As a freshman on Brown University’s rowing team, Cameron Janes was grinding through brutal six-day-a-week practices under the relentless eye of Coach Scott Roop—yet he still wasn’t in the top boat. He was frustrated. He was exhausted. And he was at an all-time low.
One day at a particularly tough practice, as the crew found themselves rowing even further away from their starting point with no relief in sight, Roop looked at the team and said something that stuck with Janes for the rest of his life: “If you have to dig a ditch, you might as well whistle while you’re doing it.”
Janes, now the Chief Operating Officer at REI, overseeing $3.7 billion in annual sales across more than 190 stores, shared this pivotal moment on a recent episode of the Corporate Competitor Podcast. At the time, he didn’t want to hear it. In fact, he admitted, “I almost jumped out of the boat and tried to kill him at that moment.” But later, the lesson sank in.
What Coach Roop was teaching wasn’t just about rowing—it was about leadership, resilience and finding joy in the process. The team put in the work, and the results followed. The next year every boat in every race went undefeated, earning the entire team a place in the Brown University Sports Hall of Fame.
For Janes, that lesson didn’t stay on the water—it shaped his leadership philosophy in business. “I cannot tell you how much, when I’m in moments where I have to work really hard and work is challenging or life is challenging, I think back to that moment,” he shares on the podcast. “I think, okay, you might as well find some joy in what you’re doing.”
At REI, Janes has carried forward the principles he learned in that boat, which he shares on the podcast, including:
• Fostering healthy competition within a team environment. The best leaders find ways to balance collaboration and individual growth, pushing people to be their best while maintaining a unified vision.
• Creating inspiration to drive motivation. Employees don’t just want to work hard—they want to believe in what they’re working for. Leaders must give them that purpose.
• Balancing integration and assimilation. When joining a new organization, it’s critical to bring fresh ideas while respecting and embracing the existing culture.
Looking back, Janes recognizes that being challenged—by his coach, by competition, by the work itself—was what ultimately made him and his team better. And that’s the mindset he’s carried into every professional opportunity since.
“I’ve always gone off and sought really hard challenges in the work I’ve done,” he said. “Because I feel like those challenges are what’s going to grow me. They’re going to move me to the next level—not just in title, but in capability.”
As Janes notes, the best leaders don’t shy away from the grind—they embrace it. Just like Coach Roop taught Janes, great leaders find joy in the challenge, knowing that discomfort today builds excellence tomorrow. They don’t just push their teams to work hard; they inspire them to love the work itself. The best teams—the ones that go undefeated, the ones that make history—aren’t just working hard. They’re whistling while they do it.
