Illustration by Ghergich & Co.
I love September 19. I'm glad that we celebrate ye pirates of olde. They were snappy dressers, bird-loving, mis-understood amputees of the high seas. International talk Like a Pirate Day, ITLAPD (that's today), should not just be about faking a bad Irish accent (were pirates even Irish?), brandishing a cutlass and drinking tankards of ale though...
We can learn a lot about leadership from these salty sea dogs. If Mining Mummy was a pirate (or leader), this is what I'd do.
- Be brave - Have ye ever met a shy pirate? Nope. Nor 'ave eye. Pirates get amongst it.
- Mutter unintelligibly - Pirates excel at bluff. When you have no idea where the closest landfall is or what went wrong on your last project, just try something like: "Me 'n' Muskit Ball Jim drug our sorry keesters out t'th'ship'n'had us a grand great adventuaaarrr! We almost had t'keelhaul Mad cap'n Knockboots f'r gettin inter th' grog behind our backs!". Say it while deeply focussed on your spy glass (or plans etc). You wont be bothered again.
- Learn the language - Know your bung hole from your keel haul. One keeps the rum in and the other results in a barnacle induced death. These days leaders have to be up on a vast array of TLA's and buzzwords, that are no less perilous.
- Use hand gestures - If you earnt that hook, use it. Should your arms be intact, show off your watch or rings. Either way, the bling and movement distracts smarter listeners from deconstructing your unintelligible mutterings. (I'm not calling Kevin Rudd a pirate, but,... he's got hand gestures and unintelligible (musings) sewn up. The double dead spider is worth a look.)
- Look after your reputation - Pirates understood branding about 500 years before everyone else. They knew what they did well and they delivered! Ok so it was death, robbery and worse but by simply raising their flag, everyone knew what they were about. Know what you are good at and stick with it!
Enjoy ITLAPD. I'm off for a rum.
No comments:
Post a Comment