2. Eagles are members of
the bird family Accipitridae, and
belong to several genera which
are not necessarily closely
related to each other. Most of
the more than sixty species
occur in Eurasia and
Africa. Outside this area, just
eleven species can be found -
two species in the United States
and Canada, nine species in
Central America and South
America, and three species in
Australia.
3. • Eagles. For centuries, these seemingly larger-than-life birds
have fascinated and inspired us with brilliant leadership
characteristics. When eagles come to mind, people
commonly imagine some enormous hunter soaring above
wide-open spaces on outsized wings. Indeed, eagles are
among the world’s largest birds of prey. Man for many
years have taken Eagles as a symbol of beauty, bravery,
courage, honour, pride, determination and management.
What makes this bird so important are its characteristics.
Seven important characteristics of eagle have been closely
associated to leadership and management.
Leadership and management go hand in hand.
4. Eagle – A managerial bird
• Management means to accept responsibilities
and set things smoothly on the go. To manage
well you must possess some qualities. First
and foremost is leadership, which is of utmost
necessary.
• Here, we will see how a bird, an eagle teaches
us the qualities of being able to manage
things well…
5. VISION
If you ever happen to see an
eagle sitting high above the tree
or cliff of a stiff mountain, watch
closely and see how attentive the
bird is. The body sits still and the
head will be tilted side to side to
observe what is happening below,
around and above it. Even if it is
flying close by, you can observe
how keen its eyes are looking for
its prey. Eagles have a keen vision.
Their eyes are specially designed
for long distance focus and clarity.
They can spot another eagle
soaring from 50 miles away.
6. • Does this characteristic ring a bell in your mind? I am
sure it does. Look at great leaders of this world who
have come and gone. There are many great leaders
that came and went, but one characteristic that is
common in all is "Vision". Vision is a successful
leadership characteristic which helps to manage
things properly!
• You must have a vision that guides and leads your
team towards the organization's or social goals. The
vision must be big and focused. A big, focused vision
will produce big results.
7. For managing things vision is very important.
One must always have a clear vision of the
things he is managing. Until and unless vision
or far sightedness exists, the spirit of
managing or handling things doesn’t arise.
Managing things becomes easy only when we
have a clear vision of things to achieve. (to act
accordingly)
8. FEARLESS
An eagle will never surrender to the size
or strength of its prey. No matter how
strong the prey is, it will not give up,
rather will always give a tough fight to win
its prey or regain its territory.
9. “I cant do this” – say this and you’ll never be
able to manage or handle things in life.
Cowardness has to be avoided. To fear is to
die. Having the ability to overcome fear is a
very important requirement in managing
things. Being fearless is necessary to manage
things well for being fearless makes you strong
and leads you to great success, once you are
able to throw fear out and manage things
well.
10. TENACIOUS
Watch an eagle when a storm comes. When
other birds fly away from the storm with fear,
an eagle spreads its mighty wings and uses the
current to soar to greater heights. The eagle
takes advantage of the very storm that lesser
birds fear and head for cover.
11. Challenges in the life of a leader
are many. These are the storm he
must face as a leader and as the
one to manage things well, to rise
to greater heights. Like an eagle, a
leader can only manage to rise to
greater heights if he takes up the
challenges head on without
running away from it.
12. HIGH FLYERS
Eagles can fly up to an altitude of 10,000 feet, but
they are able to swiftly land on the ground. At 10,
000 feet, you will never find another bird.
An eagle doesn't mingle around with the pigeons.
Pigeons scavenge on the ground and grumble and
complain all day long. Eagles are not so. They fly
and make less noise waiting for opportunities to
strike their next prey or glide with the current of the
storm.
13. Great managers are problem solvers. They
don't complain like the pigeons do, to manage
their things. They love to take challenges as
the eagle does when the storm comes. Unlike
the pigeons, these people go ahead, take up
challenges, fight them and mange things so
brilliantly that when they complete all they
can do is fly high in joy!
14. ATTACK AND EAT
An eagle never eats dead meat. In other
words, an eagle does not scavenge. It only eats
the meat from the prey it kills itself. It will
ignore a dead lying specie, rather will look for
its prey, challenge it, attack it, kill it itself and
then eat it. What a great act of true
leadership!
15. Spend time with people who are vibrant and liberal
in thinking, with people who will eventually help to
manage things and not with those who will act
dead and dumb and do nothing! You have to be
with people who can think, make informed
decisions and take actions. These are the people
who brings change into the society. They are lively
and active people. Go out and look for them.!
16. VITALITY
Eagles are full of life and
visionary but hey have they
find time to look back at
their life and re-energies
themselves. This happens at
about the age of 30. What
happens is that when the
eagles reach the age of 30,
their physical body condition
deteriorates fast making it
difficult for them to survive.
17. What is really interesting is that the eagle
never gives up leaving. Instead the eagle
retreats to a mountaintop and over a five
month period goes through a metamorphosis.
It knocks off its own beak by banging it against
a rock, plucks out its talons and then feathers.
Each stage produces a regrowth of the
removed body parts, allowing the eagle to live
for another 30 - 40 years.
18. Managing things greatly needs the ability to look
back at the difficult things, during bad times. Its
alright to break down once to stand up again,
that too strongly!
There are times in your life as a leader that you
must look back and take stock of your life, take a
look how you’d managed things then. The good
and the bad experiences you have been through
while managing things.
19. NURTURE
Eagles nurture their younger ones.
Believe this or not. Eagles are known
for their aggression. They are
absolutely ferocious, aren't they? Any
one who doesn't have a total
knowledge of this great bird will say
yes. What is more astonishing with
this bird is their ability to nurture their
young ones. Research has shown that
no member of the bird family is more
gentle and attentive to its young ones
than the eagles.
20. This is how it happens. When the mother eagle
sees that time has come for it to teach the
eaglets to fly, she gathers an eaglet onto her
back, and spreading her wings, flies high.
Suddenly she swoops out from under the eaglet
and allows it to fall. As it falls, it gradually learns
what its wings are for until the mother catches it
once again. The process is repeated. If the young
is slow to learn or cowardly, she returns it to the
nest, and begins to tear it apart, until there is
nothing left for the eaglet to cling to. Then she
nudges him off the cliff.
21. Managing things does not mean dominating
others. Great people who have greatly
managed things are not bosses. They grow
with their people. They strive to make
individuals in the organization or society grow
to their full ability. They teach and guide just
like the mother eagle does. They neither stop
taking challenges nor give-up guiding and
directing.
