Osprey Parenting – A lesson in Goal Clarity from Mother Nature
Posted on March 15, 2020 by Rick Daigle
Osprey – Pandion haliaetus – One of the largest birds of prey in North America.
This past Saturday my wife and I were relaxing on our dock at Lake Allatoona. Just down the shore from our cove is an osprey nest. We have watched in awe year after year as the resident osprey couple hatches and raises another set of chicks. In the past 15 years we have watched numerous chicks raised and leave the nest. But in all that time we have never actually seen the father osprey catch a fish for the family.
As we were enjoying the calmness I noticed an osprey hovering and circling at the end of our cove. I told Mary I thought he had found the next meal. Sure enough seconds later the osprey dove into the water, came up with a fish, and flew by us returning to the nearby nest. As I watched in awe at the beauty and simplicity of the moment the seed was planted for my next blog article on goal clarity
For a period of 4 months or so, while the mother is hatching, raising, and protecting the chicks, it is the father osprey with the sole responsibility of providing 6 fish per day for the family. Now that is goal clarity! And that is the same type of almost single-minded focus business owners must have in order to remain successful today. Business owners who can identify and focus on the 1 or 2 things which are most important to their business while virtually ignoring all else will be successful and grow a great business.
In many cases the things a business owner must focus on are somewhat predictable; what do I need to do to increase sales? What do I need to do to improve profit? What do I need to do to control costs? How can I find better people to help me run my business? Do I have the right systems, technology, and business process in place to optimize the use of time and resources?
The smartest and best business owners learn from the lessons of successful people and organizations. They read good business books like “Good to Great”, “The Road to Organic Growth”, and of course, “The Danger Zone”. They also search out mentors and other professional resources to support them.
In the natural world around us there are ample lessons to be learned, and these lessons can be applied to our business and personal lives.
If you think you have it tough, go catch a fish with your bare hands!!!
