"Horse Sense: Personal Lessons From An Unlikely Mentor"

by Laura Hauser, Leadership Strategies International

The trainer leans, arms folded on the top rail of the corral, foot propped on a lower rail, watching, watching as the horse trots in unbridled freedom. He squints in concentration, watching his subject move, feint, and toss its head. He takes in the physical stamina of 1100 pounds of muscle, reads the animal’s temperament from its body language, studies its eyes as it notices him.

Later in the arena where the training will happen, these clues, and many others, will form a foundation the trainer will use to forge a relationship with the horse. Observing this process is like watching a miracle. These two do not share a common language; yet in a few minutes the horse will approach the trainer and wait for him to become the leader. The trainer brings about this "miracle" not through coercion, but through understanding the horse's mind, and using the subtlest persuasion to alleviate his natural instinct to flee from a predator.

Imagine yourself as a horse trainer. Before a horse even enters your arena, you’ve seen its great potential and you have a vision of what the horse can become. Stand in the center of the arena, letting the horse move freely in circles around you. Observe the horse carefully, starting with the reality of the facts of what you see about the horse. Have no illusions that the horse's natural instinct is to flee. Motivated by the ethics of service to your subject, approach him from a desire to develop his potential. Then have the courage to sustain your initiative, to stand at the center of the arena while the horse, powerful in his own right, gallops around you, sometimes bucking and kicking or even charging through the center of the arena. When the horse tires of being alone and senses your desire to help him, he will give subtle cues that say "I want you to take the lead in the relationship." And you do.

You know, great trainers don’t break horses, they gentle them. Great leaders don't break people's spirits, they lift spirits. Perhaps it’s time we put "horse sense" to work in our business lives. The tenets are familiar, some deep inner wisdom we’ve known for some time. The pay-off for using these leadership principles is direct and simple: by re-inventing ourselves as horse trainers we can grow individuals, teams, organizations, and thus profits…naturally.

Horse Sense and Leadership

The horse trainer metaphor is wonderfully accurate for 21st century leaders who, in order to survive and flourish, must find innovative ways to reinvent their businesses. But the re-invention of our business requires a reinvention of ourselves, a transformation of our thinking as leaders. According to Peter Koestenbaum-- internationally known philosopher and business consultant (and Pepperdine visiting professor), "there are four principle ways of expressing leadership greatness in thought and action.

• Vision
  
• Reality
  
• Ethics
  
• Courage

We must master each of these principles and manage the dynamic tension among all four archetypes to be truly great leaders in all arenas of our lives--work self, family, social, and financial.

Personal Lessons from an Unlikely Mentor

Ten years ago, I entered Pepperdine’s Master of Science in organization development program in the School of Business and Management. In addition to the regular entrance exams and psychological testing, we were also required to successfully complete what we alums fondly refer to as "Hell Week." Part of the week included an activity where four groups of eight students were each given the task of saddling a horse, packing saddlebags, and then leading their horse to a site where we were to camp overnight. I knew nothing about horses at the time. This activity served as a glaring mirror, reflecting my leadership behaviors while working to accomplish a task in a team environment. I learned a lot about myself…in a natural, removed-from-the-business-world setting that gave me a fresh perspective. I was both dismayed and pleased with what I saw in this bright mirror. That experience was the beginning of the re-invention of myself.

Five years later I took up the recreational sport of horseback riding and a few months later became a horse owner. I was surprised to re-discover through my interaction with my horse, Saracen, that how I am with a horse is how I am. I notice, for example, my actions and reactions when the horse goes too fast or too slow, when he goes in a different direction than I want him to go. And I notice my actions and reactions when we are in complete harmony, moving together as one.The method of developing a shifting from the rugged coercive cowboy to the persuasive horse trainer who gets better results faster. What would happen if we mentally returned to a natural setting and re-invented ourselves as leaders in the image of a modern-day horse trainer?

Back to "Risk the Reins: Building Relationships for Results" description...

--> Register Here <--