Are you a bull moose or a lead goose?
I grew up out west in Colorado, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming until I was 17! During that time, I spent much time outside hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting. I remember several trips to Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Custer National Park, and many other places like this. One of those trips stands out to me, however.
I was about ten years old, and it was early fall in the mountains. This was the time to go for a drive and a hike to see all the Aspen trees turn their beautiful golden-yellow color. My family always packed a picnic for these trips, not as much as for the experience but to save money. It was a beautiful and cool fall day. I wore my favorite red winter jacket, blue stocking cap, and blue jeans (this will be important later).
At about 9 am, we stopped to fish for a little bit at one of the many local lakes and streams in Yellowstone. While doing so, I distinctly remember the Canadian Geese migrating south for the winter. There were several flocks of them flying in their perfect V formation overhead and several flocks who were taking a break who had landed out on the lake where I was fishing. It was an incredible and beautiful site to watch them as you could hear them talking to each other and even switching out who the lead goose was at the front of the formation, who would gently glide to the back of the V as another goose took the lead.
I caught two rainbow trout that day that the Geese seemed as excited to see come out of the water as I did! I remember the beauty and the grace that geese flew with and how synchronized they seemed to be. They really didn’t do anything without the group. It was like they fully understood that their actions and decisions affected everyone else they were flying with!
After we fished for a while, it was time to go have one of those infamous family—let's save money—picnics. We sat at a roadside park with picnic tables scattered throughout the pine trees, eating pimento cheese sandwiches, pringles, and a brownie. It was awesome listening to the crisp wind whistle through the tops of the trees, and you could smell the fresh scent of pine. There I sat in my red coat and bright blue stocking cap when a bull moose came walking out of the woods curiously looking to see what was going on at what appeared to be HIS picnic site! His antlers were easily 6 feet across, and his back was taller than I was. As soon I saw him, I told my parents, who had their backs to the moose, that a “GIANT MOOSE WAS BEHIND THEM.” They looked and jumped up and ran to the car –without their son. About ½ way to the car, they swear they said, “Hurry up, Brice,” but I never heard it! I stood up (red coat and all) and, for some reason, felt the need to try to put my food back in my lunch bag and take it with me!
By the time I stood up (and got my lunch packed back up), the moose had positioned himself between me and the car. So, I did what any 10-year-old boy would do in that situation. I picked up a handful of rocks, remembered the story of David and Goliath (I didn’t have a slingshot, but I had a pretty good arm), prayed to God, ran behind a tree, and cried. Growing up out in this area, I had heard stories of how fierce and dumb these animals could be. There were reports of a bull moose charging a train on the tracks to challenge it. The moose lost, by the way! There were also reports of a moose challenging a car and coming through the front windshield, nearly killing the driver. So, I knew they were very dangerous and didn’t really have a good sense of judgement in what or who to attack but instead simply wanted to defend whatever it was that was who challenged their territory.
While sitting behind the tree, looking every 2 seconds to see where the moose was and listening to my parents scream from the other side of the car, I made the decision to take off my hat, coat, and orange shirt that I was wearing under the red coat! I remember matadors used a red cape to get bulls to charge, so this probably was not a good fashion choice for this situation. So, there I was in blue jeans and shirtless, hiding behind the tree. I decided to use my food as a distraction and discovered that moose like pimento cheese! I broke it into small pieces that I could throw and squeezed a rock into the cheese to get it to go further. Piece #1: Direct hit on the moose’s butt. It turned around and ate the cheese, and then it spit the rock out. Good news, I had a plan now to live. Bad news: the moose was now facing me. I continued to lure the moose away from the car and in the opposite direction throwing weighted sandwich chunks. It worked, and I went from tree to tree like a shirtless white ninja until I reached the car, and we drove away. Tom Cruise, in Mission Impossible, a couple of decades later, would have been very proud!
What a day! A lead goose and a bull moose. This story stayed with me my entire life, as you can see, but it was not until I was in my 20s that a deeper leadership lesson came out of it and another 20-plus years later before I took the time to write it down. (I never said I was a fast learner). At some point, when telling this story recounting experiences from my childhood, I asked myself the question, which animal would you rather be? A lead goose or a bull moose? Honestly, when I was in my 20s, I wanted to be a bull moose (or at least that is what my actions said). Powerful and intimidating, I earn my territory and possessions and fight to keep them. Who wants to be a goose? You fly back and forth, always tired, don’t really have anything that is really yours, and have to hang out with a flock of birds that might not even be that great at what they do! Plus, all that annoying honking!
However, in my 40s, I started realizing things about the goose and the moose when I studied them one day. In my opinion, a bull moose looks like it was made from all the leftover parts that God had laying around after creating all the other animals. However, a bull moose is intelligent unless it is stressed, in rutting season (mating season), or feels threatened (like by a train). Bull moose rarely co-exist with other bull moose due to their competitive nature. They normally fight for territory and females and then spend the rest of their time eating and trying to defend what is theirs. They don’t collaborate with other moose—female or male. They make the decisions and live with the consequences and the scars from butting heads with everyone they encounter. They travel but not that far. Once they have claimed their territory, they usually stay between 5 to 10 square miles for the rest of their lives. As they encounter other bull moose in their travels, they challenge them, fight, and either pick up a new female or possibly lose one they process. (Tough way to get a date).
Geese, on the other hand, are quite different. They are a team. It has been proven that the V formation that they fly in is more energy efficient than any other position that they could fly in, allowing them to go further together with less work! You will notice that they “honk” when they fly as well. Researchers believe that this is to help maintain the integrity of the flock and to coordinate the position shifts with the V-formation in which they fly. In other words, you can think of it as they are cheering each other on and informing the goose at the front of the V that it is time for him to take a break and drop to another position to allow someone at the rear of the V to take over this position. They are very methodical and move together as a team. Still, because of their energy conservation, teamwork, communication, and encouraging honks to one another, they can fly as far as 1,500 miles in just 24 hours. It is interesting to know as well that Canadian Geese mate for life, and groups of different families migrate together, creating if you will, a larger family where they rely on each other. When they rest, they rest together; when they fly, they fly together. Researchers have found that if a goose is injured or sick and can’t continue the flight, 2-3 other geese will stay with the one that is hurt until they are well and can fly again, or if the goose dies, then the rest fly on. This is normally their mate and another family of geese who stay to help.
The leadership lessons here are clear, so I will ask you the question, “Do you want to be a lead goose or a bull moose?” Let’s continue to lead like geese and create a culture where we are committed to each other and committed to going further together. That means we have to recreate our formation at times, cheer one another on, keep an eye on our leaders and pick up the slack at times when they are tired, stop and help each other when someone is struggling, and be loyal to our purpose of reaching our goal and destination.
I have several scars from being a bull moose in my early leadership, where I challenged others for position and purpose. I didn’t make it very far and usually felt alone and lonely. When I finally realized that I could go further with others and how we could all help each other accomplish our mission, I grew as a leader faster than I ever had and no longer had to look for a purpose and position—they found me!
Happy Picnicking,
Brice