Leadership Lesson From the Birds

Have you ever seen those huge flocks of birds flying is gigantic swarms. They sway back and forth and heave and swell...it's kind of freaky, like you're watching gigantic insects or something. (check out this link if you have no idea what I'm talking about...)

I saw one of these flocks the other day while I was waiting at a stoplight and as I watched thousands of birds swarming back and forth. I started to notice that the movements were actually started by small pockets of birds. the whole group would be flying one direction and then, seemingly, one lone bird would turn around and head back another. Inevitably, other birds would follow and new movement would swell in the new direction.

It occurred to me while watching these freaky birds that this is how I feel in a lot of situations as a leader. I'm not typically the archetype "goose at the front of a perfectly formed V..." where I set a direction and everyone falls in line... More often, I feel like that one stray bird in the midst of thousands clamoring to make the vision I deem most important a big enough deal to sway others and create movement.

In some ways, I like it like that...it's comforting to know that you're being followed by people who chose to follow me. This is what I've discovered in my experience: learning to create a following when people have a choice to follow you is the ONLY way to create a REAL following when people don't have a choice.