Can You Lead a Horse to Water?

Did you know that horses can help you unlock your leadership potential?  The Washington DC CPAFMA Chapter spent a day at the Days End Farm Horse Rescue (www.defhr.org) with the p.Link Equus coaching team (www.plinkcoachingcenter.com) of Gretchen Pisano, Renee Sievert and Helen Samson Mullen learning about horses and what they have to teach us about leadership and teamwork.  What a great way to learn outside the box not to mention out of doors and you don’t need to have any experience with horses. 

Our day at the farm began with an introduction of the coaching team, the participants and the mission of the Days End Farm Horse Rescue.  We discussed what our intentions for the day would be, what we hoped to learn about ourselves, our nonverbal cues and how we are leading our teams. 

Horses rely on their senses rather than language to communicate.  They seek safety and convey leadership when they feel it’s in their best interest.  The goal of a herd of horses is harmony, unity and safety.  Learning from the horses can take us to a new level. 

We headed to the horse pens to have some one on one time with the horses.  We took turns in the ring with the horse after some guidance from our Equus coach, Renee Sievert.  We each had different experiences with the horses and were guided along the way, thinking about the nonverbal cues we were giving the horse, were we giving them too much leeway (not enough guidance); were we crowding in or hovering over (micromanaging); were we paying attention to what was going on both with ourselves and with the horse; were we giving clear directions; providing the right amount of energy; were we coming together (as a team/herd). 

The herd, just like our team, needs to know what our own intentions are, know that we are paying attention to what is going on around us and with our teams and members, and provide clear direction with positive energy. 

We debriefed individually with one of the Equus coaches about our experiences, what we noticed about our internal state, what emotions we were having, and what were our physical sensations.  We discussed how the horses responded to different actions and how this applies to our own teams.  Are we sending mixed messages, do we need to stop and think more about what others are feeling, do we need to connect. 

Our next activity was a group activity where we were to collaborate in order to get the horse to its goal and again just as we do with our teams, we need to think about everyone on the team, what are their respective strengths and weaknesses and how we can all work together to achieve.

All in all, it was an awe-inspiring, exhilarating, humbling  and even emotional experience and we all came away with a better understanding of ourselves and some areas we could work on and think about as leaders in our firms.

If you’d like more information about the p.Link Equus Coaching solutions, take a look at the video here or feel free to contact me.