The Captain’s Job: A Titanic One
“Iceberg ahead!”
You can probably imagine the scene, especially if you’ve watched the movie Titanic. In such a situation, when wisdom, action, and decisiveness are vital to avert impending disaster, the captain is the most important individual on the ship. It is to his leadership and experience that the crew and passengers turn their thoughts.
Naturally, you would want to know that he is aware of the danger, has the situation under control, and is taking the necessary steps to ensure that you don’t end up in Davy Jones’ locker.
Many times, when people encounter a problem, they think that the best way to solve it is to go “straight to the top.” When they hear the cry of, “iceberg ahead,” they go directly to the captain to tell him what the problem is and—in some cases—what they think he should do about it.
Imagine the chaos that would result if everyone on the ship did this at the same time.
In reality, the passengers’ best course of action is to stay calm, follow the procedures, and communicate with the appropriate crew members. What’s required is trust and co-operation. The passengers’ trust allows the captain to do his job, and their co-operation gives everyone the chance of surviving comfortably.
The same principles hold true at WinePress. Our “captain” has the title Executive Publisher, but in most ways his responsibilities and position are the same as a ship’s captain.
As your project journeys to its final destination, you can be assured that your captain has his crew (that’s us) well organized and he has the welfare of his passengers (that’s you) uppermost in mind. It’s my privilege to work with him as Executive Officer and, believe me, if there’s even a small piece of ice ahead, he’s going to be aware of it. In fact, he’s probably already taking action to deal with potential problems that nobody else is even thinking of.
So, when you get that sinking feeling, don’t worry. This is not the Titanic. Resist the urge to burst into the control room and demand the captain’s attention. Rest assured that he’s doing his job and won’t let your project end up like Leonardo DiCaprio.
Malcolm Fraser is the Executive Officer at WinePress Group, and serves as the assistant to the Executive Publisher. He helps to oversee and coordinate all of WinePress’ different departments, handles customer service issues, contract development, and also contributes to programming and designing our websites and author blogs.
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