The V Effect
When you watch geese fly in formation did you ever wonder what goose gets picked to be at the head of the V? The main point! I mean come-on you must have given it at least a passing thought . I’m Susan Allen your host of Open Range stay tuned the reason is riveting! . Throughout our beautiful west like clockwork you and I are privy to the great migrations of ducks and geese. When the sky is full of flocks and formations notice that there is always a leader. Well at a Netherland's University animal behaviorist became determined to discover why when a particular goose would start moving others would began stirring , honking like crazy and then follow. Obviously the head honker had more testosterone, or was of a grander stature to achieve such clout. Wrong! The character trait researchers discovered is one we could use more in human society, boldness. After a series of studies designed to identify this trait, (where for example, they put new items in front of the geese like a piece of carpeting ), researchers discovered that the geese that checked out the new items were the flappers that the group wanted to follow. Of all personality traits being bold was the one reliable predictor of leadership. Scientists report that small predispositions to boldness can be inherited but more important to leadership in a flock of geese was if boldness was suppressed or enhanced at the gosling stage. If that holds true for humans, we are in big trouble given our current education system. I’m Susan Allen