Organizational Culture at Sail Caribbean
Sail Caribbean was founded in 1979. Over the past 39 years, much has changed, but much has also stayed the same. Traditions have existed for a very long time, creating a sense of familiarity between every program and year, but new additions have been made to improve upon aspects and the changing times. Becoming a staff member, after being a student for four years, was a very unique experience. My favorite part about the time that I spend at Sail Caribbean every summer is the traditions. Among my favorite traditions are Chili Cookoff, Challenge Day, Cake Decorating Contest, Canon-ball Competition, Race Day, Pirate Day, and Skits. These traditions help to set the tone for each program at Sail Caribbean. Each activity incorporates fun while also teaching the students important skills regarding sailing, cooking, time-keeping, and responsibility. When I was growing up, Sail Caribbean taught me so many things that at the time I could not even comprehend. These skills (teamwork, leadership, responsibility, empathy, accountability, and many more) are the backbone of the organization. They are critical to the success of every program and critical to each student not only having a great three weeks, but also taking many life skills away with them.
Because of the key role that these traits play in traditions, activities, and day-to-day life, they also play a key role in the way that staff members interact with one another. In my opinion, every workplace should try to foster an environment similar to the one that Sail Caribbean does. Each staff member is critical to the success of the organization as a whole, but there is an underlying sense of teamwork and bonding over the stresses, strains, and joys of daily life that binds everyone.
Before my response, just remember to please select a category for your reflection (or you can select multiple categories). From your title I can tell this is organizational culture, but when uncategorized, the reflections don’t show up appropriately and I have to go looking for them. Now to my response… sounds like a really engaging environment and clearly you personally gained a great deal from your experience with the organization (as a student). So it sounds fairly informal based on what you describe, though I imagine there must be more formality when it comes to running the ship (day-to-day elements, the actual sailing mechanics, etc.). As someone with significant experience with the organization, would be interesting to consider whether the nature of the culture is a result of the individuals leading the organization or a result of the industry (demands to be competitive with other similar-type of organizations, the world of sailing, etc.).