Lessons in leadership from birds

Category: Coaching Notes

Coaching notes You may remember an oil company commercial a number of years ago that featured a flight of Canadian geese. I so liked the message it spelt out that I started using the metaphor in team coaching with clients.

It went something like this:

As each bird flaps its' wings it creates an uplift for the geese following. By flying in a 'V' formation, the whole flock adds over 70% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

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.

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

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

When a goose gets sick or wounded it honks for help and two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help protect it. They stay with the sick goose until it is able to fly again. Then they launch out to catch up with the flock.

I’m sure you see the point.

In his book Close to the Wind, around the world yachtsman Pete Goss, explains the circumstances that made him give up his chance of winning the Vendee Globe in December 1996, when he went 160 miles out of his way to rescue the almost dead French sailor Raphael Dinelli. I met Pete in 2002 and asked him how, with so many others in the race, it fell on him to abandon his chance of winning. His answer was quite simple. ‘When someone needs your help – you just help them’, he said. ‘I was the nearest’.

My work often involves me in supporting clients in enhancing their leadership skills. Not just identifying what’s working and doing more of it but discarding what isn’t working. By helping them to break old patterns (what’s not working) and establish new ones, new patterns of behaviour once established soon become instinctive.

Pete, just like the geese, was acting on his instinct. Does this mean then that the skills of leadership are simply instinctive and that you either have them or you don’t? I think not!

John Sproson is an experienced performance coach and facilitator
and director of Breakthrough Solutions

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