Propel Yourself to New Levels

Last month, I went to a 1-day riding clinic which was pretty much a waste of time, but did end up propelling me to new levels of riding. It wasn’t that the instruction was so good, in fact, I thought it was pretty bad and I came home feeling like I knew nothing. After a few days of thinking I that I was just a horrible horse trainer, I decided that was not true and I began to increase the amount of time I worked with my horse Ranger, the way that we have been working, using a style that has been working for us.

I have to say, I was a little harder on Ranger and he rose to the challenge. I rode him in a bit, which is a piece of metal in the mouth of the horse and if used properly is not a cruel device at all. A bit is used by 99% of people who ride horses, but there are alternatives. Because Ranger had a rough start when he was a little guy, and because he was pretty mistrusting, I had often used a “bitless bridle” for Ranger, something that seemed to put him at ease.

Ranger rose to the challenge of having a bit in his mouth again, and did well dropping his head, tucking his chin, and moving all the individual body parts I asked him to. After several days of intense training (by our standards), Ranger began to plateau. He was cooperative, but it seemed like he was being pushed.

Horse Personality

I like my horses “alive” and to have personality. I like them to be safe and obedient, but to still be who they are. I let Ranger have another go at the bitless bridle and boy did he seem to appreciate it. Ranger was gentler that he had been with the bit, calmer, and had more of what cowboys call “try”.

My kids have both started to ride Ranger and have figured out that they can control him without getting hurt or hurting him. My son, 8 years-old, actually just started riding for the first time on his own and he LOVED IT! This just made me so happy because I love horses and invest a lot of time and family resources into them. To share the joy I get, with my family, would mean the world to me.

Lessons Learned

So here is what I learned this summer and how it can be applied to any situation in life. There will be times where some well-meaning soul will try and teach you something and tell you you’re doing it all wrong. Take what you can from these people, but never stop trusting in yourself and using what works for you. It is important to get outside advice, but I know from life coaching that as coaches we are not supposed tell someone how to do something, but rather help them on a journey of self-exploration. Look inward to judge yourself and see if you can do it better, but believe in yourself and trust in your talents.

Next, look to your team for feedback and make sure you are taking care of them the way they want to be taken care of. Sometimes there are external pressures for how you should treat your team, what they should be allowed and what kind of benefits they should get. However, if you want to really invest in your team, take care of them they by asking them what they need. A team member will tell you how they like to work. If you make a working environment a pleasurable place to work and build a trusting relationship, you will get a 100% return on your investment.

So there it is, a little tip from a Fall Northwoods horse training session. Trust in your ability and take care of your team. Next thing you know, you will be the kind of leader you have always wanted to be.

Keep leading,
Rad

I don’t know why I have a draw to horses and horse training. In many ways, I wish I did not. It doesn’t fit in with my family life, and just building the infrastructure for the horses is a constant challenge. When it comes to horse training, I have a desire to learn as much as I can and try to get better. Few things in life are this way for me. I am not particularly patient and I don’t set out for the long haul on most projects, but with horses I have and it is beginning to really open my eyes to somethings.

True Confession

First off, I kind of suck as a horseback rider. That’s a true confession. I started riding and thought I was pretty great, considering I had never been around horses in my life and I immediately went into starting (or breaking) horses. An unbroken (and yes that is a horse word) horse goes through a phase of what they call green. Just like the new rider trying to learn the basic concepts, green means you have some understanding, but there is no muscle memory, no true perception, certainly no mastering of the process. A saying in the horse world goes…green and green is said to be a recipe for black and blue…and I don’t recommend it.

Surviving green and green made me feel like I must be pretty special, but now I look around and realize I have been messing around with horses for over a decade, and that is a long time. I am very good at starting a young horse, but I don’t really know how to do anything advanced. I look at young people who have been working at horseback riding for several years and they can do all kinds of cool things. This made me realize, it is time to take it to the next level. I really want to be a good horseman who moves in harmony with the horse. I know that moving toward this will give me great pride. I also believe that even though I have a long way to go and the learning is endless, that some small adjustments to the way I am doing things will have big results.

Life Lessons Learned

So here is the life lesson. What is it that lifts us from one level to another? What does it take? Well, first, there is desire or need. Second there is the Law of Karma that states you have to accept where you are. Third, you need a goal or at least vision of where you want to go. Next you need a plan or program. Finally you need tools, teachers, and critics to evaluate you.

I realize that I am at step two, and to be honest, it kind of hurts. It is making me look at other areas of my life and questioning,  am I where I want to be? Am I where I should be? Boy, that is a potentially dark road, so how you approach it is important.

The object is not to compare yourself to others for that sake of living up to them, but to assess if you have the components of the life you want to lead. In life coaching, we break it down into some categories such as friends and family, finances, environment, health, romance, personal growth, fun and recreation, and career. All that being said, it is okay to use others as motivators of what you can accomplish. To go full circle in this article, that is why I want to get out there, to discover other horse people and see what they are doing and how I can do it to.

So, before you come out with the big New You resolutions in a few months, is there an area of your life that you want to improve? Are you ready to take a stab at it? Go for it! See what you can do to make a small tweak that can really lift you up and improve all areas of your life. We are in the fourth quarter and there is still a lot of time left in this year. Let me know what it is you are taking on and I look forward to watching your mastery build momentum.

Keep leading,
Rad

Next week: getting stuff out of the way…

Are You Caught in a Personality Trap?

Why is that? Well, simply put, you will be living your life with one leg caught in the trap that has been set for you. Do you remember the traps that I described in the FREE Animal Leadership Implementation Guide I sent you when you took the Animal Leadership personality test? (If not, take your free test here  www.animalleadership.com and get your guide too.) Well, each one of the four personalities, the Bear, Wolf, Eagle, and Horse, have a trap set for them. Let’s use a real life example of the Bear’s trap.

Recently I have been working with a leader who is a Bear personality. Being a Bear he is self-assured, quick to take control of the direction of the group, and gets frustrated when people don’t follow his direction. This last part is the Bear’s trap.

Different Personalities, Different Traps

Each personality has it’s trap. As a Wolf personality I have my strengths, but my trap is lack of organization and follow through. I know this and I work at it. The Bear’s trap is getting frustrated when people don’t want to follow their leadership or when challenged.

So, in the case of the leader I have been working with, he is very frustrated that some of the people he leads (and he is an accomplished leader), have different personalities and leadership styles. It is actually past the point of frustrating him, and is undercutting his ability to be the leader he could be.

You see, you cannot be a highly effective leader by pushing others to be like you. But rather, you must look to foster the strengths in others in order to grow your own strengths.

The good news is that such leadership strategies can be learned. If learned, they will not only help you as a leader, but in sales, in making friends, even in being a parent. So I encourage you to think about your leadership style and personality type and see where you can improve. If you haven’t already, go to www.AnimalLeadership.com and take the personality test and review the FREE implementation guide. Then let me know what you learned and how you will aim to become a leader who helps bring out the best in others.

Keep leading,
Rad

A Vision of Leadership

After living this way, I realized that is what leadership is all about. It is about having a vision, building skills, motivating, walking the talk, following up, and keeping positive. It is really the same thing whether you are leading yourself or leading others, because leading is not about having followers, but engaged participants.

I have to say, being a public speaker and coach who helps others with these things, the biggest thing I have to come to terms with is that my vision is different than the societal norm, and that is okay. If you are engaging in the Animal Leadership message, then maybe it is because it is a little different and that appeals to you too. For me, I don’t have the goal of making gazillions of dollars, living in a fat spread in L.A., and traveling the world constantly. I don’t mind studying the principles taught by those who have achieved these things, but I want to apply them to my own life, my own vision. For me that means having lots of time to get out in nature and almost do nothing, time to play with horses, time to be around my family and most importantly my little kiddos.

Don’t Let Others Dictate Your Vision

The reason I share all this with you is because all too often we let others dictate our vision of what the world should be. Often this is unconscious. We simply start to emulate those around us. This can be a very important part of self-improvement (or a very negative one), but that is not what we are talking about here. I am trying to drive home the point that you have to decide how you want to live your life, run your business and then, we must walk that talk.
Does this mean that you have to be some unorthodox outsider? No. When Larry Page and Sergey Brin started Google there was not a huge model out there for how they should run their company, but the decision to make Yoshka, the “company dog” part of their culture was only the beginning of how this company decided its own corporate culture. Now Google is a model for how progressive companies treat employees and do business.

So what I want for you, is that you feel comfortable deciding what sort of life you want to create. What sort of business you want to run. Then go out and do it the best you can. Go out and really embrace it. Be the leader that gets it done. Get motivated to do what it takes, build the skills you need, embrace others who are up for the same ride, walk the talk, and move positively in the direction you want to go.

I hope the Animal Leadership message helps you whether it is making a gazillions dollars, building better corporate team players, losing five pounds, or getting involved by serving your community more. I think the world will be a better place if we really break out of the mold and bring our uniqueness to its fullest. That is why I teach personal development. I need it for myself and need it for others too. So, as the great naturalist philosopher Henry David Thorough (who, by the way, spent a lot of time just wandering around in the woods) “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.”

Engage us by letting us know what you think. What are your dreams and what tools do you need to live that life?

Until next time,
Rad

It has taken me a long time to get to the intermediate level of horsemanship; about 14 years. During that time I have read a lot about horses and horse training. I have watched a lot of videos. I have owned 10 different horses (I know that is ridiculous), and I have even done some training with other people’s horses. I still have a lot to learn, a ton! I know that there is way more for me to learn than I know. I am not even halfway there. I haven’t even scratched the surface. I have, however, learned a great deal.

Greatest Teachers

Horses themselves have been my greatest teachers. These magnificent animals are very honest and true. Once you learn how to read them, they share a language and it is earnest and pure. They don’t always tell you what you want to hear, but they don’t try and deceive you by hiding their feelings.

Horses operate in their own world, with their own rules, much like any other species I have studied closely, and each, having their own secrets to share with us. I have been open to learning about their world, right from the horse’s mouth if you will. I think I have done well with horses in part because of my background in ecology and conservation and the fact that I approach horses much as I approach wildlife species. I understand that it is not all about me, about us, but rather often about the horse and what they need.

Leadership Skills

Spending time with horses has actually been a great way to study leadership. Through watching these powerful animals and getting them to trust me enough to allow me to ride them, I have learned a lot about what a leader is and how to summon up leadership ability that may initially seem impossible to manifest. There are some really great lessons to be learned about being a leader from working with horses. I would make a case for those lessons being somewhat essential to people who hope to, or even already do, hold the prestigious title of Leader.

In the horse world you often hear things like, “To be a good horseman, your horse needs to understand that you are dominant.” You hear that the ultimate goal is control at every second. You hear that you must make the horse respect you. Is this true?

There are parts that are true, but I think many equestrians take this too far and lose the ability to truly bond with a horse. Others don’t believe it enough and soon find out that they are not yet worthy of leading a horse. It seems to me many leaders in human life are wrestling with the same challenges. Whether it be in an office, on a job site, in a warehouse, or even at home parenting, I think many out there are too focused on dominating, controlling, and demanding respect. Others have no idea how to earn this respect.

Lessons Learned

Although many of the equestrian teachers I follow will argue that what we want with our horses is control, I think that is only true to a point. I do want to decide what direction we go, the gate we travel in, and even the speed, more or less. But I don’t want to control the horse’s every move. If I did want total control, I would ride a bicycle instead of a horse. I get on the horse and give it a job. I don’t micromanage this job, but rather ride until the next big decision needs to be made. I don’t sit up there and say step, step, step, step. I just say “let’s go over there” and let the horse do its thing. I may steer around this object or that, but I trust the horse to do its job much of the time.

Leaders have to learn this lesson. When you are working with someone in a leadership position, it is very important not to micromanage. For one thing, it drives people crazy. For another thing, it is a poor use of your time. When putting together a good team or even just having one employee, one needs to realize that they have their own strengths, their own style of doing things. It is important to direct the task, but not direct every step of the way.

This is just one of the many ways horses can teach us about leadership. There is nothing like actually working with a horse to humble you and make you realize how much there is to learn. At the same time there is nothing like working with a horse to invigorate you and make you see your full leadership potential. When you are the one giving assignments to a thousand pound animal and it is actually looking to you for direction, things get real, fast. It is inspiring to find out that you can rise to this occasion, and if done right, build a relationship where you are seen by the horse as both gentle and caring, but also powerful and worthy of the greatest amount of authority. They would literally trust you with their lives. I know I have implemented the lessons learned from horses in my life, in the leadership positions I’ve had. So… maybe I have not been wasting my time horsing around.

All the best,
Rad

Rad Watkins and the Animal Leadership LLC team are always learning what we can from the animal kingdom and applying it to our own lives. Learning lessons from the wild can help you unlock a better version of yourself. Browse our main website to learn more about the writings and motivational seminars developed by Rad Watkins.