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What: “At the Helm: Business Lessons for Navigating Rough Waters”

Authors: Peter Isler and Peter Economy

Price: $21.95

Want to be a better businessman? Start sailing.

Peter Isler of La Jolla, who sailed with and against them as navigator for Dennis Conner’s five America’s Cup campaigns, long sensed that there was a connection for corporate tycoons who were as successful on the water as they were at running their companies.

He and co-author Peter Economy--nice name for a business writer--interviewed more than three dozen subjects, from Roy E. Disney to Ted Turner, to find out why. One, John Thomson of Thomson Industries, Port Washington, N.Y., felt so strong about it that he made a sailing experience a business assignment for his senior executives.

“None of them knew how to sail,” Thomson said. “I gave them about a half-hour indoctrination and an hour on the boats”--and turned them loose.

“They were all fouled up the first couple of races, but the last race was really close,” Thomson said. “It was a great demonstration of what teamwork could do.”

The lessons, chapter by chapter, are “Make a Total Commitment,” “Build True Team Effort,” “Stack the Deck In Your Favor,” “Be Prepared to Change Course Quickly,” “Expect the Unexpected,” “Push the Limits” and “Master the Inner Game.”

Isler and Economy even break down the relative “crew” positions: helmsman-chairman, tactician-CEO, navigator-CFO, mainsail trimmer-sales manager, etc.

It worked for Thomson, Turner and Disney.