My horse, Minnie is sleek and black with eyes that dart
left and right watching my every move. She is standing
stiff and tense by the round pen wall, waiting for me to
begin our workday. Her ears are turned towards me and her
eyes are wide, showing the white around the pupils.
She looks like she is ready to bolt for the slightest
reason. It's a foggy, rainy day and the air is cool enough
so that when Minnie sticks her nose out to blow and snort I
can see the frosty air rise and circle from her nostrils
and finally dissipate in the wind.
The atmosphere feels heavy with some unseen expectation
hanging, waiting. Her tenseness surrounds us like a dark
cocoon and I find myself waiting for one of us to snap like
a banjo string.
Picking up my whip I point it at Minnie's hip and before I
can say a word, she springs up in the air and jumps
forward, racing around the arena.
Frustrated I think the word whoa and as I let my breath out
to say the word she slides to a stop. I point with the whip
again, this time asking her to change directions.
She bolts with her tail in the air galloping around and
around the arena. She is still blowing and snorting in the
cool morning air and once again I barely think the word
whoa and she jumps to a stop. Her whole body jars and
bounces with her stop and it appears that she will come up
over the top of the round pen wall.
I am feeling more and more agitated. What on earth is wrong
with her today? This is getting us nowhere.
Throwing down the whip and grabbing the lead line I lead
her out to the pasture mumbling the whole way. I'll just
let her work off her excess energy alone, I mutter to
myself.
When I let her go Minnie races about fifty feet into the
pasture, stops, looks around, and then quietly begins to
graze. It seems she has no excess energy now!
Taking a break and watching Minnie in the pasture I begin
to realize this is about me today, not her.
Horses mirror-image their handlers.
If she is bouncing off the walls it is because there is
something in me that's bouncing off the walls. She's
reading me; it's my energy that's causing her to exhibit
high, uncontrollable energy. I am the one who needs to take
the time out and figure out what's going on inside me
before I can get anything accomplished with Minnie.
Isn't this the way it is with your employees or team? The
tenseness in the air, the activity that causes your team to
argue and not get anything accomplished and certainly not
act as a team but more as a group of individuals each
having their own agenda. And by the way the agenda is about
them and their needs, not the company needs.
Your team picks up their mood from you their leader. As
their leader it's up to you to know what your emotions are,
what feelings are driving you and how you're exhibiting
them to your team.
Otherwise you end up in chaos because your team is
responding to your inner workings regardless of what you
are attempting to say with your mouth.
----------------------------------------------------
Jean Starling holds an MBA in International Business and is
an Author, Business Strategist and Executive Coach. Go to
http://www.leaderstakingthereins.com to get your Free
Leadership Home Study Course and learn how to be the leader
that people want to follow. Contact Jean at
mailto:jean@leaderstakingthereins.com .
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