Great Leadership is an inside Job

Yesterday my riding session with my bay mare ended with her dripping sweat, her sides heaving… me with a beet red face struggling to maintain any semblance of control whatsoever…then me giving her a bath to cool her down and walk her and myself up and down our driveway to calm us both.

Today ended with me relaxed, at ease and totally happy with our accomplishments….her licking her lips and enjoying being petted and praised.

What changed?

I began our session today before I ever went into the round pen… By thinking about and analyzing:

what went wrong in our ride yesterday

how her personality played into our interaction

figuring out what Tasha, my big bay horse needed to be comfortable and progressive

how my thoughts had to change for us to be successful

how my actions had to change for us to be successful

what my breathing pattern had to do with our success

what I needed to do with the energy my body was giving off

You'll notice that none of these things have to do with changing her but instead all have to do with changing me and how I present myself and how I interact with her.

Which leads me to these 5 essential acts of Great Leadership:

1.Begin with your inner most thoughts and attune your thought patterns and energy to the situation at hand. For example if you want a calm and collected interaction then your thoughts need to be calm, slow and collected maintaining a quiet peaceful rhythm.

2.Next be aware of your breathing pattern. Do you want more energy in the interaction?... If so then you might be breathing at a faster clip and with more energy…if not then breathe slow and deep…allowing your body to feel each breath and slow your senses down.

3.Your body is giving off energy…is it fast and action oriented or quiet controlled and calm? Do you want a slow measured response from the person you are interacting with? Then control and measure your energy…they will sense and respond to the energy you put out.

4.What is the personality of the person you are working with? Are they quiet and calm and need a slight push? Or are they full of energy and anticipate what they think you want so that you need to slow them down? Be willing to change your style to meet the needs of the individual and the situation.

5.Be willing to slow down…analyze the situation…and back up if you need to…so that you can move forward once again to meet your goals.

Great leadership begins by Taking the Reins of your emotions, thoughts, energy, breath, body and actions.

Copyright (c) 2007 Jean Starling

Learning leadership from interactions with horses. Personal development for leaders. Becoming aware that what you think and feel is a part of your leadership style and ability. Leadership begins with who you are on the insdie.

Jean Starling has an MBA in International Business and is an author, speaker, trainer, business consultant and coach. With over 20 years in corporate leadership, management, consulting and training she is an expert at helping individuals and businesses reach their goals. Author of Taking the Reins, a book of stories that teach leadership in a new more innovative way. http://www.taking-the-reins.com . Contact mailto:jean@Taking-the-reins.com .

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