Hobbies and interests can give you an edge in business. On one hand they amplify your character and your passions and on the other, they develop your soft skills which are fundamental in creating or entering a business.

I am an avid sailor, which initially requires a vast amount of training to gain enough experience to set out to sea. I took this practice on board when developing my business plan and gained experience in a recruitment agency. Once equipped with essential skills I was able to launch the job site CV-Library.

Spending time in the sailing environment has also cultivated the soft skills needed in grounding and expanding a successful business. Here are the essential skills I have learnt from time on my boat and ways your hobbies and interests can advance your business or career.

Planning ahead and making decisions

Through sailing, I have learnt one of the most valuable skills to date: planning ahead. For example, it is vital to check weather conditions before even attempting to set sail as it could be completely disastrous for the boat and for personal safety.

The same applies for building a business. For CV-Library, it was and still is essential to evaluate every potential path the company could take when navigating recruitment trends. Similarly, it is vital to explore the political and industry climates so that the company can respond to trending issues appropriately and proceed confidently in the right direction.

Throughout the last fifteen years CV-Library has launched many innovative products for its users; recently it became the first job site to release a job searching app and even more recently, it introduced Recruiter Profiles to make the job search even easier for candidates.

Like choosing when to set sail, the decision to launch these products was time-sensitive, so a decision had to be made promptly. It is soft skills like planning ahead and making decisions which are the most valuable when starting up or entering a business and they can be learnt from many hobbies and interests.

Time management

Time management is an essential skill when working in any business and it carries great importance when sailing too. Plenty can go wrong when you’re not watching the clock out at sea. For example, it is essential to pay attention to the time when monitoring the tide or dare you risk running the boat aground.

Similarly, it essential to clock watch to ensure you’re sailing in hours of daylight, or you risk venturing into unsafe territory in more ways than one.

It is time management skills enhanced through sailing that are paralleled in my work ethic. At CV-Library, staff work on a rigid schedule that ensures duties stay in the workplace and evenings are kept free. This means that workloads must be completed during the day, but overall it is a much more efficient way to work that establishes the foundation for a steady work-life balance too.

Many boats and many businesses have come a cropper due to poor timing

The rules bend slightly when launching or managing your own business though, as working out of hours is essential in order to perpetuate the company’s growth. This doesn’t eliminate the need for structured time management though, as there are still schedules and deadlines to abide to, much like tides and daylight hours.

Working under pressure

Working under pressure should always be anticipated in every working environment. It is important to realise that pressure is not stress and it is in many ways a healthy means to increase productivity. However, for those that have not experienced pressure at work, it can resultantly be counteractive.

Sailing can be quite dangerous and in many ways that is enough pressure to keep you on your toes. Yet there have been a few occasions where I have had to rethink navigation due to unexpected obstacles, or had to think fast due to inaccurate weather reports. When you’re at sea you have no choice but to make a decision for the best possible outcome.

It is these experiences that directly infiltrate into the way I work under pressure. Being able to work under pressure is a vital skill to have in any competitive industry or working environment. I encourage my staff and any working professional to think logically and tackle an issue head on when faced with a difficult task.

In business, there is always a chance that something may go wrong, even if you’ve analysed every aspect to the tenth degree. When this happens, remember to own up to your mistakes, you’ll gain more respect if you avoid dancing around the issue and it’ll be easier to devise a solution.

Responsibility

Sailing has also taught me the importance of responsibility. When you have something of great worth, you need to take care of it. Maintaining my boat and making sure it runs properly across the horizon is something I take great pride in as I have achieved so much through sailing and gain great enjoyment from it.

I feel the same way about my employees. It is important for any company to take care of their staff and make sure they are receiving the benefits they need in order to highlight how valuable they are. CV-Library wouldn’t be half the company it is today without the staff behind it. By showing staff how appreciative you are of their hard work, they become comfortable and motivated in their working environment.

Smooth sailing

There are plenty of logistics behind sailing, but the ultimate goal is to enjoy it and be proud of what you have achieved. The same applies to your job. The working world is tough, but it is also where you will spend the majority of your time throughout your career and so it is important to enjoy what you do too.

Try to incorporate a serious and focused attitude with a flexible one in order to create a complete working-professional package. Sailing has taught me the importance of hard work, but it has also taught me to enjoy what you’re doing along the way.