DOES A RADICAL NEW APPROACH TO HONING
LEADERSHIP SKILLS MAKE HORSE SENSE?

Colin, my leadership facilitator, is getting a little frisky. Mr Ed, his colleague, on the other hand, is pretty intimidating. I’ m wondering whether I should just have opted for a distant learning course instead. On a brisk winter morning, I am at the Rowallan Acitivity Centre in Fenwick, near Glasgow, with four other would-be clients of Equinox Coaching – providers of equine guided leadership.

This month, a group of social workers and social work managers will attempt to discover their own leadership potential in this indoor arena in the company of these tow tutors, Mr. Ed, who stands 16 hands tall and Colin, a strapping chestnut.

Equine guided leadership is a radical new method that offers leadership training through guiding horses. The thinking behind the concept depends on the fact that horses in a herd establish leaders as part of their normal behaviour. Anette Haug, founder of Equinox Coaching, says: “ The survival of the herd depends on group dynamic, communication and great leadership. The higher up in the herd hierarchy the horse is, the more subtle the message the horse sends”.

It is not clear though how horses select the leader of their herd. They tend not to pick a male, nor do they base their selection on physical beauty or the most robust health.  They favour intelligence over strength and leadership is interchangeable (perhaps that’s something that Prime Minister Tony Blair could take note of). The concept of equine leadership, which originated in the US in the early 1990s, has taken off in central Europe, especially in Germany,
Austria and Switzerland. Three companies now offer equine leadership courses in Scotland but the training does not apply only to leadership skills. Equine training aims to help an individual achieve their full potential and Haug plans to start courses later in the year aimed at children with learning and behavioural difficulties, as well as to adults with drug dependency issues.

Haug argues that it is the fact that leading a horse around the field transcends language that makes the training so effective.  She says: “You can read 100 brilliant books about how to be leader but equine coaching is a practical way to understand how to become a great leader. You experience it rather than being told and you remember the experience.  People on the course learn instantly through the instant responses of horses.  “The horses doesn’t car if you are a managing director or not. He sees you for who you are. It’s non-verbal communication, so you to look for other responses. Power is not an option with the horse. After all, they are much bigger than us. If he doesn’t want to move he won’t move.  “You have to earn your authority and your efforts will be rewarded. At the end of the course the horse follows you through complete trust and respect. That’s what leaders should try to achieve, rather than try to lead through more disciplinary methods”

Anne Morrison, executive coach at Equinox adds: “there has been a big movement over recent years that there is no failure, only feedback. I think that’s the only thing your get from the horses – feedback.

“If things don’t work the way you planned or the way you think they are going to work out, all you will get is honest feedback from the horse. You have to think what you can learn from that and how you
can interpret that an use that, either for yourself or working with your family, or in the workplace.”

So, this morning at Rowallan I aim to discover my leadership potential.  A taster programme involves tow separate exercises wit the horses.  Each is followed by a feedback session, led by life coach Morrison, while we watch our own performances on film.  Before any of us begins leading the horses, we watch as Ed and Colin gambol around the ring, tossing their heads and playfully nipping each other. I find it a little disconcerting as the the closest I have been to a horse before has been pony trekking in Arran more than 30 years ago.  My first task is to lead Colin round four obstacles in the indoor arena, but, unfortunately, this 12 year old thoroughbred is quite happy to stay where he is.

When he does decide to trot, it seems solely on his own terms.  We reach an impasse, where I try and cajole the horse to follow me for what seems like an eternity,  aware that none of the others on the course seems to have such problems. It is pointed out to me in that session that my decision to try to establish eye-contact with the horse means that he can’t move forward even if he wants to, as I am blocking his path. Another negative factor in terms of leadership is that I am facing backwards, not in the directions we should be going.
 
Perhaps this means that in real life, I am the biggest obstacle to my own attempts to move forward in
my career, I ponder morosely. I’m more successful in the second exercise, leading Ed around a series of obstacles before stopping him within a circle formed from a rope. I feel more focused in
achieving my goal, and the horse follows without pausing. I am inwardly exultant.  Through watching themselves on TV and listening to the feedback, my fellow horse whisperers also seem to be discovering aspects of themselves that were previously hidden.

Corinne Steward, who works in Innovations Support for Scottish Enterprise in Dunbartonshire, notices that she tightened her grip on the lead rope of the horse as she approached the first corner. Did this subconscious action betray her fear of the manoeuvre to the horse, causing him to stop before turning?

Lorna Hutcheson, a graphic designer who established Kingsley Media with her husband, sees parallels in the way she manages her business in her approach to leading Colin side-by-side.  She says: “All my working life, I’ve worked with other creative professionals, so although I have a managerial position I would never put myself too far ahead as I’m respectful of other people’s abilities
and what hey bring to the table. I’ve always been a shoulder-to-shoulder sort of person when we are deciding the next move to make.”

Anette Haug explains: “A true leader should be fluid and move between all three types of leadership styles.”

How to take the reins

There are three ways to lead a horse: from the front, which is known as direct leadership; from the side, which is known as cooperative leadership; from the back, which is delegation leadership. Each position can be related to how a manager leads his workforce. A person can be related to how a manger leads his workforce. A person who leads from the front hopes that their team will follow them.