Straight from the horse’s mouth…
The Greenland–Africa Illusion: Is Your Leadership Map Distorting Reality?
Our “mental maps” can skew our perception. When it comes to leadership, we often inflate certain issues, priorities, or people while overlooking truly significant factors.
September Newsletter – Year End Events!
With the end of the year fast approaching it’s the perfect opportunity to plan your year-end event, bringing your team together to reflect on and celebrate 2024. Let us help you create an extraordinary experience! We’re excited to offer exclusive Year-End Team...
Leadership Insights from Horsing Around
Thank you to Arch Downie from Proctor Gallagher for this insightful wrap-up of your equine enhanced leadership experience... "As you all know, I was nervous around Syd (our horse) however, as I have reflected on the day, I realise that I learnt a lot and I remember...
How Awareness and Being Present Impact Leadership Effectiveness
The impact of awareness and being present in communication, adaptability, emotional intelligence, decision-making and culture, and the relevance of equine assisted activities in leadership development.
The Relationship Between Awareness and Being Present in Leadership
The relationship between awareness and being present in leadership is deeply interconnected and significantly impacts a leader’s effectiveness.
Happy International Women’s Day 2024 #InspireInclusion
The 4 Keys to Success for Women Leaders that women leaders embrace: Agency; Connection; Authenticity; and Wholeness;
in their approach to work and life in general. These themes are reflected in our equine enhanced experiences.
Leadership Lessons from Taylor Swift
In the realm of music and entertainment, Taylor Swift stands out not just for her chart-topping hits but for her exemplary display of key leadership characteristics, particularly in her ability to connect with her audience. Swift’s career offers invaluable lessons for leaders across all industries.
Agile Learning – A Key to Navigating Uncertainty
In this rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to learn and adapt is invaluable. A recent article in the Harvard Business Review by Helen Tupper, delves into the concept of agile learning, shedding light on its three core building blocks: Navigating Newness, Understanding Others, and Self-awareness.
On reading this article, I reflected on how Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) programs, such as the ones we run here at Leading Edge Professional Development, are actually a powerful enabler in nurturing these building blocks for leaders and their teams.
Unbridling Leadership Potential – Five Insights Straight from the Horse’s Mouth
In the realm of Executive Leadership Development, unconventional methods often yield the most profound insights. Among these, equine assisted learning stands as a testament to the transformative power of experiential education.
Horses, with their highly astute senses and innate herding instinct, act as living barometers for individual and group behavioural patterns. Their responses to our actions are immediate and unbiased, providing a rare, clear lens through which leaders can observe and analyse their communication and leadership style in real-time.
Word of the Week…LAUGHTER
“No laughter, no learning” Jane Vella, Founder, Global Learning Partners. In the self-imposed pressure we put on ourselves to achieve defined goals, we sometimes forget these simple but important things. When people are laughing together, they are engaged, they are connected, they are learning.
Confidence in others: Does your leadership allow it?
In the second instalment of our series on balanced leadership, I will continue to look at confidence in leadership, this time as it relates to confidence in those around you – especially your own team.
Self-confident leadership: Are you being authentic or putting on a front?
Self-confidence is an attribute we associate with great leaders, but do we ever stop and think about what it really means and how to develop it as a skill?
Self-confidence means being brave, not putting on a front, being arrogant or thinking you have nothing left to learn. So rather than having a ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ attitude, self-confident leadership is about being vulnerable and being yourself.
You can’t hide who you are from horses, because they are intuitive enough to know when you aren’t genuine. While it’s not as obvious as with a horse, humans have instincts too which will eventually allow them to detect who is really confident and who is not.
Word of the Year…What’s Yours?
Mine is Kindness Those of you who read my blog will know that I regularly publish a ‘Word of the Week’. It is usually tied to an anecdote from our work and my hope is that it is a bit inspirational, a “food for thought” type thing. At an end of year celebration with...
Word of the Week…GRATEFUL
What a year 2022 has been! As it draws to a close, I just wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude to our clients, colleagues, friends and families for their wonderful support as we navigated the uncertainty of post-pandemic life. We loved welcoming clients back to...
Word(s) of the Week…PROBLEM SOLVING
Problem-solving as a team yields excellent results, but it can also prove tricky if team undercurrents and communication are not at their best.
Pretty much all of our team exercises involve some form of problem-solving. When a four-legged, 500kg team member is included, it inspires collaboration and creative thinking on a whole new level.
And, it’s clear when the problem-solving dynamic is dysfunctional.
Word of the Week…ACCEPTANCE
cceptance is also one of the biggest take-aways from our leadership training. I think it’s because horses always accept us for who we are, which teaches us to accept in return. They are not judging us on anything superficial. They know nothing about the type of car we drive or what our title is – for a horse, it’s all about whether they feel safe to be with us. And I reckon that’s how we humans want to feel as well.
Thought of the Week…NURTURING NATURE
The natural world certainly is our greatest teacher. I’ve been reading a fascinating book called, “Wild Leadership: What Wild Animals Teach Us About Leadership”, by Erin Walraven. It looks at the various systems of leadership that animal groups live by to survive and thrive. Animal groups have evolved effective ways of navigating their way through theuncertainty of every single day. It is selfless, collaborative and appropriate for theenvironment in which they live. When we humans take examples from nature and adopt them it’s called ‘biomimicry’. Biomimicry “aims to take inspiration from the natural solutions adopted by nature and translate the principles to human engineering.” (youmatter.world)
Word of the Week…RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility is a huge word. It is inextricably part of life both in our private and professional roles, especially leadership roles. Sharing responsibility is key for a well-functioning team. Of course, everyone has their own role, and some people will naturally be the leaders. However, being a leader does not mean excluding the ideas and input of others and insisting on doing things your way. As always, communication is king.
Thought of the Week…HERD MENTALITY
The term “herd mentality” generally has a negative connotation. It is defined as, “the tendency of the people in a group to think and behave in ways that conform with others in the group rather than as individuals.” In our society, we are taught that it is good to stand out from the crowd. BUT, what if we flip our thinking just a bit and see the strength in being part of a group?
Word of the Week…SPIRIT
A leader’s role is greatly diminished without their team. No one can do everything by themselves, and no one knows everything. It’s so important to inspire, motivate and empower your team to become the very best version of themselves. That’s leadership; that’s what leaders do. You are privileged to be in a position where you can direct, shape, and focus someone’s potential on a specific result. When you are given the responsibility to lead, you are given an awesome opportunity to influence many people’s lives positively; a responsibility you should never take for granted”
How do you embody the spirit of leadership?
Word of the Week…CONNECTION
If the past couple of years have taught us anything, it is the importance of connection. What we get with in-person connection is a feeling, a vibe, energy. These cannot be replaced. When a wild horse is removed from his/her herd, they remember each other even when reunited years later. The connection remains despite physical separation.
Word of the Week…VULNERABILITY
Once we allow ourselves to become vulnerable enough to admit our challenges, however, we can then gather the courage to lead with the courage to be our authentic selves
Word of the Week…PURPOSE
Working with purpose leads to a happier work life, better functioning teams and superior leadership.
Word of the Week…BOUNDARIES
Setting personal boundaries is crucial for your sense of psychological safety and overall wellbeing. Equally important is respecting others’ boundaries. It’s a vital part of successful leadership and maintaining effective working relationships.
Word of the Week…HONESTY
Horses aren’t afraid of the truth! However, for people, it can be difficult and confronting to have honest conversations with others, particularly in the workplace.
One of the most important features of a great leader is the ability to pull what is hidden to the surface. This is both in our communication and dealings with others, but also – crucially – in being honest with ourselves. It’s also one of the hardest things to do.
Word(s) of the Week…BODY LANGUAGE
We all know the important role body language plays in effective communication. And we’ve all heard the statistic that the majority of human communication is actually non-verbal.
Yet, we are obsessed with speaking, and generally terrible at listening. And we are often unaware of the ways our body language is communicating louder than our words.
Word of the Week…CONFIDENCE
Confidence at work is one of my favourite topics – it is actually a part of our motto, ‘Confidence. Consciousness. Compassion.’, at Leading Edge. Whether it’s building your own or helping others around you boost theirs, confidence is essential for a happy and productive workplace.
Word of the Week…CONSCIOUSNESS
We work with horses to help people be more conscious – or in other words more self-aware of their unconscious behaviours and attitudes – so they can become the most authentic version of themselves and, by extension, better leaders.
Word of the Week…PRESENCE
Horses always remind you about being present, because they can sense when your mind is elsewhere and will let you know.
When we aren’t present with our colleagues or even our families and friends, their feelings are likely to be the same – even if their reactions aren’t as obvious.
Word of the Week…ENERGY
Leadership is a tough gig. Benevolent leaders give a lot of themselves and this can lead to burnout. Burnout is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion usually caused by prolonged periods of stress. We all know the saying, “you can’t pour from an empty cup” so how can we ensure that we don’t end up trying to lead on empty?
Word of the Week…CONGRUENCE
According to the Diamond Model of Leadership, however, congruence is one of the four essential qualities of leadership. Alongside attention, direction and energy, congruence completes the formula for successful leadership. These qualities are relevant on both an individual, team and organisational level.
Word of the Week…DIRECTION
Setting direction is an important role for any leadership group. And purpose sets the direction in a meaningful way. Without this nothing makes sense. This is not to say that the direction won’t change. In fact, change is constant in this VUCA (vulnerable, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world we live in.
Word of the Week…ATTENTION
Providing attention to others is important, particularly as a leader if you want your colleagues and team members to feel valued and heard. Equally important is paying attention to the environment to be able to respond with agility to change.
Word of the Week…HUMILITY
rom my experience as a leadership coach, I can tell you for certain that leadership skills are a work in progress, developed over the course of our lives and refined again and again. To do this successfully requires humility – an acknowledgement that you cannot know everything and there’s always more to learn.
Word of the Week…PERSEVERANCE
Nelson Mandela once said: “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
Perseverance is a quality that every good leader possesses. Life is not just about having skills or talent but about following them through.
Perseverance is important in tough times when it can be most tempting to give up. Being a business owner and a horse owner (they go together for me) continually teaches me so much about perseverance.
Word of the Week…INTENTION
Horses can teach us much about intention. They pick up on any incongruence between our intentions and actions. It’s not airy-fairy horse whisperer stuff – as a prey animal, they need to be highly sensitive and attuned to even the slightest changes in their environment for mere survival. So you can’t hide behind your corporate persona from a horse to the real you, they see right through to the real you.
Word of the Week…CONFLICT
How do we effectively manage conflict in our teams?
While there are many different answers, I like to think first about how everyone has their own unique communication style and how understanding this goes a long way in managing conflict. Afterall, conflict is most often caused by miscommunication.
Word of the Week…MOTIVATION
Let’s talk about motivation.
People are motivated by a range of things in their work and life, from career goals to money to personal and family goals. However, what lies underneath all this is a simple fact:
What motivates us is what aligns with our purpose.
Word of the Week…NEGOTIATION
Some lessons on being a good negotiator which you can use as a leader:
Remain calm, and keep your emotions in check
Use self-awareness to see how you come across to the other person
Be a good communicator and state your point clearly
Listen carefully so you can understand the other’s point of view.
Word of the Week…PATIENCE
orses keenly sense when someone is impatient and respond accordingly – no amount of pulling will make them move faster. When working with horses, we have a bit of a mantra: “act like you have five minutes and it’ll take all day, act like you have all day and it’ll take five minutes.”
Patience, and the calm that it brings, is super important when working with people too. Especially when working with teams. We are all different so team dynamics can be a source of frustration especially with a looming deadline.
Word(s) of the Week…INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
Developing interpersonal skills is a critical step to improving your leadership. Having the confidence to read situations, understand the feelings and motivations of others as well as the bravery to communicate honestly will reap benefits and also inspire a team.
Word of the Week…COMPOSURE
I’ll never forget a lesson my horses once taught me about composure. They were jumpier, less co-operative. It was only at that point that I realised: my anxiety was sky-high. And, despite telling myself that I was composed, the horses could sense otherwise. What a lesson on how your own composure impacts those around you! If a leader doesn’t maintain composure then it filters through to everyone.
Word of the Week…APPROACHABILITY
Last year, we had a man attend one of our team development programs who was very task-oriented and a high achiever in his role before he moved into leadership. However, it was clear to us right away that the team he was now leading did not find him approachable. This...
Word of the Week…LISTENING
For something that we do day in day out, listening takes a surprising amount of practice, particularly active listening. Done well, it helps your emotional connection with others no end.
Word of the Week…HUMOUR
Work and life can’t be serious all the time. And sometimes when faced with tough situations, have to make a choice between falling into despair and laughing it off. Think how you can use humour today in the workplace. Laughter creates connection through engagement. I suggest laughing off and learning from a mistake instead of getting upset about it. After all, “laughter is the best medicine”
Word of the Week…Compassion
Compassion can mean everything from looking after the most vulnerable in our community, to helping a friend or neighbour having a tough time, to being a good listener. Compassion is also an essential part of being a good leader, helping to build trust and bring out the best in people. A compassionate leader is likely to have a happy and highly functioning team.
How can you practise compassion as a leader? Well, there’s lots of ways to go about it:
Always try to see situations from another’s perspective
Appreciate that there are different types of personalities who react to situations in different ways
Accept without judgement. Horses are wonderful at taking people as they come, and we should all strive to do the same.
12 horsey days of Christmas (or lessons for any time!)
As I reflect on the year, I hear many people say how glad they are that it is nearly over and how next year can only get better. (Sounds familiar lol). But I would like to us all to reflect on the positives of the year that was.
We can thank the C-word virus for forcing many of us to make changes that were overdue and necessary. We learnt how flexible working environments can be, how adaptable we are, the importance of caring for others, how fragile and robust we can be.
5 ways horses teach us about sleep and relaxation
Are you getting enough sleep?
If not, it can be a difficult problem to fix!
That’s why I’ve looked to horses for some inspiration…
Why? Well, horses are much better than us at taking care of their physical needs They listen to their bodies far more than we do and those of their herds.
Rest, relax, recover : Time to switch off both body and brain to avoid burnout
Many of us and our teams are feeling tired and even burnt out after a difficult year.
A strong leader gives themself permission to relax, setting a good example for their team and encouraging others to take time to recuperate as well.
It’s just so important.
Relaxing also involves switching off mentally as well as physically.
Three simple leadership lessons from this year so far
“The best leaders never stop learning.”
Donald T Philips, writer.
I often get asked what the biggest challenge is in being a leader. My answer: you never stop learning. So, I decided to share some of the leadership lessons I learnt this year.
They are:
Positivity has power
Be aware of your impact upon others
Look after yourself
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