What do Energy, Intention, Horses and Leadership have in common?
Jean Starling
I recently attended a horsemanship clinic as a spectator
where I was able to observe a variety of interactions. In
one such interaction, I watched as a woman tried to calm
her horse down with the intent to get the horse to listen
and follow direction. I noticed that the woman, lets call
her Eve, seemed to be full of energy, you know the kind of
energy that you see in children sometimes where they just
do not know what to do with themselves. She kept moving the
horse around, trying to get him to focus to do whatever it
was that she wanted done. No matter what Eve did, the horse
only seemed more agitated, upset and confused. Eve was
getting very frustrated and so was the horse.
As a believer in leadership and communication skills
training, I was quite fascinated and kept watching to see
what was going to happen. Eve seemed to be giving the right
cues to the horse but she was clearly not succeeding in
getting what she wanted for herself or the horse.
As I observed Eve's actions, I couldn't help but think of
all the times I had watched leaders and managers in
organizations exhibit high energy with no clear direction.
They would walk into a meeting or an encounter with their
subordinates while exuding that same kind of intense
energy. They would demand something and then release that
energy and frustration on their subordinates by creating an
unjustified sense of urgency, and then leave without
further clarification.
These actions ensured that the next several man-hours or
days were spent with everyone running around “like chickens
with their heads chopped off,” trying to get whatever it
was that the manager had asked for. Then after all their
efforts to produce deliverables, the workers would find out
that the manager, put the fruits of their labor on his or
her desk and never examined it, nor referred to it and
surely had no real use for it.
I have often wondered how much valuable time and resources
are spent in organizations on such useless endeavors.
Back to the horse and Eve…
I could not keep my eyes off her and the horse. You know
how sometimes you get a feeling and you recognize that you
have had that feeling before? Well, I felt it in the pit
of my stomach, and it reminded me of, long ago, when I was
that subordinate--asked to do something that clearly made
little sense with no direction or real meaning and I
immediately felt sympathy for the horse.
I wondered how many times I might have done the same thing
to one of my horses, my children or others that I took
responsibility for as a corporate leader and it was not a
happy thought.
Finally, when I thought I could stand it no longer, the
instructor took pity on the horse (and maybe Eve) came over
and calmly took the horse and asked him with clear mind,
heart and intention to do the maneuver and the horse did it
instantly.
Eve stood perfectly still for a minute with a look on her
face that had to be one of those “aha” moments and I could
see her take several deep breaths. It was clear to me that
she had now balanced herself and had become focused. She
now knew (clearly in her mind) not only on what she wanted
from her horse, but exactly how to ask him for it. Then in
one beautiful purposeful step, she asked and he obliged,
gracefully and flawlessly.
What kept ringing clearly in my heart, mind and soul was…
High Energy with no clear Intention only brings chaos to
any situation and to the people in that situation.
This experience helped to reinforce what I teach in my
workshops. LEADERSHIP requires energy, communication,
purpose and skill. All of these are critical for those
in management and supervisory positions and all of these
can be learned.
(c) 2003-2004 Jean Starling - www.TheSpiritOfLearning.com
About the Author: Jean Starling is a speaker, consultant/coach with mastery in various disciplines including Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Experiential Learning and Relationship Management, with 20 years of corporate management, consulting and training experience and is also founder of the Equine Experiential Education Association, promoting interaction with horses to develop human communication skills. Contact mailto:jean@TheSpiritOfLearning.com [Phone: 360-668-1954] or visit http://www.TheSpiritOfLearning.com
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