Geese & Team Building

"A LESSON FROM THE GEESE"

"As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the bird following: By flying in a "v" formation, the whole flock adds a 70% longer flying range than if each bird flew alone.

LESSON: People who share a common direction and

a sense of community can get where they

are going quicker and easier when they

travel on the thrust of one another.

Whenever a goose falls out of formation it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the "lifting power" of the bird immediately in front.

LESSON: If we have as much sense as a goose, we will

stay in formation with those who are headed

where we want to go.

When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose takes over at the point position.

LESSON: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks,

and sharing leadership because people, like

geese, are inter-dependent upon each other.

The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

LESSON: We need to make sure our honking from

behind is encouraging, .... not something less

helpful.

When a goose sick or wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and to protect it. They stay with it until it is either able to fly again or dies. Then they launch out on their own, either with another formation or to catch up with the original flock.

LESSON: If we have as much sense as the geese, we'll

stand by each other like they do."

(Adapted from: "A Lesson From The Geese". written by

Milton Olson)

It is amazing it takes a flock of geese to teach us about working together to achieve our goals. One of the greatest challenges anyone in a position of leadership has is getting those they are leading to "fly' in the same direction.

Distractions have only increased, in my opinion, to make the job even more

difficult. Selfishness, outside influences, and social media are three on a long list of factors which can adversely affect your efforts. Welcome to the

wonderful world of coaching!

Once you get your "head & shoulders by the defender all you got to do is finish!