What a flock of geese taught me about leadership
In one of our soulful meetings recently, a colleague shared something that sounded so deep and profound.
When geese fly in formation, they take turns at the front. The one leading breaks the resistance for everyone behind. And when it gets tired, it simply moves back and another steps forward. No announcement or negotiation. Just an awareness of what the whole group needs in that moment.
There’s no permanent leader. No single goose carries the weight all the way.
It struck me how different this is from how we tend to think about leadership at work. We expect one person to always be at the front, always have the answers, always hold things together. We’ve built entire structures around that idea, titles, hierarchies, job descriptions, roles & responsibilities. And I think it exhausts people, both the ones always leading and the ones who never get a chance to.
Nature seems to suggest something different. That sustainable movement comes when leadership shifts. When people step in and step out, not out of confusion about who’s in charge, but out of genuine trust in each other a.d the need of the moment,
Maybe leadership isn’t about always being at the front. Maybe it’s about knowing when to step up and when to step back, and feeling safe enough to do both.
It’s worth asking, where in your team or your life could leadership be shared a little more right now?
