What is Authentic Leadership?
Interaction with a horse requires sincerity and self-awareness. The horse will only be lead by honesty, and will respond to your hidden emotions and assumptions.
To lead a horse you need to overcome fear, set aside pretention and trust in your natural, physical confidence. Any sign of inconsistency from you will immediately be reflected back to you by the horse.
This is bio-feedback, but “from the horse’s mouth”.
The exercises are non-threatening. The horse doesn’t have a hidden agenda, and you learn to open yourself to the interaction.
This teaches emotional awareness and trust. It also creates mutual respect – a quality you can transfer to your human relationships with immediate benefit.
Interaction with a horse can’t help but touch our emotions, be it fear, excitement or confidence. The horse provides the conduit for individual exploration, as the horses provide immediate feedback and offer opportunities for profound personal growth.
- Power is not an option and Title means nothing.
- Leadership is explored through earning authority, demonstrating authenticity and gaining trust.
- Horses are intuitive beings.
- As herd animals, which are tuned in to the slightest inconsistency in their environment, they mirror back to us inconsistent behaviour, which we may not have been aware of.
- Learning is less threatening, because it is a more personal experience and feedback is direct “ from the horse’s mouth”
- Horses are honest – You cannot fool them.
- Horses are large and powerful animals – They provide a natural opportunity to overcome fears and develop confidence.
- Horses are very much like humans in that they are social animals, with defined roles within their herds.
- Horses have distinct personalities, attitudes and moods.
- An approach that seems to work with one horse, does not necessarily work with another.
- They like to have fun.
- The training environment provides vast opportunities for metaphorical learning.