Boating Industry Insider Podcast

The Five-Year Voyage

Imagine spending five years with your wife in a 21-foot boat with an 8'x3' cabin, on a trip through 19 countries, covering some 18,000 miles. That's what Stephen Ladd did - and he - and the marriage - survived, though the boat did not. The author of the solo adventure story Three Years in a 12-Foot Boat is back at it, detailing a new adventure with a new book, The Five-Year Voyage. Teaming up with his now-wife Virginia, they sailed from the Gulf of Mexico to Argentina and back, largely via South American rivers, in a 21-foot Sea Pearl, even having a baby along the way. The pair are among only a handful of living people who have navigated from the Caribbean to the Amazon via the Brazo Casiquiare. Their range and variety of encounters with wildlife, indigenous peoples, gold-dredgers, fishermen, and even robbers make for good reading - and interesting podcasts!

The Electrification of Boating

There is a growing consensus among auto industry executives and analysts that a tipping point is fast approaching for the mass adoption of electric vehicles because of falling battery costs, improving battery technology, pressure from regulators and generous government subsidies. Will electric boats be far behind? They certainly made a big splash at the recent Miami International Boat Show. There were several electric outboard manufacturers prominently displaying their products, and lots of people talking about electrification. Correct Craft's Ingenity Nautique GS22E was named Boat of the Year by Boating Magazine, the first time the award has been given to an all-electric boat, and Ingenity also received a 2022 Miami Innovation Award for their all-new 23E, which debuted at the show. Boating Industry Insider host David Gee caught up with Sean Marrero, Ingenity's President, at the show, to talk about the future of electric boats in the U.S.

The value of a strong corporate culture

The great reshuffling. Reexamining our relationship to work. Employees quitting who don't feel valued. In his Building Corporate Soul: Powering Culture & Success with the Soul System Ralf Specht - an innovative corporate brand strategist known for his work with global companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, Coca Cola, General Motors, and Nestle - provides an approach to align value-creating employee behaviors with corporate strategy. In this podcast, Ralf joins David Gee to discuss:
• Key evidence that proves great culture drives success – and practical strategies to make it part of your organization
• The Soul System: The framework for building and maintaining a strong culture – one that leaders can immediately put into place
• Specific examples of how successful organizations build and grow a Corporate Soul – including AirBnB, LinkedIn and others

Why you really can’t find talent

In this edition of Boating Industry Insider, content director and editor-in-chief David Gee introduces us to Roberta Matuson, President of Matuson Consulting. Her clients include General Motors, Microsoft, as well as many smaller privately-held businesses. She’s the author of six books, including her most recent, "Can We Talk: Seven Principles for Managing Difficult Conversations at Work". In this interview, she states that the ‘Great Refusal to Work’ is not what many think it is. “Organizations and leaders struggling to attract talent have been using the additional unemployment benefits provided during COVID-19 as a crutch,” says Matuson. “Of course, it’s easier to blame someone else (in this case, the government) for your problems than to look inward to see if the problem might be you. She has some advice on how to stop valued employees from quitting, why your applicant tracking system might be a problem as well as some new places to dig for talent.

Diversity alone isn’t enough

It seems like everyone is hiring these days, and diversity is one of the top recruitment goals in 2021. But according to Martin G. Moore—a leadership performance expert, author and co-founder of Your CEO Mentor—diversity doesn’t help your company if you can’t leverage the value. “Having a diverse team is important, but if you want to actually make use of that diversity, you must truly engage and include each individual,” says Moore. “It’s not just about giving people a seat at the table. You also have to make it safe for them to express their views.” In this Boating Industry Insider episode, Content Director and editor-in-chief David Gee talks with Moore about how leadership qualities have changed since COVID, or if they have, how to truly empower people and leverage diversity, and why inclusion, consultation, and collaboration should never come at the expense of accountability.