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TEAM BUILDING THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM LAGAAN BY SUNIL KUMAR SUNIL KUMAR

team building through effective leadership lagaan

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Page 1: team building through effective leadership lagaan

TEAM BUILDING THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

LESSONS FROM LAGAAN

BY

SUNIL KUMAR

SUNIL KUMAR

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The amount of performance improvement that

is possible from turned on teams is not small

it is enormous."

-------------Tom Peters

SUNIL KUMAR

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TEAM-A WAY OF CORPORATE LIFE

Team building has become one of the most popular and widely used intervention for improving the management of industrial and governmental organizations. Today’s organizations are utilizing teams more and more to meet customer demands and stay competitive in a changing marketplace.

Teams are replacing individuals as the basic building blocks of modern organizations. The corporate sector here and abroad is gradually realizing the tremendous potential of teams enabling companies to take more creative and informed decisions and effective coordination without the the need for close supervision.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Lessons in Teamwork to be learned from an age old fable

SUNIL KUMAR

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Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race.They agreed on a route and started off the race.

The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise,he thought he would sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race.

He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep.The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ.

SUNIL KUMAR

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The hare woke up and realized that he had lost the race.

Moral of the story:

“Slow and steady wins the race”.

This is the version of the story we’ve grown up with.

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Recently, the story has been retold.

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The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul searching. He realized that he’d lost the race only because he had been overconfident and careless.if he had not taken things for granted, there’s no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.

This time the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.

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Moral of the story:

Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady.

It’s good to be slow and steady ;

but it’s better to be fast and reliable.

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But the story doesn’t end here.

SUNIL KUMAR

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The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there’s no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly differently route.

The hare agreed. They started off in keeping with his self made commitment to be consistently fast. The hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river.

The hare sat there wondering what to do . In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Moral of the story:

First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your

core competency.

SUNIL KUMAR

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The story still hasn’t ended.

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The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race could have been run much better.

So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.

SUNIL KUMAR

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They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There , the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they’d felt earlier.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Moral of the story:

It’s good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies ; but unless you’re able to work in a team and harness each other’s core competencies, you’ll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you’ll do poorly and someone else does well.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Lessons in Teamwork to be learned from from an age old fable

SUNIL KUMAR

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Team work is mainly about situational leadership,

letting the person with the relevant core competency

for a situation take leadership

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Lessons learnt from the story of hare and tortoise are:

• Fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady.

•Work to your competencies.

•Pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers.

•Never give up when faced with failure.

SUNIL KUMAR

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A TEAM

Is a group of two or more people ,who interact and influence each other ,

but has some characteristics in greater degree than ordinary groups, including a higher commitment common goals and a high degree of interdependency and interaction.

In a Nut shell

A Team is a group organized to work together to accomplish a set of objectives that cannot be achieved effectively by

individuals

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•High level of interdependence among team members

•Team leader has good people skills and is committed to team approach

•Each team member is willing to contribute

•Team develops a relaxed climate for communication

•Team members develop a mutual trust

•Team and individuals are prepared to take risks

Characteristics Of Good Team Building

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•Team is clear about goals and establishes targets

•Team member roles are defined

•Team members know how to examine team and individual errors without personal attacks.

•Team has capacity to create new ideas

•Each team member knows he can influence the team agenda

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SUNIL KUMAR

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Building Leadership Skills

Lessons from Lagaan

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Prelude• It is about Bhuvan and his team, who, against all odds, fight

for pride, land and country - and win.

• It is how one single person with a passion can make a difference. It is about the triumph of human spirit, the Indian spirit.

• Lagaan is set in the village of Champaner (somewhere in Central India) in the late 19th century. Yet, it does not seem too far removed from us in the 21st century.

• Each of us has someone we know in some Indian village. Many of us still pay a visit to our native place every once in a while. It is about the unchanged reality of India - the wait for the rains every year. It is also about the only sport which matters in India and which each of us has grown up with - cricket.

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Prelude• Above all, Lagaan is about people. Ordinary, average people,

who are going about their lives - like each of us. Who, when the moment demands, do extraordinary deeds. It is about the power of a Team - the muthi ("closed fist"). As a team, they were fighting for the future of tens of thousands of their countrymen against a heartless enemy (the British). They had few resources, and little knowledge of the game of cricket. What they did not lack was fighting and team spirit, and the will to win. They were not playing a game; they were fighting a war.

• The India of today, too, faces a lot of challenges. If we can learn from Bhuvan and his bunch of motley cricketers, the New India that is being built can be a different place, one which occupies pride of place in the world economy, one which is respected and feared but not ignored, one in which the community and nation come before self, one which Bhuvan's XI would have been proud of. SUNIL KUMAR

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Think of Problems as Opportunities

When Captain Russel challenges Bhuvan to a cricket match, Bhuvan accepts it because he knows that there is really no option. It is a risk, but without taking risks, there are no rewards. Given the state of his brethren (and with no looming rains), Bhuvan viewed the incrementalism of trying to reduce the "double tax" as a non-option against the possibility of a "10-100x" quality of life improvement offered by a victory in the cricket match.

In our lives too, we face a lot of problems. We need to think of these as

opportunities for innovation.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Dream Big and Define the Goal

Once Bhuvan accepted the challenge, his dream was three years of no tax. It may have seemed unrealistic or even improbable, but then that's what dreams are. Dreaming is about imagining a different future. In the case of Bhuvan, he not only dreamt big but also put in place a strategy to make that a reality. Another name for Dream is Vision.

To make things happen the way we want, we have to envision the future, and paint a picture in front of the others of what

we want to achieve.

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Put Community Before Self

The important thing about Bhuvan's dream was that it was not for himself, it was for the community. Never in his talk or action did Bhuvan put himself or his self-interest before that of what his village needed. Bhuvan's dream of greater good thus elicited (after some initial resistance) the support of the entire province.

Put organization first… If organization succeeds we succeed

SUNIL KUMAR

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Be Determined in face of Opposition

This comes across many times in the movie. Right from the start when the entire village opposes Bhuvan's having taken up the challenge to when the rest of his team refuses to play because Bhuvan wants to take on board Kachra, who is an untouchable. On all occasions, Bhuvan knows he is right, and faces up and answers his critics with courage, winning their support in the end. We face this situation many times in our organisations.

Many a time, we give up and accept what we feel is perhaps a lesser decision. It is at times like these that we need to speak up - as long as we know we are fighting for the right issue, and not against an

individual. SUNIL KUMAR

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Give Examples to Enhance Understanding

Even though Bhuvan didn't know the difference at that time, he simplified the challenge of learning cricket by portraying it as something similar to gilli-danda. By doing this, he made the impossible seem achievable, he made the mountain seem climbable. Analogies have that effect and can be powerful in helping tame the seemingly difficult.

As managers and leaders, we too have the task of motivating the troops to take up

challenges in the marketplace. Vision needs to be translated into a series of

tasks that the team can understand, thus building a path through the fog.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Make a BeginningBhuvan did not wait to start. He did not see around. He made a bat and a ball, got the kid interested and started. Many times, we brood and end up thinking too much.

The only way one can test out new ideas is by jumping in, by getting started. Only when we close the door behind us will we see the doors in front start opening.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Small Victories are Important at the Start

The first time Bhuvan hits the ball, he does so in public, in full view of the entire village. He makes it seem easy, he makes them want to participate. In the film, watch the faces of the villagers after Bhuvan's first strike.

When starting any project, it is important to have small wins at the start to

motivate the team.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Building the TeamThis is at the heart of the film in the first half. Just watching Bhuvan go from one to eleven offers a lot of learning. He understands the pressures and the soft points of people, and uses this knowledge to make them part of his team. Watch and listen to the song which he uses to recruit Goli, the largest land owner in the village, and Ishwar Kaka, Gauri's father. To get Bhura, the murgiwalla, he makes him feel important as a person who can teach something (catching) to the rest of the lot. Watch also how Bhuvan talks to each of his team members. Each one is treated as special, as being different. Building the team is like recruitment. One needs to select the right people and motivate them.

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Allocating Roles

Bhuvan also assigns responsibilities to each of his people. Just getting the people on board is not good enough. They have to be told what the goal is. Just as the hand consists of a thumb and four fingers, a team consists of different individuals. The objective is to make them all work together like a fist, like a team.

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Support the Team Members

Bhuvan backs his people to the hilt, even when they make mistakes. He is willing to give Kachra a second chance (on the second afternoon of the match) despite the skepticism of others. He knows Kachra can be a match-winner - and Kachra proves him right.

It is very important in any team that the captain support his team, backing the right person at the right time for the

right job.

SUNIL KUMAR

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It's about Team Spirit

However good and passionate Bhuvan was, he could not have won the match on his own. Cricket needs eleven players. It is a team game. So is business. Individual brilliance means a lot, but as Bhuvan showed, an average group filled with team spirit and playing with passion can overcome a group of talented, experienced but under-motivated individuals. Members must put the Team before Self. Take the time when Bhuvan is batting with Bhura, and he (Bhuvan) slips while going for a run. Bhura pushes Bhuvan away to the other half of the pitch, and sacrifices his own wicket because he knows that the captain is the one who can lead the way. SUNIL KUMAR

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Make the Best of Limited Resources

Watch how Bhuvan makes the bat and ball, and later how the pads are made. Look at the scene where Bhuvan and his team are practicing at night - the entire village is gathered around their team with mashaals to create the light. The villagers of Champaner have limited resources, but they make the best use of them.

One cannot always wait for the perfect tools or for the availability of infinite resources. As entrepreneurs, we must

innovate - focus on getting the work done. When one has fewer resources, the brain and body work that much harder and much

more imaginatively. SUNIL KUMAR

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It's about People.

Lagaan is about how ordinary people can do extraordinary deeds. We all have it within us. Look at the Reader's Digest "Drama In Real Life" stories. When the occasion comes, people - each one of us - can do amazing things.

SUNIL KUMAR

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LEADERSHIP IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Value based leadership is the need of the hour. The set of thirteen lessons

discussed above will help in the development of an ethical leadership

that is critical for organizations today.

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As one progress towards the 21st century, while aspects of management will still be very necessary, there will be a tremendous premium on leadership.

To be successful in the future, we need to operate as a leader than a manager.

Lawrence M. Miller, President of the Miller Consulting Group says,

SUNIL KUMAR

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEADERSHIP &

MANAGEMENT

“We need less management and more leadership. There

are very distinct qualitative differences. Management

assumes controlling, directing, checking. There is

specificity to management: there is an assumption of

authority and control in management. Leadership is a

very different quality. It involves creating direction

through vision, direction through inspiration, direction

through example, as opposed to direction through

control.” SUNIL KUMAR

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Stephen Burr, HR Head – GSK says that the fast-growing international environment is giving way to a new concept – EXCEEDERSHIP: Embedding the desire to surpass targets into the business mindset and performance. It's all about developing a performance driven culture with a can-do attitude, where there is a trust, focus, innovation and integrity, and where people are positive and optimistic, and are empowered to make decisions. Exceedership means the drive to go well beyond the agreed targets, doing the bold, the unexpected, the creative; an intolerance of mediocrity, encouraging radical, risk-taking ventures; and developing a resilient, unrelenting positive attitude.

Russell-Greig,President GlaxoSmithKline -JUNE 2004)

EVOLUTION FROM LEADERSHIP TO EXCEEDERSHIP

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A NEW MODEL FOR 21ST CENTURY LEADERSHIP• EARLIER PARADIGM• Being a Manager• Being a Boss• Controlling people• Centralizing authority• Micro-managing/goal-setting• Directing with rules and

regulations• Establishing “position power” and

hierarchy• Demanding compliance• Focusing on numbers and tasks• Confronting and combating• Stressing independence• Encouraging ‘old-boys” networks• Changing by necessity and crisis• Being internally competitive• Having a narrow focus:• “Me and my department”

• CURRENT/FUTURE PARADIGM

• Being a leader• Being a coach and facilitator• Empowering people• Distributing leadership• Aligning with vision and strategy• Guiding with shared values and a

healthy culture• Building “relationship power” and

networked teams• Gaining commitment• Focusing on quality, service and

customers• Collaborating and unifying• Fostering interdependence• Respecting and leveraging

diversity• Continuously learning and

innovating• Being globally competitive• Having a broader focus:• “My team, my company, my

community, my world”

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SUNIL KUMAR

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When evaluating how well team members are working together, the following statements can be used as a guide:

Team goals are developed through a group process of team interaction and agreement in which each team member is willing to work toward achieving these goals.

Participation is actively shown by all team members and roles are shared to facilitate the accomplishment of tasks and feelings of group togetherness.

Team Effectiveness

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Feedback is asked for by members and freely given as a way of evaluating the team's performance and clarifying both feelings and interests of the team members. When feedback is given it is done with a desire to help the other person.

Team decision making involves a process that encourages active participation by all members.

Leadership is distributed and shared among team members and individuals willingly contribute their resources as needed.

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Problem solving, discussing team issues, and critiquing team effectiveness are encouraged by all team members.

Conflict is not suppressed. Team members are allowed to express negative feelings and confrontation within the team which is managed and dealt with by team members. Dealing with and managing conflict is seen as a way to improve team performance.

Team member resources, talents, skills, knowledge, and experiences are fully identified, recognized, and used whenever appropriate.

Risk taking and creativity are encouraged. When mistakes are made, they are treated as a source of learning rather than reasons for punishment.

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Team members must understand their increasing roles in the team process and actively work to support each other to maximize effectiveness and meet organizational expectations.

High INVOLVEMENT Teamwork provides managers, supervisors, team leaders, and team members with the practical skills needed to be successful within their teams.

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Practical Aspects of Directing Teams

When directing a small team it is important to structure the tasks to be performed. Goals should be easily understood by everyone and tasks broken down so that they appear achievable.

The Brick Wall Approach

Nothing will be more demoralising for your team than setting them a task which seems impossible . The brick wall approach will usually result in the task not being accomplished.

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Break Down the TaskTherefore it is important to define a task as a series of small but significant steps which seem realistic. As the person performs these broken-down steps he/she will still feel that something tangible has been accomplished, and the next step toward finishing will become clear.

1. The brick-wall approach 2. Broken down-steps

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The trouble with teams

Teams are not penacea for all the organizational ailments.

According to Management guru, Peter Drucker, “The now fashionable team in which everybody works with everybody on everything from the beginning rapidly is becoming a disappointment.”

Teams have been overused. Sometimes it is much more efficient for an individuals to work out a problem alone than to solve it with help of others.

Companies fail to create the necessary environment for teams to flourish.

The risk of productivity loss from social loafingSUNIL KUMAR

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Establishing teams is not a cure-all success formula for organizations. Teams will be successful only to the extent that they have a clear purpose and can produce measurable results.

The goal of Building A Dynamic Team is to familiarize participants with the fundamentals of high performance teamwork and help them build a Team Agreement that serves as a contract that will guide them through the completion of their mission.

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TEAM GAINS

Today’s organizations are utilizing teams more and more to meet customer demands and stay competitive in a changing marketplace.

• Proctor & Gamble had 30-50% lower manufacturing costs.

•Kodak improved SPC by 228%, safety by 67%, output by 12% and decreased costs by 11%.

•GE improved productivity by 250%.

•Ford had lower defect rate than most Japanese competitors.

•General Motors relies on teams to improve its product quality.SUNIL KUMAR

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Domino’s pizza sends its managers to leading concept Boot Camp to learn team building skills.

At the simulated military boot camp, managers develop teamwork and communication skills by forming a platoon that must survive in combat. The training helps managers become better team players and more willing to be judged as part of a team instead of as individuals.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Team building must be

- a way of life

- the responsibility of every Team Member

- a continuous process

- about developing a clear and unique identity

- focused on a clear and consistent set of goals concerned with the needs and ambitions of each team

- member recognizing the unique contribution that each individual can make an awareness of the potential of the team as a unit

- results oriented enjoyable

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Team building must NOT be

- a short term, flavor of the month imposed without regard to peoples’ feelings

- reserved for only some members of the team

- an excuse for not meeting personal responsibilities

- a process where actions clearly contradict intentions

SUNIL KUMAR

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Lessons from GeeseLessons from Geese

for Team Buildingfor Team BuildingSUNIL KUMAR

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Fact 1Fact 1As each goose flaps its wings, it creates uplift for As each goose flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the birds that follow . By flying in a V-formation, the birds that follow . By flying in a V-formation, the whole flock adds 72% greater flying range the whole flock adds 72% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.than if each bird flew alone.

LessonLessonPeople who share a common direction/purpose and People who share a common direction/purpose and sense of community can get where they are going sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of another.thrust of another. SUNIL KUMAR

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Fact 2Fact 2When a goose flies out of formation, it suddenly feels the When a goose flies out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone.  It quickly moves back drag and resistance of flying alone.  It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.the bird immediately in front of it.

LessonLessonIf we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go.  formation with those headed where we want to go.  We are willing to accept their help and giveWe are willing to accept their help and giveout help to others.out help to others. SUNIL KUMAR

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Fact 3Fact 3When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.formation and another goose flies to the point position.

LessonLessonIt pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities, and unique on each other's skills, capabilities, and unique arrangements of gifts, talents, and resources.Shared arrangements of gifts, talents, and resources.Shared leadership and interdependence gives us each a leadership and interdependence gives us each a chance to lead as well as opportunities to restchance to lead as well as opportunities to rest..SUNIL KUMAR

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Fact 4Fact 4The geese flying in formation honk from behind to The geese flying in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

LessonLessonWe need to make sure our honking is encouraging.  In We need to make sure our honking is encouraging.  In groups where there is encouragement, the production is groups where there is encouragement, the production is greater.  The power of encouragement is the quality of greater.  The power of encouragement is the quality of honking we seek.honking we seek.

SUNIL KUMAR

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Fact 5Fact 5When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it.  They stay with it down to help and protect it.  They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again.  Then they until it dies or is able to fly again.  Then they launch out with another formation or catch up launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.with the flock.

LessonLessonIf we had as much sense as geese we will If we had as much sense as geese we will stand by each other in difficult times as well stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.as when we are strong.

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If we are willing to If we are willing to learn……learn……

…………we can achieve what we can achieve what we want.we want.

SUNIL KUMAR