Duck herding & Leadership

I was really lucky to facilitate a team build which used “duck herding” as the light hearted fun activity to kick off the day.

The parallels for leadership were great and really good scene setting for the day that lay ahead.

The sheep dog was totally focused on the ducks and incredibly obedient.  The ducks were “runner ducks” as the name suggests their basic instinct is to move, predominately to where they think is safe.  They are not afraid of the dog as there is a comfortable distance.  Too near and they would be worried and too far they would be able to head for water.  The ducks have no leader, they are one group.

When the herding begins it is a balancing act of space and movement. The Dog called Tip never got distracted once, however if the shepherd asked him to “lie down” the ducks could go off, but using the “lie down” command gave the ducks a chance to relax.

Tip was a Collie very common in sheep dogs as they are very bright and need constant mental stimulation. It takes two years to train a sheepdog.

After the shepherd had demonstrated the task it was the turn of the team (minus the dog).  As Leaders they had to herd the ducks in groups of three, just as people.  The trick was to learn from the dog in creating space and gently move them forward.  There was a lot of laughs and one rogue duck who just did not want to join in.  He was cajoled back into the group, but incurred lots of delay.

What can we learn from a Leadership perspective?:-

Please do get in touch for a workshop on Leadership bev@nuggetsoflearning.co.uk  and for organising your own duck herding event contact  http://www.dogandduckshow.co.uk