Thursday, October 24, 2013

The Geese Group

The core of the Geese Group: Jackson, Dee, Jon, Phil, Steve and Wes
Last Thursday I flew into Baltimore, MD, to help Phil Fratesi and the Geese Group coordinate and direct Baltimore’s Race for the Cure for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

As I have explained before, years ago Phil told me he wanted to create a working group based on the simple principle of shared leadership – like a flock of geese flying in a “V” formation, when people share direction and a sense of community tasks can be accomplished quicker and easier. He described how when a goose falls out of formation, it instantly experiences the resistance of flying alone, loosing the advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it, how when the lead goose becomes tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.

He described how geese when flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to maintain their momentum, how when a goose is incapacitated in any way, two other geese drop out of the formation and follow it down to assist and protect it, staying with it until it dies or is able to fly again. He maintained, people like geese need and deserve encouragement and support and when it is provided, the quality of production is always superior. 

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