The Larsen Group

Circles of Change:  Conversations with Dr. Zara Larsen

 on Change Leadership and Career Fulfillment

April 5, 2009

“Transition Alternatives through People-Whispering Horses”

Anchoring Points: 

1.  Horses effective in teaching us about life and leadership because their very lives depend on establishing and maintaining strong relationships.  They are exquisitely sensitive to emotions and intentions and mirror precisely what we are putting out there.

2. Only 3% of communication between people is verbal.  Horses take language and our (mis)interpretations out of the equation so we focus on the 97%.

3. Horses have no agenda beyond safety and mutual trust, two components that are extremely important in effective leadership and team performance.

4. Horses understand power, negotiation and connection, because they are constantly re-establishing these with each other (as do we, though we are usually only dimly aware of it).

5. This is not just “outside the box” – it’s outside the barn!  The setting itself encourages openness, total immersion in the experience and being present in a whole new way. For some people the size and power of the horses brings up emotions such as fear, intimidation and uncertainty, which can then be explored in very helpful new ways, invariably ending in an experience of success.

6. We get to explore relationships and discover our preferences in ways we’ve never experienced them before, including: a) managing our boundaries, b) being clear in our requests, c) communicating our intentions, and d) maintaining focus on our objectives.

7. Along with this somatic (body & movement) element, we explore how we use words and the meanings and emotions we attach to them, which adds to our understanding of what motivates our reactions and decisions.

8.  We realize we have a lot of choices that we never realized we had before, in responding to all sorts of situations with greater ease and control.

9. We can then begin to replace old neural pathways in the brain with new ones, and over time “re-wire” our brains for improved performance and better results.  Old self-sabotaging, “automatic” behaviors become replaced with new, desirable ones.