by Julia Felton | Feb 1, 2011
Life lessons come in many forms and this week has been no exception. All week we have been introducing the three horses in our herd to two new friends. They have been meeting daily over the fence like getting to know each other before we eventually put all five horses in the field together. Watching their behaviour over the past few days has been amazing. My older horse, Toby, who is currently the leader of his group, has been over-dominant with the new horses. Snorting and really establishing himself as the head honcho in charge of everything. He has actively been stopping his best friend, Charlie, engage in any way with the other horses. It has been so tiring watching him all day preventing Charlie from going near the other horses. He has to be aware all the time where Charlie is and then move him in the other direction. Charlie, I sense, is really bord of this but quietly acquiesces as he is not the type of horse to engage in confrontation.
There antics remind me strongly of the challenges that come about when two companies integrate. One group often wants to dominate and acts in an assertive fashion whilst the other group complies, not having the strength for the battle right now. Like Charlie they decide to go with the flow until things settle down. What to me is interesting is that Toby’s dominant behaviour is not his natural state and in fact I would go so far as to say that the only way he is behaving this way is because he is scared. Scared of losing his friends and his position in the herd. And I bet that is what happens when companies merge. Fear drives behaviour as we want to maintain security and keep things just the way they are. Yet we all know that without change no organisation or individual will develop and grow.
My own experiences of being part of a corporate merger comes from when Andersen UK (formerly Arthur Andersen) was acquired by Deloitte UK following the Enron fiasco. Whilst with hindsight the merger went relatively smoothly there were power plays occurring all over the organisation as each company vied to maintain their system and solution because it was better than what the other party had. What was interesting was the way that some people ran scared. Afraid of what might happen they sought to surround themselves with allies who could ensure that they would be protected – in much the same way that Toby is protecting himself by controlling Charlie’s loyalty to him. However, in the end was this strategy effective. Possibly in the short-term, but in the long-term I would suggest not as people (just like Charlie) do not want to be manipulated. I’ll be really interested to see what develops over the next few weeks and to see whether Toby’s strategy pays off or if it will come back to haunt him.
Have you ever been involved in a corporate merger/take over and if so how did it go. Love to read your comments below.
by Julia Felton | Jan 24, 2011
If you want to know the importance of energy to America’s work force, look no further than the lines at Starbucks. Clearly people are searching for more energy to fuel their busy, demanding work schedules and lives. After all, if you don’t have energy, you can’t lead, sell, inspire, serve or advance in your career.
Unfortunately, however, double lattes are not the kind of energy that will enhance our performance and success. Real, sustained energy cannot be found in a can or bottle, but rather in the currency of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy that recharges, renews, refocuses and repurposes us daily.
In today’s energy-strapped, time-constrained business climate, those who want to take their career to the next level must be physically energized, mentally positive, emotionally contagious and purpose-driven.
Life is no longer a sprint. It’s not a marathon, either. Rather it’s a sprint and a boxing match combined where you are not only running as hard as you can, but you are getting hit along the way. Exercising, eating high-energy foods with protein and fiber as part of five small meals throughout the day will help you sustain your physical and mental energy and manage your stress.
Just as athletes must train for enhanced success, you must train to build your energy and strength. But training doesn’t stop at the physical level. To be at the top of your game, you’ll want to cultivate the positive energy necessary to overcome adversity, challenges and obstacles that often derail and sabotage so many careers. What most people don’t realize is that the latest research in neuroscience shows we can cultivate more positive energy, build mental muscle and mold our brains to be more positive and resilient to stress.
One proven way to do this is meditation, which research shows is like gasoline for the mind and body. It’s not just for Buddhist monks, but for athletes and business people who want to enhance their focus, energy, creativity and performance. Anyone who has ever worked for a very positive and uplifting boss or a negative energy vampire also knows the importance of the emotional energy we share with others.
Walt Whitman said we convince by our presence, and emotional energy is what does the convincing. Research from the Institute of HeartMath demonstrates that when we have a feeling it starts in our heart, goes to every cell in the body and outward, and can be detected up to five to 10 feet away. We are broadcasting our emotional heartfelt energy to our co-workers, employees and company every moment of every day.
Positive emotions enhance personal energy, team interactions and career success while negative emotions decrease energy and sabotage productivity and performance. That’s why Jack Welch said that great leaders have tons and tons of positive energy and they are contagious. It’s also why Pete Carroll, the two-time national champion coach of University of South Carolina football, has built a culture around positive energy. Those who want to succeed today must learn to manage their emotions under pressure, to stay positive and focused and develop a currency of positive emotional energy.
Cultivating a state of gratitude especially during challenging times is one way to enhance your energy currency and become more contagious. Gratitude floods your brain and body with positive thoughts and emotions that improve the way you think and feel. This brings us to the final and most powerful energy currency we can tap into: purpose. The fact is, we can eat all the avocado, drink all the water and do all the push-ups we want, but if we don’t have purpose, passion and enthusiasm for what we do each day, we’ll never feel as energized as we could.
Purpose is the ultimate fuel for our life and careers and it is essential for lasting success. When you are purpose-driven, you tap into an unlimited amount of energy currency. So instead of just going to work, find something within your work that contributes to a bigger purpose — something bigger than you, something that makes a difference — and let this purpose energize your success.
Source: Jacksonville Business Journal by Jon Gordon
by Julia Felton | Jan 14, 2011
Struggling to achieve success? Maybe you need to hone some skills. What skills exactly? Well, after some intensive reading and study of successful leaders in business, industry, government, and personal development, I’ve found that there are 10 core skills that the most successful leaders all share. While these leaders may not be masters of every particular skill, they have, at least, a basic knowledge of them. Anyone looking to achieve higher levels of as a leader, in business, volunteering, or even just at home, would be well served by strengthening their abilities in each of these skill sets.
Critical Thinking
Successful leaders all have powerful critical thinking skills. The ability to quickly survey and analyze a situation then identify the core issues that need to be dealt with is key to business success. As is, the ability to understand new issues and factors that impact one’s goals and designs.
Creative Thinking
These leaders also have varying abilities to think, well, differently. They have the ability to step out of rigid mindsets so that they can explore potential new ideas that others may consider risky, crazy, or silly.
Listening
Great leaders are great listeners. Experienced at focusing their energy to the task, this includes listening, so that when they listen, they are very focused on hearing everything that’s being said so that they can make well-informed decisions.
Reading
The ability to read is vital to lifelong personal and professional success. Leaders in any industry or area all tend to be good readers who are exposed to large amounts of information through reports, newspapers, white papers, books, etc. While they may not be speed readers, they are excellent at grasping the main ideas and context of the material they do read.
Writing
They may not write often. And they may not write a lot. But when they do, successful leaders are clear, concise, and to the point.
Speaking
Perhaps the most important languaging skill, the best leaders are also good speakers. They are able to present their ideas verbally to audiences of all types and sizes, as well as easily change their presentation style so that they meet an audience’s needs. While it may not be a skill that a leader is ever completely comfortable with, she understands that if she can’t speak about the issues her business faces, nobody can.
Motivating
Skilled leaders are superb motivators. They understand that each of us is propelled by our own, personal, motivations. These leaders are able to apply all of their languaging skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) to create powerful group goals and visions that spur people to give 110%.
Networking
Successful people have successful networks. They have contacts, associates, and friends in a wide array of fields who they can call on for ideas, input, and assistance. These leaders actively cultivate and grow their networks all the time.
Delegating
To some, this may not seem like a leadership skill, but it is. Leaders who excel are leaders who don’t try to take everything on themselves. Indeed, they understand that they can’t do everything. They easily delegate all but the most important of tasks to their employees, assistants, and networks. They create systems so that they are available to focus on the most important issues at any moment.
Evolving
In evaluating successful leaders, I think this is the most powerful, yet most difficult skill to master. Evolving is the ability to adapt, quickly, to the newest technologies, styles, and modes of thinking that create success. It is a skill requiring a supreme sense of self-confidence coupled with extreme humility. For leaders, it is a skill applied not just for personal success, but also for the success of their business, their workers, and their families. It provides those who can master it, the opportunity to achieve life-long success in all areas of life.
Article by Jim Allen, the Big Idea Coach, helps you make your small ideas big & your big ideas real. www.BigIdeaCoach.com
by Julia Felton | Jan 10, 2011
Before I started my journey with horses I never understood what it was like to be present. I lived in the here and now, so surely I was present. What horses have taught me is that often I live in my own world, detached from reality. The world where I think more about the past and the future than what is happening here and now. The result was that often I failed to observe what was happening around me as I was so caught up in my own stuff. This is one of the reasons that I decided to study to become a field guide in Africa. Living for months in the bush surrounded by the wild animals, you need to have your wits about you and stay really focused on what is happening now, in the present, or else you might become someone’s lunch!
Over time I have learnt that just like the wild animals in Africa horses are experts in teaching humans how to be present. Horses are naturally embodied in mind, energy and spirit. They live and digest what is happening in the moment. By contrast we humans routinely step out of the present moment and skip to the past or future with our thinking, thoughts and agendas. We routinely form opinions, points of view, judge others as right or wrong, decide what is best for others, and think we have the answers. The flow of possibility stops when we define events or categorize people, places and things. Pure consciousness does not participate in the above behaviors.
A wonderful practice to increase consciousness is living in the question (versus the answer). What does this mean? Living in the question leaves no room for judgment, assumptions, or opinions. Again, all of these do is stop the flow of energy. When our mind entertains possibility through questions it puts us mentally in the present moment and opens us to the magic of life, the energy keeps moving.
What if you lived as if you knew nothing? How might that change your life? Your relationships? Living in the question:
- Releases expectations
- Prevents you from judging others –which creates separation
- Limits caretaking others in an unhealthy way
- Keeps you full of energy
- Keeps your mind positive and open
- Releases the need to control (which takes a ton of energy)
- Helps you to live with more compassion and understanding
- Makes you feel happy (which rubs off on others)
What type of thoughts limited consciousness?
- I don’t have the money and it won’t come.
- He won’t support me.
- She thinks I can’t achieve my goal.
- She doesn’t know what she is doing, She is not a very good teacher/horsewoman.
- This horse is difficult.
- Kids are stupid.
- It is supposed to be done this way.
- There is something wrong with me.
- She should not do that, she should do this instead.
Read the above statements and pay attention to how each one feels in your body and spirit. Do you sense a contraction, blocking off from the world, a tightness or heaviness?
Now shift your consciousness into living in the question. Here are some options to help you explore the possibility:
- What is possible now?
- What other wonderful things can happen to me?
- What delicious experiences await me today?
- What could happen if I am willing to let go of this limiting belief?
- What if I released all of the past and present expectation of this person/horse?
- How much better can my life get?
- How can I see this with curiosity?
- What wants to happen?
- What’s perfect about me?
As you say each of these sentences feel into your body and explore what happens to the inside of your being. Do you feel lighter, more relaxed, does a feeling of calm trust come through? What shift in consciousness are you experiencing between the two lists?
What I have continually discovered is that when I am working with horses in I live in the present. Horses help me get grounded and connected to all that is around me. So how do horses do this? Well, as a prey animal a horse is always looking for a leader. If he can’t find one he will assume the role himself. Who would want to follow a leader who was not present and aware of what was happening around them? No-one, because in the case of my horse he thinks he might get eaten alive.
So today’s question is are you living in the here and now or are you living in the past and future? What type of leader do you think you can be for you teams if you are not aware of what is happening around you.? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
by Julia Felton | Jan 5, 2011
We are all leaders, some lead themselves, some lead others. Being a congruent leader makes life easier and more meaningful. Equine Assisted Education is designed to help everybody lead the life they want to lead in the way they want to lead it.
Now that people are educated and think for themselves, we need a paradigm shift in their development. Congruent, inspirational leadership by example is the order of the day. This harmonious leadership is about four things:
1) being clear about what you want at any given moment and understanding what is congruent for you,
2) understanding your peers and those you are leading, the way they think and communicate and
3) simultaneously focusing on both 1 and 2 in order to
4) take appropriate and effective action.
This brings huge benefits to yourself and everybody around you.
Equine Guided Leadership Development is a powerful experiential approach for developing aligned personal skills in action by working in partnership with horses. You try out your skills by working with a large, powerful horse to do simple tasks. Why horses? Because horses are extremely canny herd animals that only respond well to good congruent leadership and instinctively challenge weak leaders. They don’t have a personal agenda. They just respond to who and how you are at any moment. Believe it or not, human-to-human communication is 93% non-verbal yet most education and training concentrates on the remaining 7%,words. The remaining 93% is largely neglected. This means there is enormous scope to achieve a lot even with just a little work on that 93%.
This is what makes horses so useful – 100% of a horse’s communication is non-verbal. They don’t understand words, so you can’t smooth-talk them or hoodwink them. They’re experts in non-verbal communication. And they’re big and powerful, so intimidation is not an option. As you learn to lead a horse without words (and without force), you are developing the neglected 93%. You will be amazed at how instant and accurate the feedback is. Guaranteed.
I’d love to hear about any experiences that you have had with Equine Facilitated Learning.
by Julia Felton | Dec 21, 2010
Throughout the world many leaders are struggling with the leadership challenges emerging from the current climate. Some are driven by greed, some by fear and many just running around like headless chickens not sure what to do; they all have one thing in common they do not demonstrate a flexible leadership style that enables them to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, get buy in from their followers and lead strongly forward for the good of all.
So what do horses have to do with leadership; simply put they are masters of sustainable, flexible and effective leadership. They have been demonstrating it for the last 5 million years.
Windsor based Acorns2Oaks and German based HorseDream have partnered to bring a powerful and profound leadership development programme to the UK. Both Acorn2Oaks and HorseDream have an impressive track record of bringing “Horse Assisted Education” to organisations throughout Europe. Their clients include Cisco Systems, SAP, Allied Irish Bank, CAP Gemini, Proctor and Gamble, Nokia, McDonald’s, Generali, Würth Elektronik and AOL Germany. This new partnership is the first of many spreading throughout Europe.
David Harris founder of Acorns2Oaks says” The leadership learning from the horses is the most effective, flexible and sustainable available. Together with HorseDream we have taken many hundreds of corporate leaders through our programmes and we always get amazing learning and results. Organisations often come back again and again. The partnership with HorseDream means we can now provide consistent programmes to a high standard and quality throughout Europe. This is a very attractive proposition to European companies.” Acorn2Oaks are the first of the “HorseDream” partners to run “HorseDream Partner Licensed Workshops” outside of Germany.
I am delighted to have been one of the first students to attend the HorseDream Partner Licensed Workshop run by Dave Harris. Under his guidance and mentoring I now offer Horse Assisted Education in leadership, teamwork and communication to companies and individuals. Please contact me to discuss how Business HorsePower can help you and your teams.
by Julia Felton | Dec 14, 2010
This morning I was listening to John Assaraf’s “The Inner Game of Money” and on that audio he recounted a story of how a man was walking through the desert. He was tired and thirsty and wanted to turn back as he could not see a clear way forward. I think we have all been in that position at some point in our lives. However as he looked skywards he suddenly fell over a cactus. Well we all know that cactus’ are a source of water in the desert so the man ripped open the plant and quenched this thirst. He then looked back over the pathway he had just trodden and noticed that he had passed a number of cacti already on his journey and as he looked forward there were even more on his path. The reason I love this story is that opportunities surround us throughout our life and yet we often fail to see them, or if we do, we fail to act. In many instances too the more we look for the opportunities the less likely we are to find them. I know this has been so true in my own life. So why is that?
I believe that one of the reasons we miss the myriad of opportunities that are out there is because as a society we generally live in the past. We dwell on what happened and why. Sometimes we dream of the future and what it might bring. Yet few of us live in the present – in the here and now. Horses are masters at living in the present. As prey animals they cannot afford to not be on guard to what is going on around them right now or they might get attacked and injured. Being present means they are in tune with nature and acutely aware of the slightest change in their environment. They see opportunities all around them.
From my own personal experience I know that I am more grounded and present when I am with my horses. Partly, I guess I have to be for my own safety. If I’m not focused and aware of what is happening around me I could end up with half a ton of horse on top of me. I also typically find that lots of my inspiration comes during the time I spend with my horses when my brain is not working at lightening speed analysing everything that has happened and might happen. I’m an extreme left brain thinker so quieting my mind is challenging, yet when I do I realise that there are loads opportunities surrounding me, I’d just been blinded to them up to that moment.
So for today, take time out and get grounded and present. Be like a horse and focus on the here and now, and see what wonderful opportunities might be staring you right in the face.
by Julia Felton | Dec 7, 2010
For the last few days it has been snowing and my horses – Toby and Charlie – have loved this. They have been out frolicking and rolling in the soft powdery snow making some pretty good disguises for themselves. Their playfulness has been inspiring and heart-warming for me as I’ve dug my car out of snow drifts and cleared pathways to lead them to the field. Today, the snow has finally began to melt and where there was once white, fluffy snow we now have large lumps of solid ice. The landscape has changed beyond recognition.
Given the better weather (of course it’s all relative) today I decided to take Charlie for a short ride and something amazing happened. The piles of snow-ice, that only a few days ago were his best friend, and now his worst enemy. He is terrified of them and keeps darting to the far side of the road to avoid them. I find this all really amusing, that such a simple change in something can cause such a dramatic effect.
I’m reminded of something that one of my mentors once told me. “It only takes slight shift to alter the course of your life”. Just think about the fact that it only takes a one degree change in temperature to convert water to steam or indeed water to ice. This is such a tiny change and yet most of us ignore making these types of minor changes in our lives as we think that the effect won’t be significant enough. We live in an instant gratification society and want results now, when in fact a number of small changes done day in day out will make a massive difference to our lives.
Jeff Olson explains this concept beautifully in “The Slight Edge”. In this book he describes a water-lily on a pond. On day one the water-lily covers just tiny portion of the pond, but on day two the waterlily doubles and then on day three doubles again, and again and again. Eventually after 30 days the entire pond is covered by water lilies. At the outset you would never have thought that was possible and yet repetition of this tiny change magnifies itself disproportionately resulting in amazing results.
So what small change will make in your life today that will magnify itself into a massive change tomorrow?. I’d love to hear what you choose.
by Julia Felton | Dec 3, 2010
A recent study reported in the Evening Standard suggests that natural leaders are not always born and that most of the desirable personal characteristics can be learned. So in today’s ever changing world what characteristics are employers looking for in leaders. The study suggests the following:
- Ability to inspire and motivate – 36%
- High levels of emotional intelligence – 34%
- Ability to deal with people – 34%
- Natural leadership – 24%
- Trustworthiness – 22%
- A natural communicator – 22%
- Possessing vision – 22%
- Drive and ambition – 22%
So how do employees learn these desirable characteristics? One way is to provide the employee with a mirror of their behaviour because they may not be aware of the traps they are falling into. They also need to know what they become under pressure. Traditional ways of creating this mirror are through coaching programmes or 360 degree feedback. The challenge with these practices is that they can lack objectivity because human intervention is required which could cloud the mirror.
Horse Assisted Education provides a cost-effective means of getting that feedback as the horse mirrors exactly how you are feeling. Horses provide us with immediate, 100% non-judgemental, observable feedback, mirroring our internal reality. Living in the 93% of the non-verbal world of communication, they are not impressed by position, status or power. They cannot tell who is the CEO or who is the janitor. They just respond to what is presented to them.
Horses mirror the essential qualities of leadership – trust, authenticity, honesty, intuition, listening, a willingness of spirit and perseverance. They have no agenda with us. They simply reflect our strength of character, our heart, our internal incongruence and our self-limiting perceptions. They help us understand that leadership begins with who we are being. Horses help us close the gap between how we actually present ourselves to others, and how we think we are being.
So next time you are looking for an innovative management development programme just consider what horses could teach you.
by Julia Felton | Nov 30, 2010
My question for you today is are you interested or committed in Connecting 2 Success?
You might well ask well what’s the difference, of course I want to be successful. John Assaraf skillfully explained the difference during his webinar on Winning the Inner Game of Money which I listened to last week. The difference between interested and committed is that if you are committed to something you will do everything in your power to make something happen but if you are only interested you will find excuses when the going gets tough or even beforehand.
Too often I think I am committed to something only to discover that when push comes to shove I am really only interested in achieving that goal. Take one of my goals this year which was to release at least 10lbs. I have looked at that goal on a daily basis as it is printed out above my desk, but have I achieved it. Absolutely not because when the going got tough chocolate still proved too irresistible. My motivation and committment to the goal was simply not focused and clear. The pain of not achieving the goal was not enough and so time after time I relapsed into my usual chocoholic state.
The one thing that I have found that helps make sure that I stay committed is if I am passionate about the outcome. Just thinking about achieving the goal makes me feel excited and that excitement motivates me into action. It’s no coincidence that the most successful people in the world are passionate about what they do. They continually have that drive and ambition to take their business forward. Nothing can stop them. Their resolve is absolute. It is not that these people are necessarily smarter or talented than anyone else, they just have absolute faith, committment and enthusiasm about what they are doing. This is so brilliantly summed up in the words of Charles Schwab:
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm
So today reflect on those things that maybe you haven’t quite achieved in your life and if you really want them commit to make them happen and go the extra mile. I’d love to hear about what you are committed to and why?
