My new island home, McNutt’s, was once a haven for pirates back in the 17th century.  One seaman’s account tells of fishermen being kidnapped at Hagar’s Cove by the infamous pirate Ned Low (a character who shows up in “Pirates of the Caribbean”) and their fishing boats pillaged and burned.

 Pirates on McNutt’s!  Cool!

I must confess, there is a place in my heart for pirates.  As reckless, bloodthirsty and bounty-bound as they were, they capture my imagination.  Before arriving in Nova Scotia, I volunteered for years on the Delaware tall ship, Kalmar Nyckel, a reproduction of the original ship that brought the first Swedes to America in 1638.  This was a ship that made one think of Peter Pan, Captain Hook and pirates!  Indeed, during the summer months, the ship would host “pirate sails” with the crew (myself included) dressed up like Erol Flinn, Johnny Depp or Geena Davis to the delight of passengers, especially young ones.  Believe me, once you start dressing like a pirate you feel a primal connection to those swashbuckling souls. 

So recently I took my pirate lust to the next level by reading a dog-eared copy of Philip Gosse’s 1932 book, The History of Piracy.  Always on the lookout for ways of improving the quality of living, I perked up at the description of the pirate as master of his or her ship.  (Yes, there were female pirates!)  Pirates, according to Gosse, while certainly villainous, had to be, by virtue of their chosen occupation, effective leaders.  Here is what he says:

“The master pirate had to be able to handle his ship (in the beginning, often an unseaworthy one until he could steal a better) in tempests and in fights, make his way, disabled, to sheltering harbors, control his unruly ruffians through disease and discontent, employ the arts of the diplomat to provide himself with a safe market on shore for his stolen wares.  [Leaders] like these are rare, and few of the respectable professions can show more masterful personalities than those to be met at the top of the pirate tree.”

If we take a moment to scan the landscape from the top of our own trees, we might sight the challenges we face in managing our own lives, businesses, and associations.  These surely require of us a diversity of skill sets.  No one approach works for everything.  Our effectiveness to manage things depends less on the strength of one skill than on our capacity to move smoothly and effortlessly among a host of skills, knowing which to apply in any given situation. 

I can tell you from my experience onboard the Kalmar Nyckel that our captain (not a pirate) had to be well-versed in lines and navigation, crew management and shore diplomacy, emergency protocols and preventative measures, commanding the ship and inspiring the crew.   To the extent that we are all captains of our own ships, managing our lives requires an equal array of skills, and we have to know which are most appropriate within each unique context. 

Daniel Goleman, in his book Primal Leadership, urges us to consider becoming familiar with numerous management styles - from coaching to commanding, from visioning to connecting, from inviting feedback to setting the pace.  Each can enhance our effectiveness in managing our lives if we are careful in discerning which style to apply to each particular situation.  Once again, taking time to think before we act can save us missteps and help us to more effectively manage our lives.

Excluding the kidnapping and pillaging part, we can learn from our pirate friends, those masterful multi-taskers, and at the end of the day applaud ourselves for smoothly navigating all manner of seas.  And that’s worth a hardy “Aarrhh!”