Geese, Leaders And Teams

Few days ago, during dusk, while taking one of my long walks in the countryside, I suddenly heard a noise that caught my attention: a flock of geese in flight high overhead.

Geese usually fly in a V-shaped formation and this made me remind a truly inspiring story that some years ago I read in a book on leaders and teams.

Back home I looked for the book and this is the story with the lessons it can teach us. I hope you enjoy it! ??

“Next fall, when you see geese heading south for the winter, flying along in V formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way: as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in V formation the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.”

Lessons: Sharing a Common Goal and Increasing Visibility.

People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Furthermore, flying in a V-formation increases the visibility as every goose can see what’s happening in front of them. Likewise, in our organizations, on the one hand having top-down visibility enables leaders to stay connected with all employees in order to make better informed decisions, on the other bottom-up visibility enables employees themselves to see the bigger picture, engages them, and empowers them to better align themselves with the organizational goals.

 â€œWhen a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.”

Lesson: Having Humility to Seek Help.

If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are. We should be humble to admit the challenges we face and to seek help as soon as we get stuck. This humility would enable us, our team, and our organization to move faster and achieve more.

“When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point.”

Lesson: Empowering Others To Lead.

It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs.

By giving people autonomy, trust and a chance to shine, we will be surprised with the outcomes.

“Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.”

Lesson: Always Recognizing Great Work. 

What message do we give when we honk from behind? Just as the geese honk to recognize each other and encourage those up front to keep up their speed, so we should make sure we praise people and give them the recognition they deserve. In other words, remembering to constantly provide recognition and encouragement is vital and keeps teams motivated to achieve their goals.

Finally, and this is important, â€œwhen a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gunshots and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly, or until it dies. Only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.”

Lesson: Offering Support in Challenging Times.

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that. It’s easy to be part of winning teams, but when things get difficult and people are facing challenges, that’s when our teammates need us the most.

It’s possible to find many other lessons in this story, but one among all can summarize them: clearly times change, people change, contexts change, but if we share a common direction and sense of community, offer support each other, and build a sense of mutual trust, we will able to create a winning team, a strong real partnership. 

Sources:

Danica Purg (ed.), Pierre Casse, Lynn Isabella, Paul Claudel, Arnold Walravens Leaders and Teams. The Winning Partnership, GV Zalo?ba and IEDC Bled School of Management, 2003

Sketch by Francesca Soglian