HOLDING THE REINS

Musings on Management & Horses

My daughter is an avid equine fan.  I have to say I love watching this small girl on top of a 15 hand horse with such confidence. 

As I was watching her ride this weekend I was thinking about our power to weild great things with small gestures.  The way her hands are positioned on the horses neck, the slightest tug to the right or left on the reins commands great power.  How true that is in our own lives, yet I think often we are more intimidated by the thought of how powerful what we are trying to weild is vs. focusing on the smaller movements that will move it.

As managers, we have amazing power, and in many ways terrifying power.  Our teams look to us for guidance and direction in the present, for safety and security when things are tough, and for inspiration and vision to build the future.  As I work with many managers, I find them intimidated and a bit daunted by these demands and fearful of having that much power in one's life.  I think we need to remember it's not the BIG things that move our team, it's the smaller ones.  The words of appreciation after a meeting, the championing their strengths when we see them risk, the encouragement when they fail to focus on what they learned vs. the result. 

What are the reins you hold?  I challenge you to think about how you are holding them and to focus on the little movements that can help your powerful team move in the right direction and realize their potential.