18 Turkeys

I spent the morning unpacking boxes (what else do I do these days?).  Don spent the morning painting (what else?).  When we took a break to look out at the spectacular day and the majestic mountains, there were 18 turkeys in our front yard.  Really, there were 18!  I read somewhere there are 7 million wild turkeys in the U.S.  I’m not sure why I even remembered that bit of fairly useless information, but it surfaced when the band of 18 showed up.

This pack of turkeys has been in the pasture  and up on the ridge behind the house, but we haven’t seen them in the front yard.  I guess they’re getting braver as they assess their new neighbors from Florida.   

Don carefully eased the blind all the way up to take a picture from the window.  We knew not to open the door—tried that when they were up on the ridge, and off they went.  But the alert head tom turkey heard that slight muffled clacking of the blind going up.  You see, while the 17 had their heads down eating tasty morsels from my yard, that one turkey had his head up, vigilant in his guard duty.  He quickly fanned out his tail feather to show us he was the holder of the power and the protector. Then without a another moment of delay, he led his group away.  

We’ve watched this troop while they dined in the pasture. When they’ve had enough, they sometimes march off in a straight line, following the head turkey with his tail feathers spread in authority. There are young turkeys in the crowd, lady turkeys, and a couple of other toms who occasionally show their plumage. But only one is the leader.  

I’m no expert on turkeys, but it struck me that not only was the tom-in-charge ready to display his feathers, i.e. his badge of authority, and head his flock out of danger, he was willing to stand guard while the others ate.

I recognize that as servant-leadership.  So many people want to show their plumage and get to call the shots, but doing the work to gain that authority isn’t so much fun.  So that step is often omitted. 

Leading a group, a family, an organization, whatever, without showing you care for them, it won’t matter how big your tail feathers, how far you spread them, how fast you strut, no one wants to follow.   

Turkey lesson for me is the reminder that Moving Forward often happens while you’re standing still and allowing others to get the choicest morsels.     

I always love hearing from you!   sharon@sharonkiser.com or go to my website sharonkiser.com   Thank you to those who link this blog to your facebook!!