Horsing around may boost performance

Nov 30 2007 By Erikka Askeland

Leadership tips from equine training exercises

Encouraging your colleagues and staff to horse around may not be the best way to improve performance in the workplace.

But for Cecilia McClure and Alison Noble, founders of a new programme for leadership training in Scotland, getting it from the horse's mouth is what counts McClure and Noble are founders of Evolutionary Training. But this is no typical training format where people put their chairs in a circle while someone lectures from in front of a flipchart.

Instead, they introduce their clients to Lottie, a 13-year-old cob mare and Ruaridh, a big 18-year-old shire thoroughbred gelding.

Evolutionary Training uses the horses as a learning tool. Based on principles of 'natural' horsemanship - or horse whispering as it is often called - their methods rely on the non-violent behavioural reinforcement found in the training of animals. What McClure and Noble found is these methods are great for people too. Interaction with the horses, through a series of simple exercises such as leading them around a course, is enough to give people insight into how effectively they communicate and how they appear to others.

"The horses give very, very honest feedback on what the individuals are doing," says co-founder McClure.

"The horses are also big - the gelding is a 'gentle giant', but his size will be intimidating particularly to those not accustomed to horses generally. Part of the process is overcoming this anxiety to lead the horse.

"Quite a lot of people, when asked to approach a horse, may be anxious. It is about how they deal with that.

"Put quite simply, of course the horse will react to the human being. If the horse senses nervousness or reluctance it isn't going to follow the human being around the course."

According to famed psychology professor Albert Mehrabian, only about seven per cent of successful communication is about the words we use. The rest is based on less tangible communication through body language, tone of voice and energy. It turns out horses are very attuned to this.

According to McClure, horses survive in the wild by choosing 'good' leaders for their herd. The herd establishes a hierarchy which they maintain through non verbal communication.

Horses work best for these sorts of interactions - horses are often noted, like people, to have distinct personalities, attitudes, and moods. Also, like humans, what works with one horse may not work with others.

"Horses give very immediate and very honest feedback, and, of course, they don't recognise hierarchies within an organisation. They will respond to what they see from the janitor as much as they will the CEO," says McClure Some, on working with a horse that refuses to budge, get angry or frustrated.

This too can become a learning experience that can be used as a comparison to dealing with challenges and difficulties in the workplace.

Evolutionary Training launched its programme recently at the newly renovated Ingliston Equestrian Centre, which now offers a management suite.

Participants interact with horses and then later convene in the meeting room to discuss the interactions.

'The horses give very, very honest feedback on what the individuals are doing'