I am sure all who have a boat will answer my question affirmatively. This is a simple question. No captain or skipper would accept to take the helm of a boat unless they know there is an anchor on board. Small boat or big boat, sail boat or a fishing boat, a catamaran boat or just a simple dinghy boat ... all need an anchor.
Anchors help keep a vessel in one place. They are used to combat wind and currents that want to move the boat off course. Anchors can be temporary, like those used by boats and ships in shallow water, or permanent, like the ones used for large oil rigs.
I am using this analogy to underline the importance of having an anchor. Whether in our personal lives or our business and professional journeys, we need to have an anchor that is reliable and ready for use. Boats are not made to stay safe in a harbour. They are made to sail the lakes and seas. Wind and currents and storms are part of sailing.
No successful business navigate permanently in calm waters. Sooner or later every business faces a combination of events that produce an unusually bad or powerful result. An economic slow-down, changing customer needs and preferences, rising inflation, unstable work force, aggressive competition etc. The list is long. We can include the pandemic storm of the last three years in my list.
When a business storm hits, we look for strong leaders with wisdom and a steady hand to take us through it. When a personal storm hits, we look for help from our partner, family, and friends. Storms, whether in personal lives or business, reveal our true strengths. We get to know the real leaders and the true reliable friends only through storms. We usually also build muscles. Storms are like a forced gym exercise.
It is good to ask ourselves whether we have an anchor and if this anchor is reliable and ready for action when needed. Some of us rely on experience and education, other trust in their bank account, many look to people relationships as in team members, family, friends; other find their anchor in their faith. Whatever the anchor, it is good homework to also test our anchor. We cannot change anchor in the midst of the storm, so it is better to be prepared ahead of a storm.
Last week, I went with my spouse and friends to see a newly released movie, “Jesus Revolution”, based on a true story of the Christian revival movement in California during the 1970’s. We very much enjoyed the movie but one sentence resonated with me “ People are looking for the right thing in the wrong places... “ which prompted me to think of anchors, the subject of my personal note for this month newsletter. A solid, tested, and reliable anchor may not be used all the time, but when needed, it is of immense value.
W 500