March is a wonderful month for women as International Woman’s Day (8th March), is a time when we all recognise the achievements of women who have succeeded when the odds were against them. From the days of the Suffragettes to modern-day hard-working women (whether mothers or professional women), the “fairer sex” has demonstrated they are agents of change. Women are capable of bringing up families single-handedly, being the lynch-pin for society in times of war and in post-war recovery to running multi-million pound businesses.
A month ago, two women were also among the group of sailors who sailed single-handedly around the world. Spending over 90 days sailing solo in the Vendee Globe Race, Sam Davies and Dee Caffari, proved that they not only succeeded were other men failed (19 sailors of the 30 did not actually finish) but they also did it as women.
Sam Davies proved to the world that attitude is everything. In a wonderful clip she danced to Girls Just Want to Have Fun in the middle of the southern ocean. Clip Here Despite minimal press coverage, I believe these two women are great role models for women, and other minorities, around the world.
So, how did they do it?
- Preparation – it is more brain than brawn. At times, it is easy for women to feel disadvantaged. However, our brains are wired for strategic thinking as well as being very finely tuned with our intuition. Skippering involves “feeling” the boat as she glides in the water as much as planning. The same can be said about business too. Listening to intuition is just as important as strategy.
- Maintaining a positive attitude, no matter what: when you are faced with what feels the whole world is against you, taking a step back and re-assessing why you are doing what you are doing is key. Allowing your mind to wander from a problem or issue and then coming back to it later gives your brain the equivalent of fresh air. Sam’s dance to Girls Just Want to Have Fun is a great example of doing just that.
- Appreciate what their strengths are and working with them: as mentioned, physical strength is not a woman’s strength, so strategy in racing becomes even more critical. These two women made sure they thought through the implications of their moves. As they were smaller in size compared to men, they also made decisions around their boats to overcome their limitations.
So, next time you are in a situation were you feel you are the odd-one-out or even the underdog, I invite you to consider:
- How can I prepare for this situation better than those around me?
- What can go wrong?
- If it does, what can I do to redress the situation?
- How can I keep myself going when the chips are down?
- Who do I need to call upon to help me through?
So, as we congratulate these women for their achievements in representing the strengths of the “fairer sex”, I would like to draw on another female skipper’s words: Ellen McArthur. She said “As a woman, you are obviously never going to be as strong, but you just have to train harder”.
