Leadership Lessons from Horses

Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning (EFEL) is a cutting edge approach to human development that questions traditional leadership development practices and urges you to re-evaluate the meaning of Authentic Leadership for the new millennium

The Holy Grail of OD The pursuit of Authentic or Enlightened leadership development has long been the holy grail of Organization Development across the world. Over the years, the term Leadership has been defined and re-defined many times and the trend will doubtless continue. As leadership roles have evolved and changed over the years, so have the associated skills and qualities. Drawing up a list of universally accepted leadership qualities may not be easy, but it is safe to assume that charisma, integrity, values, loyalty, emotional intelligence, mental awareness, and influencing skill (to name a few) would feature on every list of critical aspects of leadership.

But the real challenge doesnt lie in identifying leadership qualities; the big questions facing organizations is, How can we teach and learn these skills? The quest for this holy grail has led scholars and researchers far and wide it has resulted in the development and establishment of various approaches from NLP to Ontology and countless techniques and process from outbound training to executive coaching. Each approach has built upon the other; each technique has juxtaposed with another; and often, the results have been exciting and impactful.

A New Approach The dawn of the new millennium saw the coming of age of another method of human development. Organization Development professionals in the USA discovered the benefits of adapting Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning (EFEL) methodology to leadership development and kick-started a while new trend.

Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning (EFEL) is a relatively new field within the area of behavioral learning programs and draws primarily on the tenets of experiential learning learning through hands-on experience. In general terms, EFL is an educational program that is facilitated within a group format and focuses on ground activities rather than riding.

In EFEL programs, participants engage in structured, facilitator-led sessions that include constant feedback related to participants experiences. The sessions provide opportunities for participants to become involved in situations that require interaction with the horse and the group, and to reflect on these experiences. The overall intent is to create opportunities whereby participants, through direct experience with the horse, learn about self, internalize this awareness within the sessions, and generalize it to other life situations.

Why Horses? Given the horses superior intuitive nature, direct interaction with it is a unique experience. The horses intuitive nature has evolved as a mere function of survival; it is constantly attuned to its surroundings and the subtle communication within the herd as a response to ever-changing environments. No surprise then that horses have been observed to have acute communication skills within their social structures and highly adaptive behavioral responses within those structures (MacKinnon, 2007).

Also, a horse has the ability to respond intuitively to human behavior and intent, which results in immediate feedback from the animal (Frame, 2006; Graham, 2007; Hallberg, 2004; Kersten and Thomas, 1997; MacKinnon, 2007; Shultz, 2005; Tramutt, 2003). This response creates opportunities for an EFEL participant to react both cognitively and behaviorally in relation to the cues from the horse.

In the broadest sense, EFEL has proved successful as an approach aimed at increasing life skills through hands-on doing. It has been identified as useful in building communication, problem-solving, and team building skills, as well as enhancing personal awareness and a sense of self. (MacKinnon, 2007; NARHA; Rothe et. al., 2005)

Implications for Leadership Development Leaders, who cannot embrace the concept that much of their power and success, or lack of it, is based upon unconscious influences are finding that guiding an organization or team to success a much bigger challenge than it has ever been, says Lisa Murrell, founder of MetaSystem Consulting Group and Equine Alchemy and author of INSPIRING REAL CHANGE: Using Systemic Experiential Learning to Develop Systems, Organizations, Teams and Individuals.

Referring to EFEL as a ground-breaking approach to leadership development, Lisa says, Horses are social creatures that readily and honestly respond to the challenges inherent in forming and sustaining relationships. As animals that are preyed upon in nature, they have also retained a highly developed ability to sense changes in the stance and arousal level of other herd members, an ability they easily transfer to interactions with human beings. Horses see through the slightest incongruities of emotion and intention; subtle as well as critical leadership skills.

Working with horses provides a way for people to become aware of the messages they are sending out unconsciously. This information enables insights into why leaders continually create situations that dont work.

The principles of EFEL are basic and easy to understand. The horse is the perfect mirror of the human that is with it (horses do not lie). The horse is looking to have feelings of safety and peace always. This is because the horse is a prey animal always looking over its shoulder for the predator. If the human is trying to control the animal for whatever reason, this produces fear within the horse. If the human is disrespectful of the horse (inappropriate touching, movements, sounds, thoughts or feelings), this produces fear with the horse too. When the human begins to make conscious and appropriate requests, rather than demands, of the horse cooperation begins to happen.

Trust and respect are earned with horses in much the same way as with people through acknowledgement and respect. This golden rule applies to horses, but with the added aspect of greater guidance and leadership coming forward from the human. It is the humans responsibility to approach the horse as an authentic, enlightened leader.

And Authentic Leadership is not just about being compassion, patience and consistent but also providing confident, skillful, and knowledgeable guidance with a healthy dose of coaching tossed in for good measure.

In this age of corporate greed, poor management, distrust, and wide spread fraud, a program that teaches responsibility, accountability, respect, trust and mindful interaction was a natural development, says Franklin Levinson, founder of The Maui Horse Whisperer Experience.

Track Record and Future The Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning methodology has a sound base and proven track record. Like many other established practices, FEEL has its roots in therapy. As early as 1969, the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) recognized the physically therapeutic impact of riding for those with physical disabilities. The benefit horses can offer was soon realized to extend beyond the physical realm, and a number of organizations offering both psychotherapy and learning partnering with horses began to emerge.

The Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association, which began as a subcommittee of NARHA in 1994, centered its programs on the emotional and mental health development of children using horses as experiential learning tools. Massive improvement was reported in children with various mental and emotional challenges ranging from A.D.D. to Autism, to antisocial violent behavior. The positive results were seen across the board.

By the turn of the century Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning was well accepted across the US, where even prisons have instituted similar programs to assist in the rehabilitation of inmates. Prisoners learn how to gently communicate with a fearful horse and develop the trust needed to help the horse accept human contact and interaction. The inmates discover that respect, gentleness, mindfulness, compassion and kindness go a lot farther than brutality, dominance and force.

EFEL based programs have proved effective for corporations seeking to advance the leadership qualities and skills of top executives. In the US, organizations across sectors from the manufacturing, telecom, real estate and pharmaceutical industry have incorporated EFEL based workshops as an integral part of their leadership and people development programs. Overall, Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning is certainly making waves in the human development and behavior change space. What really sets EFEL apart from the trendy warm-n-fuzzy fads that seem to pop up every few years is its documented success in therapy and behavioral rehabilitation. By Jagat Rathore (OD Consultant, Executive Coach and Motivational Speaker)