Why a Wooden Boat Beat the Best and What That Means for Business

There is a famous Brazilian sailing regatta called the “Refeno” which runs from Recife, on the northeast coast, to the famous island of Fernando de Noronha. It covers 300 nautical miles and kicks off every September.

Competing in that regatta was a wooden trimaran called “Ave Rara”. During Ave Rara’s heyday, it was valued at just US$40,000. The boat competed for 16 years and won in its category 15 of the 16 times it raced.

But that’s not what is impressive.

What is almost unbelievable is that Ave Rara managed to win the prestigious Fita Azul award -  which is crossing the finish line first out of all boats and all categories - four times. Against all odds, with waves pounding for 22 relentless hours, the boat won against high-tech carbon boats worth millions of dollars and sometimes skippered by Olympic sailors.

The million-dollar question is - how?

It wasn’t technology, money, or speed that carried them across first. It was something far more powerful: belief, purpose, resilience, and unity.

You see, each year, Ave Rara’s skipper Gustavo "Guga" Peixoto assembled a new crew of amateurs. And each year, they set out, not to win, but to be part of something bigger than themselves. This was never about money, fame, or even the award. Their goal was always the same. To do their absolute best together. To push their and the boat’s limits. And believing in a common mission.

Ave Rara shows us what leadership in practice truly looks like. It’s not just about driving outcomes. It’s about creating connection, belonging, and a shared purpose, which proved more powerful than any bottom-line criteria.

This emotional engagement is needed now more than ever.

A Shift In Mindset Is Needed

Business, for the most part, is still stuck in the Industrial Age. A time when success meant process, efficiency, and control. Workers were cogs in the machine. People clocked in, followed orders, and went home. Emotions were irrelevant. And purpose was seen as a luxury.

But those days are long gone.

Today, business is fast, fluid and global. It’s interconnected and much more complex. We need creative ideas and adaptive thinking. And most importantly, we need people - engaged, inspired, purpose-driven people – to solve the intractable challenges we now face.

Yet the data shows a worrying trend.

According to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in business has reached an all-time low. People are checking out - physically, mentally, and emotionally - and it’s getting costly for companies. When individuals don’t feel connected, supported, or valued, they simply stop caring. That then leads to innovation stalling, absenteeism rising, and eventually, people leaving. Gallup’s 2023 report backs this up: disengaged employees cost U.S. companies up to $550 billion every year.

On the flip side, though, engaged teams are 21% more profitable, and happy employees are 400% more innovative. This is what it looks like when you put people first before profit. And the competitive advantage is very clear.

But achieving this shift requires a new kind of leadership. People-first companies only thrive when leaders recognise the value of human competencies: empathy, cultural intelligence, collaboration, vulnerability, creativity. This is Human Leadership. And it’s the key to unlocking engagement, innovation, and long-term success.

What Human Leadership Looks Like

Human leadership is less about command and control, and more about connection and culture. It’s creating environments where people feel psychologically safe to think differently, speak up, and be themselves. Where they feel seen, valued, and a part of something bigger.

Over the past 20 years I’ve seen this in action in my work with TIE Leadership and in the conversations I had while writing my book Return on Humanity. One standout example is Derek Moore, Co-Founder and CEO of Coffee & TV.

Coffee & TV: Leading with Heart

Derek’s story is proof that business success doesn’t have to come at the cost of human well-being. Coffee & TV is one of the UK’s leading creative studios, specialising in VFX, animation, and colour grading. It's a certified B-Corp, and it’s thriving.

But the path to success wasn’t traditional. In fact, Coffee & TV began as an escape from this old-school way of running companies. And specifically, from burnout.

Derek had spent years in high-pressure creative roles. He knew the toll of toxic work environments: long hours, constant stress, creative compromise. Alongside three friends, he decided to build something different. A company rooted in purpose, not pressure.

“We started it as a lifestyle project,” Derek told me. “We didn’t even think of it as a business at first.

We just knew there had to be a better way.”

And there was.

They built a space where creativity could flourish without burnout. Where artists led the direction of the business, not accountants. Growth was slow, mindful, and intentional. The goal wasn’t just profit, it was joy. Belonging. Great work, done well, by people who care.

Creating Cultures People Want to Belong To

So, what does this look like in practice?

It’s about creating an environment people relate to. Where they want to stay. Where they feel safe to grow.

Derek talks about the culture at Coffee & TV as more like a family than a company. Not in a tokenistic way, but as a real source of strength. While other companies try to mimic sports teams - cutting players who don’t perform - Coffee & TV nurtures relationships and encourages long-term contribution.

“You can’t treat people like they’re expendable,” Derek said. “We want people to build full careers here. To feel they can express themselves fully. That means giving them space to learn and grow.”

It’s a leadership style rooted in self-awareness, empathy, and care. And it’s working. Not just in terms of retention and culture, but in the quality of the work and the company’s growing success. They’ve recently joined the Omnicom network and continue to grow, now having offices in Los Angeles, New York and Austin (USA).

A Better Way Is Possible

We often think the choice is binary: kindness or profit. But it’s not. It’s both. And businesses and leaders that understand this are outperforming those that don’t.

Human-centred leadership is more than a nice-to-have, it’s now a business imperative. And the leaders who can build cultures of trust, creativity, and shared purpose will win.

Like Ave Rara, they won’t always have the flashiest tools or the biggest budgets. But they will have something more powerful: belief. Unity. Purpose.

And in today’s world, that’s what really moves the needle.

This is the new frontier of leadership. And the future of business depends on it.

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Philippa White is passionate about unlocking a return on humanity - in business and beyond. She is an international bestselling author, speaker, social innovator, and the Founder and CEO of TIE Leadership, a UK-based organisation that has spent over 20 years transforming leaders by positioning humanity as a competitive advantage. Through her experiential leadership programs, keynotes, and her acclaimed book Return on Humanity: Leadership Lessons from All Corners of the World, Philippa helps leaders build human-centred, innovative and resilient cultures that drive business success. What sets her apart is her global perspective. Drawing from lived experiences across the world, she challenges traditional Western business norms and shows how the most powerful leadership lessons often come from diverse, unexpected places. Born in South Africa, raised in Canada, and now based in Brazil, Philippa’s people-first approach doesn’t just boost performance, it supports a more sustainable and connected world. She has worked with some of the world’s largest businesses and continues to advise organisations ready to embrace a more human, agile, and purpose-driven way of working. She is also the host of the TIE Unearthed podcast, the author of over 60 published articles and her book was shortlisted as a finalist for the 2025 business book awards. Philippa lives in Brazil with her two daughters. They love to spend weekends hanging out in the Atlantic rainforest with friends or exploring local beaches. She also loves taking her 36kg German Shorthaired Pointer for walks in the countryside and when possible, whenever he’s not sailing across the world, spending time with her partner at the marina either sailing or fixing up the boat he designed.