Blog

“Employee engagement”. 

That phrase floats through the air in just about every boardroom across the nation.  “We need to increase employee engagement”.   What does employee engagement actually mean? Is it something that can be bought with a pizza party? It seems to be this pot of gold at the end of a rainbow which a few companies have in spades, while the rest of the working world struggles to find it.  Gallup defines employee engagement as: “involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their wor…

The secret sauce of leadership: Connection.

Connection is more than plugging in a lamp and turning on the light. Yes, there’s an electrical current which flows due to the connection of the outlet and the power cord, but what is that magic which moves the current in such a way that it will illuminate the room?

Perhaps I’m a bit bias (ok a lot…), but when I think about what skills and traits we need in our culture to develop and inspire our team members, I look to horses. If you have met me befo…

I have recently returned home from an experience which has expanded my awareness and deepened my understanding of how humans and horses work together to change the world. Yes you read that right: we are going to change the world.   Let me back up a bit:

I have been following a horseman for many years in his career: Mr. Warwick Schiller (warwickschiller.com).  Warwick and his wife Robyn have been working with reining horses for decades, which is what initially brought me to his work, as this was…

Transitioning from an employee or peer to a leadership role can be one of the most challenging and transformative experiences in one's career journey. It's a shift that requires not just a change in responsibilities, but a whole new mindset and approach to work and relationships.  I remember when I first transitioned from a peer to a supervisor. It was a difficult change for me and for the team in a few ways.  Many of my colleagues were older than me with more years of experience in the field.  …

“At some point in our career we had that light bulb moment. Be that light bulb for someone else”

Forward:

I should open with a word of caution: this blog is not my typical content, but it is very real and vulnerable for me.  In fact, I am still raw from my experience at the Emotional Horsemanship clinic put on by Lockie Phillips (emotionalhorsemanship.com), and no it’s not from too many hours in the saddle! (ok, so my jokes are still in here….).  There may be some triggering content as…

"Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow." - Seth Godin

When I first set out to design my leadership training program, it was very academic. As I reviewed the outline, I realized this was NOT what leaders needed from me, nor was it the ‘secret to my success’, so I threw it away and started over.  I had to dig deep and ask myself: What is unique about me that I can offer, and what do leaders need? What did I need when I was starting out? I realized I needed to create …

I haven’t written a blog post in a while because I have been working in the background to bring my equine-inspired programs forward in a new way.  One of the major shifts for me was to finally bring my dream to life of creating a program where we partner horses with Veterans and First Responders (www.hoovesandheroes.org). I’ve also created a fully hosted online version of my “Learning to Lead” (www.spirit2spirit/emerging-leaders) program forward as I realize the self-paced version may not be the…

Are you more of a wallflower or a go-getter? Do you prefer to observe and reflect or act and energize? All of us have a default setting that falls along the scale of directive (alternative terminology: “Masculine”) and receptive or “Feminine” energy.  An important point to note: We ALL have BOTH within us, and there is no right or wrong answer, however; we should all take a moment and reflect: where to I typically fall?  How do I shift along that scale based on the situation? Who am I in a room …

In a herd of horses, personal accountability is everywhere. The survival of the herd can depend on whether or not each member is in a balanced state, aware of their surroundings, and taking responsibility for their actions and emotions. 

Let me break each term down for a moment as I may have lost a few of you in the prior statement. First, personal accountability. What does that mean exactly?! By my definition, someone who is personally accountable holds a self-awareness. There is the capabilit…

What do the horses have to teach us?

If you’re a “horse person” you may immediately answer “quite a bit!” however, if horses haven’t been a big part of your life either in form or symbolism, you may not know how to answer this question. 

What are horses to us as humans, with regard to our relationship through the horse/human bond? How does it differ from our connection to other animals such as dogs, cats, birds, and so on?  I have encountered many people in my life that just don’t get it. I se…