Greetings from the founders June Gunter, Ed.D. and Beth Hyjek, MFA. We prepare leaders for navigating through uncertainty and creating confidence in collective leadership. Our appoach to leadership development is inspired by how horses lead their herds. We create rapid growth experiences that include working with horses. Working with horses, people learn how to remain calm and confident in the face of uncertainty, build trusting relationships and communicate with authenticity.
TeachingHorse partners with The Center for Creative Leadership and our clients include the Novartis Women’s Leadership Program, The Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program, and Catholic Health Partners Leadership Development Program. In 2012, TeachingHorse worked with over 500 leaders from Kaiser Permanente to develop the skills required to become confident in uncertainty and share leadership in complex systems.
Contact us or call 919-333-9961 to discuss the needs of your team or organization with us. We design learning and coaching experiences to achieve your specific outcomes and desired results.
What Do Horses Have to Teach Us About Leadership?
In a herd of horses, leadership is shared. The lead mare sets the direction and pace of the herd. The lead stallion keeps the herd together and protects it from predators. Each member of the herd has a role in protecting the health of the herd. All of the horses in the herd contribute to the socialization of new or young members, teaching them what behaviors are healthy and correcting those who behave in ways that could compromise the health of the herd. The ever-present goal of herd leadership is health, harmony, and unity.
For herd members to place their trust in leaders, they must see four qualities in them. One, leaders are paying attention and can detect even the most subtle shifts in the environment. Two, leaders can give them clear direction on how to respond to the shifts. Three, leaders are able to follow that direction with focused energy, providing the herd with guidance on the pace with which to respond. Four, leaders display congruence of their inner and outer expressions. Ultimately, the herd members must know that the leaders have their best interest as their source of motivation at all times. The Diamond Model of Shared Leadership was created to bring the wisdom of horses into how we lead our organizations and communities.
The Diamond Model of Shared Leadership
Attention, Direction, Energy, Congruence: When leaders demonstrate these qualities and skills, the herd becomes confident in their leadership. The bottom line is that confidence in the leader makes the herd agile in times of change. The same is true for people. To gain our confidence, our leaders must demonstrate that they are paying attention to what is going on in their communities/organizations, are able to give clear direction with focused, inspiring energy, and are so authentic that their intentions can be fully trusted. Confidence in leadership makes a community or an organization agile when the time for change can no longer be avoided.
Adapted from TeachingHorse: Rediscovering Leadership, by June Gunter, Ed.D.