Management Development – Bringing out the best in your team

As ever, the management development programme brought a different element to learning, and in August it was leadership though horses. Unlike people, horses will only co-operate from a place of connection and mutual respect and trust. When you can lead teams from a place of heart-felt connection and trust, rather than intimidation and fear, you form high performing teams where everyone contributes and plays an active role. We learnt so much over the day about:
• Being authentic and showing your vulnerabilities
• Trust and respect are key to bringing out the best in others
• Giving clear direction and always being purposeful
• Setting the right pace and tone and enjoying the journey
• Having honest conversations along the way
• Being prepared to step out of our comfort zone
• Thinking about how best to lead the individual and the team
• Finding ways to work in harmony with our team
• Believing in ourselves and others
• Observing what is going on (without judgement)
• Remembering that leaders don’t know everything!
It really was a fantastic experience; people were operating outside of their comfort zone and achieved more than they could have imagined. One delegate emailed us the next day:-
“My only complaint … it wasn’t long enough – I wanted more … both working with the horses but also the learning!!!! After a full on day, it was great to read that and we agreed too. There were a few people who slept well that night 🙂
Our thanks go to Julia Felton at Business Horse Power for supporting us and making it such a great day!