IT'S THE SMALL GESTURES THAT DEFINE US

By Mike Benjamin, SV Exodus, President SDSA

Last month, I wrote about the formation of our Strategic Planning and Community Service Committees and the importance of taking a hard look at where the Salty Dawgs are headed over the next several years.  Those conversations are underway, and they are thoughtful, energetic, and creative, which is exactly what they should be.  I believe we will be announcing some great new programs in the near future.

However, the future of this organization is not going to be determined solely in those meetings.

Committees set direction, establish priorities, and guide behavior.  They recommend changes.  But policies don’t define who we are, and culture is not something we declare.  It is something we practice.  Who we are is revealed on docks and in anchorages.  It happens in conversations over a sundowner…sometimes over one too many sundowners.  It happens when a new member shows up at an event not knowing anyone and is made to feel welcome.  It happens when someone asks for help with a problem, technical or otherwise, and a dozen members respond.  It happens in how we treat each community that hosts us.  In short, it shows up in small everyday actions.

Earlier this year, I wrote about a time when Ronna and I arrived at an island in the eastern Caribbean and found ourselves on the outside of an established cruising group, unable, at least at first, to find a way in.  It wasn’t intentional.  No one was unkind.  But the experience was a powerful reminder of how easy it is for a group to seem fenced off, even when it doesn’t feel that way from within.  It reinforced something we all know but occasionally forget: inclusion is not automatic.  It requires awareness and a deliberate effort to reach out to fellow Dawgs, and just as importantly, to others.

At our best, Salty Dawgs do this naturally: a welcoming voice on the radio, an invitation extended without hesitation, a piece of advice offered thoughtfully, a willingness to share knowledge and lend a hand.  But when we are distracted, too comfortable, or simply not paying attention, it is easy to miss the person who is new, the question that goes unanswered or the opportunity to connect, not out of intent, but out of inertia and that is the real challenge.

A strategic plan may help us decide where to focus, what programs to develop, and what values to emphasize.  But those ideas only matter if they become habits.  A welcoming organization is only welcoming if members actually welcome.  A community service-minded organization is only service-minded if we show respect and contribute to the places we visit.  A generous organization is only generous if we share what we know.

Culture is also portable.  The Salty Dawgs do not exist only at official rallies, rendezvous, dinners, or seminars.  We carry the organization with us into every anchorage, marina, dinghy dock, radio call, restaurant, customs office, and beach cleanup.  Sometimes we are wearing a shirt or flying a burgee.  Sometimes we are not.  Either way, how we behave says something about who we are.

Whether we intend it or not, people notice.  Other cruisers notice how we include newcomers.  Marina staff notice how we treat them.  Local communities notice whether we arrive as respectful visitors or simply as consumers passing through.  New members notice whether they are drawn in or left to figure things out alone.  These impressions may be small in the moment, but they are meaningful.

Over time, those impressions become reputation.  Not the reputation we write in a mission statement, but the one people repeat when we are not in the room.  That is the reputation that matters most.  It is built slowly, through thousands of ordinary interactions, most of which will never be announced, photographed, or discussed at a committee meeting.

A few days ago, while anchored in St. Martin, I received a message from a member I had not yet met, letting me know that they were nearby and how nice it was to have another Salty Dawg in the anchorage.  I’m usually the one to do that, and it felt good to be on the receiving end.  That simple outreach is exactly how this organization comes to life.

If you think back on your own experiences, the moments that stand out are rarely the formal ones.  They are simple gestures.  The unexpected help.  The conversation that turned into a friendship.  The feeling that you belonged.

Those moments are not created by structure.  They are created by people.

So, as we continue to look ahead, strategize, plan, and think about where the Salty Dawgs are going, I suggest that one of the most important elements of our success is how we behave day to day.

The future of this organization will be defined by each of us, one small gesture at a time.

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