Lessons in Team Work from Geese

I had a discussion with my friends over the weekend about how we can get ahead and make the most of our lives. The one thing which we all noticed is quite often people do not have the support of their team (friends, co-workers, family members). Without the support of a team, reaching your goals, dreams will be definately more challenging. In my experience working at Innovative Fitness, I can relate to my rookie season. I thought I was a great training coach when I started; however I was wrong. My teammates took the time to see that there was a player who needed help in improving his personal training skills, so instead of letting me drown, they helped me become better; thus I can enhance the quality of the team. Furthermore, this afternoon I went on a bike ride with a customer I train and the talk about how geese stay together came into our discussion. Well, I had to take a further look and google "geese and team' and this is what I came up with.

Below is how Geese work as a team and the lessons to take away:

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 each other.

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 bird tires, it rotates back into the formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. 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 to encourage the heart and core values 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 down 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 of geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we’re strong.

Thoughts?

Easy come, easy go...

"A fool and his money are soon parted..." ~Thomas Tusser (1524-1580)

How true this is.

There have been many conversations, both in these blogs as well as between one another, about there being only three ways to come into money: inherit it, earn it, and steal it. Well, although stealing it clearly has it's own ramifications, sometimes we don't consider the significant negative possibilities of inheriting wealth.

Three examples come to mind:

• In high school, I had a good friend who came from an extremely affluent background. For his 16th birthday, his parents gave him a brand new '88 Corvette, fully insured and paid for in cash (yes, I know this dates me... whatever). He proceeded to crash it the next year - after it was rebuilt, his parents paid the higher insurance premiums. When that got destroyed as well, they then bought him a '90 Toyota Forerunner, and kept paying the $5000 per year insurance premiums. Well, his parents suddenly hit hard times a few years back - had to sell their house, and so on... and last I'd heard, this friend of mine was still working in the coffee shops trying to get his real estate licence (he never bothered with post-secondary education until the fountain "dried up"). Oh, and he didn't have a car...
• The summer after my first year of university, I worked with one purpose - to buy a car to use while I was away at school. After four months of tree-planting, house-moving and hardwood floor laying, and putting away what I needed for the eight months of school - I was able to afford a 1979 Honda Civic with manual choke. She wasn't much to look at, but I took care of her... what would I do if something happened to her? I'd used the last of my money on the actual purchase - I didn't have much choice but to keep her up and running. That sweet ride lasted me from 1992 to 1996.
• Finally, there are the Harpers. You may not have heard of them - but they were one of the families that was helped by "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" a few seasons back. The family had fallen on hard times, so the show (plus 1800 volunteers) came in and, on donations alone, tore the house down and rebuilt it to the tune of $450,000US. Furthermore, the Harpers were given 25 years worth of property and housing tax - so, essentially, they were handed a house worth half-a-million dollars, with no costs attached. Guess what I read this week? The bank foreclosed on them - because they'd taken that house and used it as collateral for a high-risk business venture that failed.

Now, at this point I usually tie things up with a neat bow - but I think I would rather hear the thoughts of everyone else on this first...? What do you take from it, and how does it relate to you?

And I would especially like to hear from some of the others who don't regularly contribute or comment on these...

(Note: Significant hints to my personal thoughts can be found both in the title, and subtitle, of this blog...)

~Guy

Drawing parallels

This past weekend we had some great things take place. A group of adventurous mountain bikers rode their bikes on some of BC’s best single track, breathtaking meadows and mountain passes. A committed customer competed in the Ocean man 10km English Bay crossing – specific tides and current needed. The parallels of challenge/training, adversity/participating and victory/completing ring true to each person involved.
Another event took place north of Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler…the Pemberton Music festival. This was an epic event of mass proportion. 40,000 people headed north for the 3day event.
Now we heard of festivalgoers camping and of course some were commuting to Whistler to party and sleep. The general consensus has been that everyone had a great time but didn’t get a lot of sleep. Many great bands and artists performed and created the energy needed to have a good time. The dust created a bit of a mess and the crowd created lineups. So all and all, ‘we had a great time, but had to stand in line a lot’ but with that many ‘humans’ in the mix, that’s a lot of potential issues and specific planning/systems had to be in place to ensure everything went off without a hitch.
Now with 40,000 bodies moving around town, up and down the sea to sky highway – what has been taken away in regards to the Olympics that will be coming our way in 20 moons or so?
This past weekend was said to bring 9million dollars of revenue to the local Pemberton district. Of course a bottle of water was 4$ but what is this teaching us about BC’s epic event in 2010?
We need to get our roads prepped – we need to have all our emergency response resources in order and of course we need to have enough beds at the ready.
How about volunteer’s? How about stepping up and being apart of something that will never be here again? Get some swag and take part!
Regardless, it will be interesting to see if the powers that be look at this past weekend and draw specific parallels towards what BC is up against at the end of this decade.

Philosophy of Charles Schultz

I was watching tv last week and when I was flipping the channels, I saw the show ET. I was frustrated with the amount of stupid things we worry about people we don't even know. So I found the following philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read it straight through, and you'll get the point. 

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world. 

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners. 

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America. 

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. 

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress. 

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners . 

 

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school. 

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. 

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile. 

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special. 

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with . 


Easier? 

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care about you.

Rituals Become Habitual

Developing positive habits in life can be challenging. It all begins with an idea. If we can turn these ideas into action that through time become automatically executed we make life simpler and more enjoyable. For most people it takes about 31 days to make something become habitual. We all have busy lives so taking on new things that we want to do more often and get better at can seem daunting. Yet if we can discipline ourselves to commit in doing something with no significant time off and for a period of 31days chances are we will develop a new (positive) habit.

I rode home an evening after work with Paul 4 years ago. I told him how I wanted to start doing more things but could not find the time. His answer to me was that I have to not only be disciplined but to ritualize my actions to develop them into something that happens more naturally. If it was to read more I was to set aside certain time in the week where, no matter what I would read. Everything else would have to be planned around this reading time. By planning around the designated day and time I would make reading a ritual and if followed through on a week after week for 31 days I would with no doubt make it a habit.

Most of us without really realizing it already ritualize their actions and hence have made actions habitual. Every week we know that we are working certain hours. I work 10am-830am guaranteed 5days a week. I therefore plan everything else around this so that it gets done. Now, after 4years I don’t think twice about it. When I was in the Product Manager role, every Monday morning I would review tangibles. Everything else that morning was based around that time. Every Sunday I will spend the late morning hours doing something creative at home. Everything else on that Sunday is worked around this time. Two mornings a week I get up early to workout. The list of rituals that have become habitual goes on and by now you understand how by ritualizing something it can become a habit. Our challenge is to discipline ourselves to keep the ritual long enough so that it becomes automatic. 31days. Give it a try.

The Law of Attraction

Do you ever get the feeling when you in the presence of certain people your energy is draining away? Do you feel a negative energy or vibe? Do you get tired of hearing I can’t do this, I don’t want this, I hate when I feel this etc. Generally speaking, all of us encounter people like this throughout our lives. Taking this question to the next step, what are the underlying causes for this negative energy? In late 2006 I was introduced to a movie called "The Secret". This movie reveals “The Law of Attraction". For those who have not seen this movie, it discusses how the thought process plays a huge impact in the outcome of our lives.

Main points I took away from this video:

1. An affirmative thought is hundreds of times more powerful than a negative thought.
   


2. Humans who constantly have positive thoughts on achieving his or her dreams, constantly strives to live a full satisfying life will attract those things into their lives by the law of attraction.


3. 
   Many people in society focus on the things they don’t want, can’t have or what the feelings that they don’t want. This attracts more things they do not want into their lives.

Now, let’s think how the law of attraction plays a role in our daily lives. As coaches we are very lucky to be surrounded with like minded positive individuals who produce positive energy.

Please take a look at the two videos and respond on what points you take away from these video. Has the Law of Attraction played a role in your life? I would to hear each of your thoughts and stories.

Video clip 1 (first 20 minutes of “The Secret”):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8

Video clip 2 (Oprah clip on The Secret):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHYrKFRrwHE

The Butterfly Effect

How many of you have heard this term?

The truth is, I could go into where the term came from (Ray Bradbury referenced the concept, though not necessarily the name, back in the late fifties and early sixties, for example), but I want to keep this concise.

Essentially, the "butterfly effect" is the concept that a single flap of the butterfly's wing sets a certain amount of energy in motion that determines future events - like knocking over a single domino starts a chain. Fascinating when you think about it, particularly in the realm of science fiction (think about Marty McFly in "Back to the Future", and the endless hijinks created when he tried to avoid affecting his own future...). But really, the butterfly effect can be applied to ourselves, in a much more real and far less fantastical way...

You see, every action that we make sets in motion a series of events - and this is never truer than when we're leading. As role models, or people whom others are looking at for an example, we have to be constantly aware of this butterfly effect - what we say and do, by and large, determines what is still yet to happen. However, the more aware of it we are, the more we can trace a current situation back and, more importantly, the better we can control it and thereby direct the future events.

Need a real world example? Let's say Jimmy Newcoach has just started at this great gym, "Innovative Workout". This is a great place, with a long history and amazing potential - and currently, things are going great. However, the owners have just hired Billy Jackass as the manager - had great references, and outstanding credentials, so why not? Well, time passes, and Jimmy watches Billy talk only to certain customers - and half of those people, he makes fun of when he's back in the lunchroom. The esteemed manager doesn't train for events (because he's "busy"), complains about having to do those events because they're not his "thing", and makes sure that the facility's cleaned and stocked only by getting his coaches to do it. To make matters worse, Jimmy watches Billy walk past a full towel bin and an empty towel rack, leave garbage on the floor, and never clean up his equipment.

What kind of trainer do you think Jimmy Newcoach is going to be? Furthermore, how long do you think the facility is going to keep operating at a high level?

Okay, so we would hope that we never see someone like Billy Jackass running an Innovative Fitness, because this has a predictable outcome. But step back, and imagine Billy is the ideal in every way - but won't do events. Or clean up after himself... or utilize the company's alliances...

Like the flap of a butterfly's wing, doing (or not doing) even one of these things can have a long reaching effect. At the very least, it can undermine credibility, but at worse, it can actually begin to hamper business.

Look back on your day, and consider if you were the ideal you are asking others to strive for. Really, it doesn't matter if you've got a "good reason" - in the end, you MUST lead others by example, not by words.

After all, who wants to be a Jackass?

~Guy