Lessons from Jessica

Thanks to those contributed to the discussion from last week’s blog on accountability. Here’s another thought on the same subject.

A few weeks ago Jessica Watson was named Young Australian of the Year in the Australia Day honours. Jessica, at the aged of 16, became the youngest person in the world to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world, completing her journey in May last year after 210 days at sea.

As a solo yachtswoman, Jessica did not achieve this great feat without being accountable. She had six major sponsors who expected her to honour their investment. She maintained regular contact with a team of people, including her family, who were intimately concerned for her safety; and detailed reports were kept of her position, wind directions, and weather. She had thousands of Australians reading her blog each day and expecting to hear the details of her adventure. Most of all Jessica was accountable to herself, by maintaining her health, safety and emotional stability.

Some of us have a habit of travelling solo and feel that accountability is an intrusion into our privacy; but we could do well to learn from Jessica Watson. While there may be times we work alone, and perhaps even work best alone, it is important we recognise the importance of the team that is around us, and acknowledge their contribution to our success.

Too often people’s emotional and physical health deteriorates because there is a failure to see the signs that the conditions on the ocean are changing. By building effective accountability structures into our lives we are able to benefit from other people’s wisdom and take adequate precautions to deal with the big waves that are coming.