Month: April 2013

Five Leadership Lessons from Canadian Geese

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Here are five lessons from Canadian Geese about being proactive in groups. What they do is very practical and applies to leadership in many ways.  Canadian geese fly south in the winter and back north in the spring but they cannot do it alone.

  1. As each goose flaps its wings it creates an‘uplift’ for the birds that follow. By flying in a ‘V’ formation, the whole flocks 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.

  1. The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. This provides encouragement against greater odds and distances. They can fly 4-5 hours without stopping.

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 values of others) is the quality of honking we seek. What does our honking sound from behind?

  1. When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation. It 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 our help and give help to others.

  1. When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies to the point position.

Lesson: It pays to take turns during the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each others’ skills, capabilities and unique arrangement of gifts, talents or resources.

  1. When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help 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 when we are strong. And move forward as a community.

How will your organization change if your people behaved this way?  Let me know what you think about this.  Twitter @drgbanks.

Three Feet from Gold

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Think and Grown Rich, Napolean Hill

One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat. Every person is guilty of this mistake at one time or another. An uncle of R. U. Darby was caught by the “gold fever” in the gold-rush days, and went west to DIG AND GROW RICH. He had never heard that more gold has been mined from the brains of men than has ever been taken from the earth. He staked a claim and went to work with pick and shovel. The going was hard, but his lust for gold was definite.

After weeks of labor, he was rewarded by the discovery of the shining ore. He needed machinery to bring the ore to the surface. Quietly, he covered up the mine, retraced his footsteps to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland, told his relatives and a few neighbors of the “strike.” They got together money for the needed machinery, had it shipped. The uncle and Darby went back to work the mine.

The first car of ore was mined, and shipped to a smelter. The returns proved they had one of the richest mines in Colorado! A few more cars of that ore would clear the debts. Then would come the big killing in profits.

Down went the drills! Up went the hopes of Darby and Uncle! Then something happened! The vein of gold ore disappeared! They had come to the end of the rainbow, and the pot of gold was no longer there! They drilled on, desperately trying to pick up the vein again-all to no avail.

Finally, they decided to QUIT. They sold the machinery to a junk man for a few hundred dollars, and took the train back home. Some “junk” men are dumb, but not this one! He called in a mining engineer to look at the mine and do a little calculating. The engineer advised that the project had failed, because the owners were not familiar with “fault lines.” His calculations showed that the vein would be found JUST THREE FEET FROM WHERE THE DARBYS HAD STOPPED DRILLING! That is exactly where it was found! 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Please follow me on Twitter @drgbanks for updates  about inspirational, and innovative approaches to leadership.  

Don’t Quit

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Don’t Quit Poem
by anonymous

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must; but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit;
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

two things every winner should know

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I used to coach girls basketball for a small private high school when I lived in Chesapeake, VA.  It was an amazing experience!  That’s when I realized that I have the ability to motivate people and help them achieve things that they didn’t realize they could do.  I’m going to share two things I emphasized in teaching the will to win. First I taught them the following poem, written by Walter D Wintle.

If you think you’re beaten you are, If you think you dare not you don’t;

If you like to win but you think you can’t, It’s almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose you’re lost, For out in the world you’ll find

Success begins with a fellows will, It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed you are, You’ve got to think high to rise

You’ve got to be sure of yourself before You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man

But soon or late, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can!

In addition to reciting this poem on a regular basis, I showed them the importance of outcome vs. process in creating the mindset for winning.

Outcome vs. Process

 There are two types of goals.  Outcome goals give you direction, such as winning or making a particular play.  Process goals include mastering the fundamentals and strategy to be competitive in basketball.

You dramatically increase your chances of making a basket by focusing on the process and letting the outcome take care of itself.  When you focus on the outcome, you open yourself up to the fear of missing or losing.  If you make a bad play or make a mistake, it is easier to become angry.

Fear and anger are negative emotions that adversely affect your brain’s chemistry and performance.  You will be more relaxed and efficient by focusing on instinctive execution, rather than thinking about scoring or winning.

While you may not be able to control the outcome, you can control your thoughts and actions to improve the process.  Success in mastering the process builds confidence and makes it easier to achieve your desired outcome.

These are the two things that every winner should understand as they take on the challenges of life.

Dr. Gary Banks