A baby eagle became orphaned when something happened to his parents. He glided down to the ground from his nest but was not yet able to fly. A man picked him up. The man took him to a farmer and said, "This is a special kind of barnyard chicken that will grow up big." The farmer said, "Don't look like no barnyard chicken to me." "Oh yes, it is. You will be glad to own it." The farmer took the baby eagle and placed it with his chickens.

The baby eagle learned to imitate the chickens. He could scratch the ground for grubs and worms too. He grew up thinking he was a chicken.

Then one day an eagle flew over the barnyard. The eagle looked up and wondered, "What kind of animal is that? How graceful, powerful, and free it is." Then he asked another chicken, "What is that?" The chicken replied, "Oh, that is an eagle. But don't worry yourself about that. You will never be able to fly like that."

And the eagle went back to scratching the ground. He continued to behave like the chicken he thought he was. Finally he died, never knowing the grand life that could have been his.

Are there any ways that you see yourself as a barnyard chicken and are not aware of your potential grandeur? You could soar like an eagle. What would that look like for you?

Want to read an example of my own? Maybe that will help you think of your examples.

I am a leadership development consultant. I coach leaders how to be more effective through emotional intelligence. I coach one-on-one and in small groups via my Tele-Workshop, Emotional Intelligence for Resilient Leaders and Professionals. My scratching on the ground is the time I have to spend marketing.

My identity as a soaring eagle would be to have financial abundance so that I could devote all my time to coaching non-profit leaders. I already do donate some time to leaders of a large homeless shelter. I love doing that and would like to soar to doing it full time. Maybe some angel donor will finance this non-profit leadership development. Maybe I need to search harder for such a donor instead of marketing for corporate paying business. Then I could be an eagle.

What is your example? What would it be like for you to soar like an eagle?

Here is a quote that expands on the point of this eagle story.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

• Marianne Williamson

How are you playing small? Can you think of any examples right now?

Marianne says, "We are all meant to shine." How might you shine more?

Our Executive Coaching can help you shine more. We can help you spot when you are playing small and move to shining. We can help you identify your potential to soar like an eagle, and then start doing it.

That is why we named our company, Eagle Alliance. We help eagles to soar