team member to take responsibility for their own performance, while working towards the success of the team as well. As rowers get enough opportunities to take on leadership roles within the team, they are able to develop and practice their leadership skills, which can be useful in many other aspects of life. Rowers tend to have very clear objectives and work towards achieving them through a combination of individual and team effort. This focus on goal-setting translates well to the world of leadership.