Top Take-Aways from Day 1 and 2:

Core Theme

“Most People Don’t… But YOU Do.”
This experience was designed to remind leaders that while most people avoid discomfort, play it safe, or focus only on results, exceptional leaders rise above uncertainty with courage, care, and clarity.
You don’t just manage — you ground, own, overdeliver, and elevate.

GOOSE Leadership Framework

G – Ground Yourself and Your Team

• Calm above the surface, even when paddling fast below (the duck metaphor).

• Create psychological safety through stability and empathy.

• Introduced the Wins & Worries ritual — a simple, repeatable check-in to balance positivity and vulnerability.

  • Wins: Celebrate progress and people.

  • Worries: Surface challenges early.

  • Later evolved to “Wins, Worries, and Ways” — focusing on solutions and forward motion.

O – Own the Obstacles

• Don’t ignore challenges; acknowledge and face them with courage.

• Stories:

  • The Buffalo vs. The Goose — run through storms together, not alone.

  • The Duck Dive — when a wave (challenge) comes, dive under it and emerge calm and clear.

  • #BeBamboo — bend without breaking; be flexible, resilient, and collaborative.

• Encouraged mindset: “Free to Lead” — empower others to solve problems instead of always fixing them yourself.

O – Overdeliver with Care

• Excellence isn’t about doing more work — it’s about doing more that matters.

• Service story: the Bronxville server who cut a guest’s steak so he could eat it later — the essence of noticing, anticipating, and overdelivering.

• Introduced Notice → Anticipate → Overdeliver framework from hospitality:

  1. Notice what others might miss.

  2. Anticipate needs before they’re voiced.

  3. Overdeliver through thoughtful action.

• Leaders shared examples like calling customers while team members are on vacation, giving personal recognition, and proactively creating “moments of joy.”

S – See and Support Each Other

• Gratitude stones represented being seen, valued, and appreciated.

• “Most people don’t pass it on — but YOU do.”

  • Participants received stones to symbolize connection, then passed them to others to extend kindness.

• Overdelivery in leadership also means personalizing recognition:

  • Ask: “What kind of acknowledgment means the most to you?”

  • Build micro-cultures of appreciation (Scrappy Awards, Smiles programs, team bells, personalized celebrations).

E – Elevate Through Empathy and Action

• Real leadership is service.

• “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.”

• Elevation happens when leaders balance high performance with humanity — grounding themselves, noticing others, and showing up with consistency and compassion.

Top Takeaways & Leader Learnings

1. Grounding is the new growth strategy.

   • Emotional steadiness creates team safety and confidence.

2. Be the goose, not the buffalo.

   • Soar together, take turns leading, and communicate constantly.

3. Wins, Worries, and Ways – your new team rhythm.

   • Celebrate → Surface → Solve.

4. #BeBamboo.

   • Adaptability is strength. Flexibility sustains performance.

5. Overdeliver with care.

   • The small gestures are the big moments that build loyalty.

6. Notice → Anticipate → Overdeliver.

   • The heart of leadership through service.

7. Lead like a hummingbird.

   • Even small actions can inspire massive change.

8. Kindness = High Performance.

   • Research shows kindness drives engagement, retention, and job satisfaction.

9. Overdelivering isn’t overdoing.

   • It’s doing the meaningful, not the mechanical.

10. Be available to be interrupted.

• Presence is the purest form of care.

Reflection Prompts for Your Team

• What is one ritual you’ll create to ground yourself and others?

• How can you “duck dive” through your next big challenge?

• Who can you recognize this week with a personal “gratitude stone” moment?

• How will you model #BeBamboo flexibility when the winds shift?

• What’s one way you can overdeliver with care today?

“Most people don’t notice. Most people don’t adapt. Most people don’t overdeliver.
But YOU do. Keep leading with care, courage, and consistency — because that’s how we build trust, belonging, and results.”

Most People Don't website

  https://bartaberkey.com