I met a falconer.  We discussed the process of working with trained birds of prey, and I asked questions about the art.

For clarification, this post is a prelude to an upcoming post that will be written by someone with actual falconing expertise (by the way, I know “falconing” is not a real word, but I like it).  This individual had originally asked to write a post about our falconry experience, and I thought this was a great idea.  Additionally, I wanted to share my thoughts about the experience and some observations in advance. 

Falconry is an amazing skill.  Working effectively with these majestic and powerful animals requires keen leadership abilities. 

It’s a topic that falls right within our wheelhouse here at wisdomandstrategy.com. 

The falconer and the hawk work together to utilize strategic teamwork to seize opportunities while hunting:

·         Multiplying Power with Teamwork

What the falconer and hawk achieve is a synchronicity of power.  Among other things, the falconer provides direction, and the hawk offers movement capabilities.  Together, they accomplish things that they couldn’t by themselves.

Likewise, in business collaboration or personal relationships, it’s possible to achieve more together than apart.  It can be helpful to join forces with someone who sees our blind-spots or offers wise counsel in areas where we have little experience.

·         Paving the Way with Leadership, Vision and Execution

With these roles clearly defined, each team member can more fully develop said roles.  They can become leaders in their own spheres, and then share these visions to collectively achieve an even greater vision.

I think it’s clear how the falconer and hawk accomplish this together, so I won’t go into detail about this.

·         Observing the field from a high-level perspective

A hawk observes the field for its dinner.  It doesn’t strike at every mouse or rabbit that passes by.  It probably won’t strike at a creature with particularly strong defenses.  It actively waits for the perfect opportunity.

Likewise, in our daily pursuit of success we can look at the world through the eyes of hawk.  By doing so, we may start to see opportunities that were not visible before.  It’s similar to taking a broad, long term perspective and seeing how our time, resources, relationships best fit together.

·         Maintaining the optimum condition for action

When we see these opportunities, we will be prepared, because we have had time to prepare.  While we’re patiently waiting, we should also be actively be using our time to improve.

Reading, writing, developing our physical bodies or our emotional and spiritual resilience are all things that we can do while we’re patiently waiting for the next opportunity.

·         Moving assertively with precision and timing

When all of these factors coalesce we’re provided with a key moment of opportunity.  In fact, this idea reminds me of a quote from Sun Tzu. 

This quote is from Giles, Lionel, M.A. The Art of War. 1910

“The quality of decision is like a well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike…”

In summary, these are just some initial musings about my first falconry experience.  After my falconer friend includes their post, I’m hoping to offer some additional commentary and perspective.