Executive teams have begun using horsemanship to learn about self-awareness
and teamwork.
Offered in the UK by the agency Lead Change, and separately by the Chiumento
Consultancy, the concept is based on the observation that horses are sensitive
and responsive to humans, but do not lie.
Lynne Cooper, a consultant with the agency Amicas, who has attended a class,
said: "It gave me a heightened awareness of some fundamental patterns of
thinking and behaving as they manifested themselves, very clearly, while
working with the horses."
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
"Effective interaction with half-a-ton of emotion-ally charged animal
requires well-developed intra- and inter-personal skills, including
self-awareness, communication, influence and leadership," said Andrew
McFarlane, director of Lead Change.
Use of horsemanship is also the subject of Monty Roberts’ book Join Up – Horse
Sense for People, with a foreword by Clive Warrilow, chief executive of
Volkswagen North America. "Roberts certainly listens to horses, but he
delivers a powerful message to people, and, in particular, people at all levels
of leadership," writes Warrilow.
