Seven Habits of an Eagle
Today we had a seminar about financial restructuring coordinated by Dr. George. In the end of the seminar he showed us a 10 minute presentation he had made, which touched me a lot. It was about – 7 Habits of Eagle and things to learn from them. The presentation was as follows,
Why is Eagle logo in National Symbol of US? Why was it symbol of Hitler, Napoleon or Julias Ceasar? Why did not any of them use any other animal? Eagle has always been symbol of leadership and power.
Eagles always fly alone at high altitude. It takes courage to fly alone at high altitude. It is similar to a business situation which calls for setting high standards even if there is no one near to those standards.
Eagle has strong vision. It can spot a mice from 5 kilometer. They are focused irrespective of anything which might come in the way. Once they set their target, there is very small chance that the prey is left. Businesses and people should keep similar focus and clear vision. This will guarantee success.
Eagles only feed on live prey. They like to hunt and eat. They never eat dead food even when they don’t know whether or not they will get the next meal. They take risk for sake of quality living and are way ahead of vultures. Return for this risk is quality food and good standard for life. Business and life are also like this. Its up to us how we decide to live our life.
An eagle loves to venture into a storm. It sees the storm not as adversity but as an opportunity. Eagle loves heights and storm brings strong air currents which can take it higher to highest levels of atmosphere and it comes at no additional cost. A crisis in ones life must be seen as an opportunity. They must act like the crucibles of leadership.
Female eagle puts male to test before they mate. The female picks a thorn from a shrub and flies above, holding it in its beak. As soon as it reaches around 5km above from the surface of the earth, it drops the thorn. The male who is supposed to follow the female in order to keep track of the dropping point of the thorn, now has the task of catching the falling thorn before it touches the ground. Once he does so successfully he is tested again and again with the thorn being dropped from higher altitudes. If successful, the female allows for the mating. Trust is basis of all relationship and its important to test before we trust any one. If someone betrays us, then its our mistake that we did not test them properly before trusting them.
Eagles nest consists of 7 layers, 1st layer of Twigs, then thorns, followed by softer material like rags, Dry leaves, again a layer of Twigs and Thorns. While last and central portion is of soft material like cotton. Male and female eagle share their responsibility of taking care of young ones. The male has the responsibility of arranging for food to feed the female eagle and the eaglets. When the eaglets are grown up and capable of flying, female eagle pushes the children off the cliff in order to teach them how to fly. The child is very afraid and screams and shouts. But has no option, as when he tries to get back to nest, parents have removed the softer layer of nest and thorns are exposed. So the eaglet now has to choose between the “devil and the deep sea”. He finds it better to jump rather than getting back in the nest and making himself bleed. The eaglet just keeps on falling down and down and just before the point when he is about to touch the ground the father actually catches the falling eaglet on its back and takes it atop. (Remember the mating trust game, female actually tested male’s ability to do this stunt) An eaglet on an average learns to fly in 2 hours. In real life, our parents do the same with us at times. At office place, a manager may have to do the same to push people under him to achieve efficiency and work.
When eagles become old, their feathers become dull and makes flying difficult. Then old eagle pluck their own feathers, remain without eating. If the new feathers grow they fly again and catch prey, else they die gracefully. The lesson to be learned here is there are some of our habits that need this plucking exercise.
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