In rough waters? Use these leadership tips from sailing

Taking part in the Richard Mille Cup sailing competition showed author and former CEO Brendan Keegan that leadership is the same on a boat or in the office since it requires leaders to adjust their strategies on the fly, communicate clearly and inspire a diverse team to strive for a shared result. "It's not about having the most experienced team or the youngest innovators; it's about creating an environment where each member's strengths are leveraged, and everyone is aligned toward the same goal," Keegan writes.

Put it into practice: Competition between teams was fierce at the regatta, Keegan notes, but still very collegial, with the second-place team showing respect by cheering for the team that beat them. "In business, this translates to recognizing that strong competitors can actually benefit the entire industry."

Colleagues and bosses are always watching and evaluating how you handle yourself as a leader and a team member, writes executive coach Joel Garfinkle, which is why it's imperative to manage your reputation from the start. "Perception can be almost everything, especially on the executive track. If you want to progress, you need to win both the hearts and minds of those at the table," Garfinkle advises.

Put it into practice: Others may vouch for your performance and excellence as a leader, but if a higher-up has seen you stumble before, they may rely on that to judge you instead of glowing reviews, Garfinkle writes. "They might be swayed if they see you excel in action again or if the highly regarded executive to the right shares a credible anecdote, like watching you deftly mediate a tense disagreement between two vendors."

Before replying to an email, executive coach Kate Nasser recommends "listening" to it, reading it thoroughly for any points of clarification that you may need, what they are asking for and whether the topic may require a conversation instead of a written reply. Use a respectful but honest tone when replying and format your email with bullet points, paragraphs and section headers to create a reply that is easy to read and understandable, Nasser recommends.

Put it into practice: If you find yourself becoming irritated while reading an email, resist the urge to judge the person who wrote it and instead seek to understand their message and ask clarifying questions without being accusing or conveying frustration, Nasser advises. "This is far better than telling them they don't know how to communicate."

Providing clarity on promotions. Sixty-three percent of you report that you're in a dangerous situation. Twenty-four percent have people who think they should have already been promoted. They're a flight risk because they'll seek a promotion at another company. Twenty-five percent have no idea when they'll get promoted. They're both a flight risk where they'll go to a situation where there's more promotion clarity or they'll lose motivation because they feel like they're not advancing their careers. Fourteen percent believe their job is a dead end. Eventually they'll leave for somewhere where they can continue to grow.

Your job as their leader is to communicate frequently and realistically about promotion paths and probabilities. Don't sugar-coat it and give them false expectations because that will be even more disheartening when the promotion doesn't happen. Be explicit about the performance you need to see as well as when opportunities will open up. You owe them that candor and it will help you manage expectations appropriately.

-- Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, which includes TITAN -- the firm's e-learning platform. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a West Point graduate and author of three leadership books: "One Piece of Paper," "Lead Inside the Box" and "The Elegant Pitch."

Emma Grede, the CEO of Good American, said she learns from failure as much as success and advises people to put ambition before fear. "Because I know that everything that I've done, that hasn't worked, I've taken a bit of those learnings and spun them into something new," Grede said during an interview on "Good Morning America."

If you love to watch hummingbirds feed and wish you could get a closer view, John and Joan Creed have the solution: the "HummViewer," which resembles a welder's hat with a plastic shield holding three feeders. John Creed demonstrated the headgear on Instagram, and some users followed suit, noting you must sit still for a while and not make any sudden movements when the fast-flying birds finally do show up.

Written forms of communication, such as email, can be easily misunderstood. If we're not careful, we may even project a tone of irritation or frustration, especially if the email is unclear or we feel it is too terse or unfriendly.

That's why, as Kate Nasser explains, we should take time to "listen" to the email, to imagine the voice of the sender talking to us instead of reading our mood or biases into the words.

If an email truly frustrates or irritates you, it may be best to close it and do some other tasks, returning to it later with a clearer head. It may also be worth making a phone call to the person (after you've calmed yourself) and having a clarifying conversation instead of trying to tackle the subject in writing.

Interestingly, Nasser notes that when she would write back in a form that included bullet points, section headers and complete paragraphs, she would receive quick responses. Nobody wants to wade through a confusing email, so being clear and concise up front or in our replies can make the written word a great way to convey our message.

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