What Horses Have To Do With Effectiveness

Lessons from Natural Horsemanship<img border="0" vspace="8" align="right" width="195" src="http://www.newleafsystems.com/images/KerulGoldiPostGroomSM.JPG" hspace="8" alt="kerul and goldie" height="260" />

It's not an obvious metaphor, but natural horsemanship carries some powerful themes of self-leadership. I just returned from a 2 week course called "Liberty and Horse Behavior" at the Parelli Center in Florida, and while the name of the course doesn't sound like it has much to glean in the area of unleashing one's potential, the thrust of the 2 weeks was about how to be a better leader of yourself. Here are some of the major focal points:nn* Observation - if we just have a result in mind and we don'tn regard the always-present and ongoing feedback, including then small details, we end up in disharmony, conflict, struggle, andn lost opportunity. Potential-revealing angle: Closely observe you
own mental and action patterns, and the choices you make basedn on those patterns.nn* Positive Interpretation - it's useless to observe if you don'tn have a way to understand and interpret what you're seeing.
Your horse is never wrong, it's just doing what it understands orn feels safe enough to do (just like you!). Potential-revealingn angle: stop making yourself wrong for your choices. You maden them based on your best knowledge, experience, and energy.
Bashing yourself doesn't put you in an inspirational mindsetn (just the opposite!) - which leads us to...nn* Experimentation - "You have a 50/50 chance" of accuratelyn interpreting, and then making a plan based on that interpretationn that will work just as you'd like it to. Participants in then course must have heard this maxim 10 times each day. Everyn moment provides a new opportunity to try again, and if then previous choice didn't work very well, just try a new one thisn time. Potential-revealing angle: this sustainable, forgivingn strategy keeps you moving forward over the long-term.nn* Another Parelli maxim is "Take the time it takes, so it takesn less time." I found I really had to slow down to not onlyn observe, but also allow my horse to take in the communication.
While I went twice as slow in the actions, it led to understandingn and results that were more than twice as fast as I would haven gotten had I not taken the time. What I was doing in that timen was building my own and my horse's confidence.
Potential-revealing angle: Confidence is rocket fuel forn effectiveness.nn* An effective Phase 4 - Phases refer to pressure. Phase 1 isn soft and subtle, the equivalent of a few ounces, Phase 2 is non more than 8 ounces, Phase 3 is a couple of pounds, and n Phase 4 is as much pressure as it takes to make the horse move. n I learned not to nag in Phase 2 and 3, but to hold a long Phasen 1, then quickly proceed to an effective Phase 4 if I didn't getn results. It's similar to my "Hire a Hit Man" strategy - you'ren making it uncomfortable for the horse to do something othe
than what you'd like her to. Potential-revealing angle:n assign only potent consequences - and rewards - to help youn (or others) follow through.

I was told by more than one instructor that I was nagging my horse (ouch!) when asking her to back up or go sideways because I wasn't using phases as effectively as I could. I was doing a disservice to both of us by not going to an effective Phase 4. Once
Venus understood that I was willing to use Phase 4, she soon decided to cooperate at Phase 1.

This week, when you find yourself rushing, pause to observe your patterns and then interpret them without judgment. Experiment with new choices and actions, just for the sake of it. What would be an effective Phase 4 for you to take sustainable action on your most closely held objectives?