If you look to the sea where ships roam the world, the adventure is the romantic part and the reality is the Captain is lord and master of the ship. Given most people are good people or at least try to be good, what happens if the Captain gives out back lashes (whippings) at little too much? In the case of a ship called Hermione which belonged to the British and sailed the Caribbean Seas – the crew eventually killed the Captain and a few people the mob did not like for reasons of their own. The story is told by Dudley Pope in his book The Black Ship published by J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, 1964.

To read a book such as The Black Ship is try to understand about leadership and ramifications of the actions of the crew. In the world of British navy, whom your father was often led to the ability to captain a ship. In the Navy at that time, if the Captain caught the enemies ship (Spain or France), they had a right to a percentage of the spoils and if the
Admiral gave the easiest routes to those favored captains. In the case of Hermione and her Captain Pigot, the ship (she) was given the heaviest and easiest travel routes to plunder. The problem was Captain Pigot as written by Mr. Pope was determined that his ship must appear to be the smartest in the Fleet: thus every manoeuvre had to be carried out as if the Admiral was watching. Speed and blind, unquestioning obedience: these qualities he demanded from his officers and men. He made the mistake of confusing speed with efficiency, and terrorized obedience with loyalty, he produced a ship which was not an effective fighting machine, though neither he or his boss realized it. Real leaders produce seamen who were efficient, and speed was an automatic by-product, and were blindly obedient because of absolute trust of leaders.

Once Pigot decided upon a course of action he could not change it: he pursued it to the bitter end, regardless of whether it was right or wrong. Making ill-judged and impulsive decisions and sticking to them rigidly, without a moment’s thought of their effect on the future, meant he lived in the eternal “now”; he acted his part for today without realizing that there must inevitably be a tomorrow, a time of judgement and reckoning.

Captain Pigot was obsessed with the minutiae of discipline so small-minded that he investigated the most trifling alleged failure of duty with an obsessive and terrifying thoroughness more usual in the Inquisition and Star Chamber.

Captain Pigot was not a pleasant fellow to work for particularly if he decided he did not like you and he had his scapegoats for punishment. The crew eventually rose and killed Captain Pigot, which to all of them felt relief then the other story happens. What would happen to them? They sailed into a Spanish port – many of them were thinking they would take the next merchant ship to America and be free. It was a good thing the Spanish were bringing in gold from Mexico and Peru because if you do not like bureaucracy, going to a Spanish port to get permission takes time (lots of time) for Spanish Governors were not expected to make impulsive decisions or many decisions at all. They were to consult Madrid and the volumes of books that outlined procedures to possible decision making. As the time began to move, the documents of who was on that British ship were making its way through the British Navy Headquarters and they did not like those who left their posts early and wanted their ship back. Sometimes one wonders which was more important the ship or the leaders of the revolt. It took time but the leaders of the British Navy fought a battle to get their ship back; half the crew  including the leaders of the mutiny were tracked down and hanged, the lesser members of the crew disappeared into the wilderness.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, lessons in leadership are found in all industries, very often leaders wanted loyalty from their workers without understanding it has to be a two way street and a paycheck while good is not the main reason for loyalty. It is one of those strange things, where people ask if you were a millionaire would you still work here? yet in large companies where the senior people are compensated towards a million and more they still work but yet few ask why are they still working, what motivates them?  As an investor you want your companies to earn profits and pay dividends and have the leadership motivated to continue along with all the employees working for the best of reasons.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.