What We Can Learn About Leadership...from a large horse!

Recently, I had the opportunity to join a number of other local coaches in an amazing endeavor. We drove half an hour west of Des Moines to experience a unique approach to coaching by interacting with horses! If you haven’t read the first installment, check it out here. (Looking for a team building or leadership development activity? I highly recommend Full Circle. All photos courtesy of Full Cicrle.)

After our first activity, the coaches were debriefing with Kim and Cindy, our facilitators. A horse came trotting through the middle of the circle! We all laughed and I watched Kim and Cindy guide the horse out of the way by placing a steady hand on the front flank, making eye contact, and then leading the horse with their finger out of the circle and on its way. I made a note of that: the leader reassures the horse (the friendly and firm touch), and guides the horse to success.

After some discussion, Kim and Cindy made a quick change to their plans. Good facilitators read the room and change plans to meet a group’s needs.

Putting the harness on is not as easy as it looks!

Our next activity was somewhat two-fold. We had to put a harness on a horse and then lead the horse around in a number of different ways. Again, it went something like this: here’s the harness. Put it on a horse.

Um … okay?

Honestly, I can’t remember how I put the harness on! Figuring out which part went on the horse’s nose was the first step. Getting the horse to patiently wait was another trick altogether. I found myself bouncing between being frustrated with myself and the horse itself. Fortunately, Kim saw I was struggling and offered some guidance.

Our next instructions were to lead the horse to somewhere else in the field. Okay, easy, I thought. I saw them do this earlier. I kept one hand on Dakota’s flank, held onto the harness in my other hand, and we walked over to a spot in the shade. Now came a new challenge: lead the horse while looking down at the ground.

I got this.

Or so I thought. I placed one hand on Dakota’s flank again, looked down at the ground, took a step. And then another. Dakota did not move. I took two steps backward and tried again. Dakota did not move. One more attempt. This horse would. Not. Move! Looking up, I see the other coaches are having much more luck than I am.

New instructions: lead the horse while looking at its nose. 

Okay, I got it this time.

Hand on flank. Looking at nose. Now, I’m talking to Dakota: “we’re going to walk over there.” Nope! “C’mon, Dakota, we can do this.” Nope! This horse was not moving for nothing!

About this time, I just bent over in laughter. Laughing with myself, with Dakota, with the whole situation. Here, I thought I had everything figured out. I had picked up some cues earlier and thought I had it all together and knew what I was doing. 

Funny how life shows its irony all the time, right?

One of the other coaches asked if she could share an observation: “Joe, I don’t see you taking any steps in front of the horse.”

She was right. My three steps would stop right at Dakota’s nose. I would stop when he wasn’t responding and then reset. We got nowhere, and we got there fast!

On my next attempt, I kept walking past the nose of the horse. Suddenly, Dakota was following me. I led by looking where I wanted to go. He followed. By looking at the ground, at his nose. He followed. 

Next, hold the harness close to his chin. He followed. (Side note: some coaches reported their horse would resist this approach.) Now, hold the harness at the end of the lead and give your horse some leeway. Dakota still followed me.

An amazing morning with amazing learning!

As leaders, people will follow us. We just need to take that first step. Show your people your trust in them and take that first step, and they’ll follow. You may need to take your hand off the flank, and if you’ve built the trust, the relationship, you needn’t worry they won’t follow. It just takes someone making the first step to show everything’s going to be okay.

Want to read more? See all the posts here.
Never miss an inspiring post! Sign up here.
Interested in coaching? Get inspired to Get Your Great here.