Fishing and Leadership

For me, cleaning and reorganizing my fishing gears is a therapeutic exercise. For many, the most creative inspirations have a tendency to strike during showers. I, on the other hand, occasionally have epiphanies when I tie fishing knots.

Tonight, as I neatly cinched down a “palomar knot”, I had an interesting thought about leadership.

There are so many styles of leadership. Some are even contradictory — big picture or attention to detail, fit in or stand out, loved or feared, bold or calculating, confidence or humility, conviction or pragmatism… Which great leader in the annuals of humanity should you model after? How do you pick the right style that is most effective in your current predicament?

In the long and arduous process of becoming a proficient angler, one has to learn many knots. Each has its unique pros and cons. Anglers debate ferociously on the superiority of one knot over another. However, when the tides are ripping, boat is rocking, fish are jumping, other people are catching, and you just lost your favorite jig to a sunken log, at this moment, the strongest knot is whatever knot you are most comfortable tying.

When a 60 lb rockfish sucks in your lure and you feel that thumping on your rod tip, you yank backwards to set the hook. The pain sends a sharp signal to the fish’s brain, triggering a million year old instinct to bolt. In that fraction of a second, you and the beast connect. Between the two of you, there are 12 pounds of drag, a medium heavy rod, 30 pound braided mainline, 15 pound fluorocarbon leader, and yet nothing matters if that “double uni knot” doesn’t hold.

Sure, an FG knot is stronger, but can you tie it properly when your hands are wet and your glasses smeared with sea salt?

No leadership style is truly superior to another. Since you can’t fake leadership, just like you can’t fake a fishing knot. The best style is determined by something innate.

Leadership is therefore not fueled by any particular quality, but rather by whatever quality you have, to tie everyone/everything together at the moment when man meets beast.