ANGELA LEWIS
Captain at Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation
Awarded a McKinsey Academy Scholarship for the McKinsey Academy Young Leaders Forum, 2019
What sort of work does your organisation do?
Sail Training. We take young people to sea on a 1800s style square rigged sailing ship, through sailing the ship they learn teamwork, leadership and communication skills. It is a new and exciting environment for them to be a part of, they are pushed out of their comfort zone, we often see an improvement in self confidence in the young people who sail with us and many come back as volunteer crew. We also run a cadetship program which gets young people qualified to start a career in the maritime industry. Describe a typical day's work.
A day at work for me can be anything from sitting in an office doing paperwork to sailing the ship through a storm. Something new comes up every day. - Being in command of a 55m 236 tonne sailing ship.
- Have overall responsibility for everything that happens onboard.
- Leader of all crew and passengers who sail with us.
- Supervise the running of the program for passengers.
- Monitor the overall safety and maintenance of the ship.
- Manoeuver and sail the vessel.
- Stand watch (drive the ship) minimum of 8 hours a day.
- Overall big picture monitoring of navigation, weather, traffic, sails set etc.
- Paperwork, log books and keeping documentation in compliance with our survey.
What were some of the key learnings from the course? - Importance of taking care of yourself – lead yourself then lead others
- The chance to sit down and think about my progression as a leader, my strengths and weaknesses
- Ideas on what a good leader looks like, things to aspire to
- Big picture of what good leadership and poor leadership look like
- Importance of training good leaders for the future
How has it impacted / changed / benefited your role and your organisation as a whole?
I participated in the leadership course at a very critical point in my career, I had been the First Mate for several years and was just starting to transition to being a Captain (huge change in responsibilities). Completing this course allowed me to take some time out to think about myself as a leader under the guidance of the course facilitators, something I don’t ever recall doing before. Through the process I discovered some areas which I would like to improve on and some strengths I didn’t know I had. Unfortunately I only managed to have my first command for a few months before the corona virus pandemic begun. The foundation I work for immediately lost all of its income and the crew and myself were lucky enough to hold onto our jobs under the job keeper scheme. I have found the knowledge I gained from the leadership course has helped me to be a better leader through such an unprecedented situation. I believe that this has been very valuable to my organisation. How did you come to be working in the not-for-profit sector?
At 14 years old I was sent on a voyage on the sailing ship Leeuwin II. I fell in love with it and came back as a volunteer crew for several years. In that time I developed a deep appreciation for what sail training can do for young people (its much more than just a ‘school camp’). I enjoyed seeing the positive changes in the young people as their voyage progressed. I also became interested in ship maneuvering, navigation, people management and anything to do with ships. In 2010 with some financial difficulty I managed to gain my first set of qualifications and was offered the position of Second Officer/Bosun onboard Leeuwin II. From there; after completing over one thousand days at sea I went back to college and attained my next set of qualifications (allowing me to be a domestic ships Captain) once back at work I progressed to First Mate and took a keen interest in training young people to start their careers in the maritime industry. In 2019 I was given the opportunity to take command of the ship as Captain. I now work as full time Captain alongside a team of officers many of whom I have helped train and have watched progress for many years. I love my job. What do you feel is most needed to sustain and build the impact of the not-for-profit sector?
Right now – less Corona Virus! I can’t speak for the NFP sector as a whole as my experience is limited to the management of one ship in one NFP organisation. For us the biggest challenge has always been funding. Keeping the ship moving takes a team of dedicated people who are all there for the love of it. The majority of our crew are volunteers. Our office staff spend all their time looking for sponsorship and young people to fill the ship with. Scholarships such as this one help immensely; there is no way I would have been able to participate in this course without ASFs help. Looking to the future for Leeuwin I hope that both companies and individuals (particularly parents) recognise the value of what Leeuwins program has to offer, and we can continue to fill the ship with young people. Looking to the future for all NFPs I hope the there will be adequate support to help NFPs get back to business after the pandemic. What is something interesting / unique / unusual about you?
Leeuwin has a 30+ year history and I am the first person to start as a trainee, complete all their training and seatime onboard Leeuwin, rise through the ranks and eventually be given command as Captain.
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