Captain Jack brings real pirates like Bartholomew Roberts to life. His nickname was Black Bart and he is said to be the most successful raider in the history of piracy. From the late 1600’s, he took prisoner an astounding 470 vessels, and so renowned was his ferocity, that many of those ships were surrendered to him without a fight. Wouldn’t you love to achieve one of your goals without the battle behind it?
Roberts was said to have been reluctant at first to be forced into piracy - but he soon saw the point of it! A contemporary quotes Roberts as saying: "In an honest service, there is thin victuals, low wages and hard labour. In piracy, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power...”
As a self-proclaimed work-alcoholic and life-long learner, I see no redeeming qualities in piracy and laziness and am a true believer in hard work.
But, I do learn something from everything, so I even found lessons from the intriguing Captain Jack Sparrow:
It’s All About Character and Charisma
I once had a colleague who told me charisma wasn’t everything. I totally disagree. Character and charisma are everything. They create likability! Then there’s Jack. What a fascinating character study. Is he good or bad? He’s never totally bad–he doesn’t kill or maim like the other pirates, but he’s never totally good either–his schemes always have his ultimate interests in mind. He is intriguing to watch and interesting to follow. Jack Sparrow is an innovator, a survivor and challenges the status quo at all times. However, this boldness eventually comes with a price: you’ll upset people in the process. Innovation involves change and the status quo hates change. Be charismatic. Be innovative. Be original! Yo ho days will be yours for the taking.
The Code
Aye, the Code.
The Code is a long list of rules on how a pirate should behave. Yes, even as adults, we follow a code of civility to each other. Our code is not much different from the Pirate Code:
- Rule one, befriend others wisely. Surround yourself with those who support you.
- The Right to Parley! A parley, or "talk", is a meeting held between kings and their Chief Retainers. Talking! What a novel idea. Use your right to parley and talk to your boss, to your peers, to your team. Imagine the possibilities of a good parley.
- Sharing of the spoils. When teams work together with common goals and clear strategies to achieve those goals, they all share the spoils of the hard work.
- Whoever spots a treasure-laden ship first, could choose the best pistol for themselves. Well, I don’t know about a pistol. But innovators, those who go the extra mile and focus on the goal, deserve the best prize.
- Every crew member is to have a share in any treasure found. Team work, team success. Enough said.
- Any person who refuses to serve aboard a pirate's ship must die. Now, let’s not get nuts here. I think this is the business saying “get on the bus”. Not all of us belong on a specific pirate ship. The mission of that ship may not be our passion. It’s okay. Find the ship that lets your passion soar.
The Code also contained strict regulations on eye patch color and peg leg size (organization dress code).
Keep to the code! Aye.
Focus the Crew
You don’t need the perfect ship. You don’t need the perfect weather at sea. What you do need is for the crew to respect each other and work to the common goals. Not every pirate on the ship will befriend each other. But, mutual respect and equal share…well, it’s the Code.
Be true to yourself. No matter what you do. No matter how good your “product/service” is, you can’t make everybody happy. And that’s OK! If you try to please everybody, you’ll destroy what makes you different!
Jack Sparrow is not worried about finding the perfect ship, the perfect crew and the perfect opportunity. He’s even less worried about what others think about him. However, he’s extremely focused on achieving his goals! And, you and your crew should be too.
Have you Lost That Lovin’ Feeling? Get Passion Back for your Job
Jack Sparrow had one very special tool with him at all times: a broken compass. What’s the use for a compass that doesn’t point North? It doesn’t matter if you are not trying to find North. Jack Sparrow’s compass pointed to the thing he wants most! It pointed to his passion!
It’s very hard to work day-in and day-out at something that you’re not passionate about. This is true because exceptional results come with a lot of hard work. You need determination, heart and discipline to do all the hard work before you begin to see the final results. Passion is the main motivator behind the drive for success. Not money. Of course, no one is in business to lose money. Money exists to measure the applause you get by the results you create.
Yo ho, yo ho, a learner's life for me.
Have you any learned any life lessons from Jack Sparrow? I hope you will share them with me in the comment section below.
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