Over the Easter weekend, I had a rare moment to sit back and take in the beauty of Marble Falls. We have a small herd of horses at our Retreat Ranch, and I took a keen interest in observing them in their natural element. Horses are majestic creatures, there’s also a lot that we can learn from them. So, of course it got me thinking about how horses and leadership styles intersect. Now, give me a minute here, I promise there’s a vital link. Racehorses are powerful, headstrong, intuitive leaders of the pack. On the other hand, many trail riding horses require more guidance, they need prompting and require the rider to lead with their reigns. The same can be applied to the strong leaders we lead, who are capable of successfully managing self-sufficiently. Then there are those leaders in the middle who require a kick here or there to get started down the path. Today, I want you and I to reflect on your leaders and see if they’re up to winning the Kentucky Derby of life in business. Saddle up!
Testing the Leadership Bridle
As a leader of leaders, take a moment to answer the following questions and see who on your leadership falls in either the racehorse or trail horse category.
- Are your leaders pushing their employees to be better?
- Do the leaders you lead hold their employees accountable without prompt?
- Can your leaders make the tough decisions, so you don’t have to?
- Do your leaders in the middle (LIM), only hold their people accountable when you tell them?
- Are your LIMs, under the impression that their team members’ work is sufficient and don’t need coaching?
- Do you constantly feel you have to be the one that is always pushing to get the best out of your LIMs and their team?
If you answered yes to questions one to three and no for four to six, then congratulations! Your LIM is prime racehorse material. If your answers were no, then yes in the reverse, then you my friend have got a trail horse.
Now, both horses serve their own purposes. A trail horse type LIM is perfect if you’re looking for someone to follow the status quo and follow behind others. A racehorse type LIM is excellent when you want to win and build a strong organization with a stronger team. Now here’s another question, who do you need on your team? Let’s break it down.
Leadership and Racehorses
I personally love racehorses! I find that the stronger leaders I have on my team, the easier my job becomes. These leaders think and act like derby cup winners and are always pushing themselves and their employees to be better and do more. They do this because they genuinely take pride in winning and crossing that finish line successfully.
When your leaders are the racehorse type, they often have conviction and passion. The cherry on top is that they usually coach and encourage their team members to put out the same energy when honing and training their skills.
“As a leader of leaders, you have a responsibility to lead by example no matter if you want it, like it or not.”
Champion Leadership
When you lead racehorse type leaders, they typically check the following boxes:
- They are constantly having difficult conversation with employees because they know impact is more important than the outcomes.
- They know if they focus on coaching their employees, enforcing the disciplines and practices of coaching- that the results will follow.
- These leaders are the leaders that are more focused on doing what is right versus being right.
- Best of all? As, their leader you find yourself having to pull them back once in a while because they are always pushing the boundary.
I don’t know about you, but as a leader of leaders, I’ve found that it’s easier and a lot more fun to reign someone in than having to kick them to get started. Oh, one more little thing, like the derby winners they are, they also make you and the business more profitable, too. Yep, they’re the best bet.
Final Thoughts on Leadership and Racehorses
As a leader of leaders, we entrust our LIMs to carry us across the finish line every day. In a competition, a well primed racehorse is a guaranteed win against any trail horse. I choose to hedge my bets, or rather my companies’ bottom line on winners. You should, too.
