The Goose

Autumn is here and with the crisper weather and show-off trees, we often see flights of geese demonstrating some amazing instincts. (And great common sense to get out of Michigan until spring!). Here are five facts about geese and five leadership lessons that we can learn from them.
FACT 1:   As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.
LESSON:  People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

FACT 2:  When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
LESSON:  If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

FACT 3:  When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies to the point position.
LESSON:  It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.

FACT 4:  The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
LESSON:  We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.

FACT 5:  When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
LESSON:  If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

Managing Interruptions

Time gets lost. People kill time. Time flies. It gets wasted. Sometimes, we have no time left; we're out of time. Easy Green Shop looks at the time spent at the office and provides tips for managing time.

Because you spend a great deal of your time working, meeting your employer's expectations becomes increasingly important. Managing your time effectively, however, is often hampered by interruptions.

Think back to your last day at work. You arrive, sit down and slowly begin to get into a groove. You begin working on that report that's due at the end of the day. After about an hour, you quit to go to a meeting that was scheduled a few days ago. After the meeting you think, "What a waste of time. They could have just sent a memo for us to read and not interrupted my work day." Read more...