By Rad Watkins

Recently I was lucky enough to interview John Lyons, America’s Most Trusted Horseman. John has been a hero of mine since I discovered horses. He is very gentle, and develops willing partners in his horses. He follows the horseman’s rule and always puts the horse first. I have lots of his videos and books and I have learned a ton from him. In fact, because of him, I went from not knowing how to ride a horse at all to getting paid to “break” or better put “start” a horse for people. I can’t say enough good things about John. I have met him three or four times now. He is always willing to help by sharing advice. He has a wonderful family who often travel and work with him. He and his son Josh have a certification program and are now training leaders in the horse industry. To get the big picture, look up John Lyons online and learn more (you can start at www.JohnLyons.com).

Learning Leadership from Horses

When I interviewed John Lyons about what horses can teach us about leadership, what he said was a total surprise to me. The first thing that John told me was that horses can teach us that we must let go of our own life and let someone else take the reins. He said that this is unnatural for us, just as it is unnatural for the horse. What IS natural is to try and take the reins back. This is so true with many of us. When someone tells us how to do something, we push back and resist doing it “their way”. John says sometimes we must let go and try something in a different style, even if we don’t think it will be the best. To be a good leader we must first learn how to be a good follower.

Learning to be a good follower as a key leadership tool really makes a lot of sense to me, especially for  stronger leadership personalities, like the Bear (if you don’t know your personality type take the Animal Leadership personality test at http://animalleadership.com/). Although, the wolf and eagle too can get set in their ways and find it hard to follow a leader. In the Animal Leadership System, the horse person is very much the non-self-promoter, the one who is most apt to follow the lead of others, and sometimes even the one who assumes they are not fit to lead. The Bear and the Wolf personalities often easily believe they are meant to lead or certainly not follow. In all reality, this actually hinders their ability to be a good leader. Whereas the Horse can lead by supporting those who need them, other leadership types have the personality where followers have to keep up, rather than get supported. What John is saying is that the horse can teach us to be strong, but not necessarily in control.

The Desire of a Horse: Peace

John goes on to explain that what a horse really wants is peace. Peace above all other things is what the horse lives for. In the book Animal Leadership: Leadership Learned from Wildlife for Leading Yourself and Others, we talk about how the Horse person finds pain in confrontation, that is, they seek peace. Some Horse people may start to think they are weak because of this, but of all the animals I’ve studied prior to writing the book, the horse is the largest, fastest, and perhaps strongest. It is a testament to their personality that they let themselves serve so selflessly, and for what? To have everyone share in their peace.

John Lyons goes on to say that it is not trust that makes a horse serve its rider, but courage to face any obstacle to then have the unity of peace. John explains that as a prey species, the horse doesn’t understand that it is safe to face its own fears, but it is courageous enough to face them in service of others. I have to say, I never thought of it that way, but it fits right in with my belief of the Horse personality and leadership type.

Once I had a coaching client who said she needed coaching because she had the horse personality, but that was not it. She needed coaching because she was stuck in a trap. The horse leader when free from it traps is perhaps the strongest of all. Just look at all the loyal followers horses have developed. I challenge all of you to think of those you serve and see if you can turn over the reins. Let me know how it goes.

Keep Leading,
Rad