True leaders don’t walk away in a storm. True leaders can’t walk away, as they have skin in the game. Some lessons from sailing.

Perhaps the most important trait of any leader is to be able to find a solution for no matter what problem, in no matter what situation.

All without external help.

All without passing the blame to other people.

You’re in charge. And nobody else.

This is true in normal times, and even more so when things go ugly. Leaders are shaped in stormy seas, not while sailing smoothly.

That’s why the captain of a ship at sea is still the best metaphor describing any leadership work.

The Constraint: You Can’t Walk Away

The captain cannot walk away when in a storm on the high seas. The captain cannot request external help, he is alone on his ship with his crew and the resources of the ship.

I’ve been an entrepreneur for more than 8 years. The best way to describe entrepreneurship is the rollercoaster. Sometimes you feel invincible, and the next moment, you think you will tank your company.

Investors are walking away or changing terms at the last possible moment.

New deals are delayed over and over again, leaving your cash flow plan looking like a clueless bad joke.

Customers are dissatisfied and threaten to terminate your services.

I’m no different from any other entrepreneur. As the Founder & CEO of Yonder, I suffered many setbacks, disappointments, and bad news. But I always found a solution before it was too late. And never did I think to walk away from those difficulties.

Switzerland still has an active reserve system for its Armed Forces, and I am serving as an active reserve general staff officer. Before that, I served as a commander of an airlift company, having seen life action in search-and-rescue operations, among others. Although I was thankfully never deployed in wartime, I have seen on several occasions that not everybody returns home from a military operation.

And that’s the core difference between entrepreneurs and military commanders.

The worst thing that can happen to you as an entrepreneur is that your company goes bankrupt and you fail to pay the salaries to your employees.

The worst thing that can happen to you as a military commander is that your troops pay for failure with their lives. Never forget that.

That’s why military commanders emphasize intelligence, planning, and contingency plans. Their sole purpose is to make sure you are prepared to bring back as many of your troops alive as possible, no matter what the enemy does.

And when you are standing at the frontline, and despite all the intelligence and planning, the enemy surprises you with something you haven’t foreseen: Do you think you can walk away as a commander? Do you think somebody will deliver that wonder weapon out of nowhere and save you? You will need to find your way out of the situation yourself.

The Freedom of Action: Setting The Sails

Now you might think, “So many constraints. It’s impossible to fulfill any missions with all those constraints.”

Wrong.

In any situation, there is a thing called freedom of action. For sailors, it is how they set their sails. Short-term course corrections are an excellent way of solving a problem with the resources you have. Course corrections shouldn’t be wild, but keep the boat on track to reach its final destination. Course corrections might become necessary when decisions with uncertain outcomes have been taken, and some of those uncertainties turn into facts.

Standing firmly on the bridge, taking decisions and commanding course corrections is one thing. But somebody has to execute your commands.

For this, you need a crew willing and able to adjust all the time. The sheets are hoisted and tightened, the sails are trimmed, the wind directions are checked, gusts of wind are anticipated, and if necessary the weight is shifted so that the boat does not capsize — an extremely dynamic process.

When you see your crew working hard on the deck, how can you know that the new course is right? You will never know it for sure, but if you see that your boat is picking up speed you’re on the right track.