What Seals Taught Me About Leading

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A few days ago, my wife and I were taking our weekly walk along the Carmel coast, from Pebble Beach to Monastery Beach.  We saw something we'd not seen before, a pod of several dozen seals, frantically swimming together near the sand. They appeared to be in a kind of feeding frenzy in the kelp.  

 No doubt, this pod had individual seals that led the others to this area and provided directions on how to behave, what to do.  Even in the animal kingdom, leaders exist, helping the team function effectively. I wonder when this begins, how early in a seal's life does leading behavior emerge?  I'm not a marine biologist, but I do know that young human leaders emerge much earlier than most perceive.  It's getting the older ones to recognize and develop them; that's the trick.

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