Rowing : Lessons in Life 2 – The People Barometer

I have a great admiration for G3 (Gayathri); not only because she is one of the most honest people I have known, but also because she was the one who introduced me to rowing.In the summer of 1998, I followed G3 along with 20 others from Ogilvy onto the murky waters of the Adyar river to take part in the Merchants & Bankers Regatta. Eight long weeks later, holding the overall Championship Cup in our hands, we knew we were hooked on rowing.

The benefits that accrued in terms of team bonding and team spirit on the water and back in the work place were many. 

In our second year of participation, I discovered a startling fact — here was a pretty accurate people barometer!

Put a bunch of people in a boat on a river and their true personalities burst to the surface. The leaders, the followers, the laggards, the earnest, the brave, the timid, the balanced, the not-so-stable, the thinkers and the doers — all of them ‘bobbed up’ with amazing clarity.

I discovered that: 

• Natural leaders, invariably sat in the stroke position on the boat. And followers in bow.
  
• The earnest were quick to lift the boats and put them on the water. The laggards waited until everyone else had lifted the boats, while lending a casual, little finger to steady the same. 
  
• The brave gave it all they had while rowing, the timid conserved their energy. 
  
• The more balanced held the boat rock steady while moving up and down the slide, the unstable wiggled in their seats. 
  
• The laggards found fault with everyone else. The earnest shouldered the blame.
  
• The brave entered the water with a firm “catch”. The timid with a weak, last minute flip into the water. 
  
• The thinker wanted a discussion every time he could get a word in, while the doer rowed on in silence. 
  

There was a place in the boat for everyone, except the laggards and the timid ones. And so it was at the work place as well. Over the next three years that we took part in the M&B, I had my secret ‘People Barometer’ to guide me on a host of people challenges! 

Rowing anyone? 

(R. Krishnamohan)