Leadership and Life Skills

Today’s blog has been written by Marion Leger after her experience of the 6 week leadership development coaching program. Marion was a delight to work with as a client, so curious, so open to challenge herself and her typical ways fo thinking and behaving. If you would like to learn in this way, please contact me for details of our coaching programs which we offer in the Northern Rivers NSW and Sydney for both leadership and personal development.

“ Learning and getting out of my comfort zone have always been two big drivers in my life.

When I first started this individual Equine Assisted Learning Coaching program with Jackie

Smith, I only had one expectation: I wanted to develop my leadership skills.

But after a few sessions working along with wonderful horses, the experience turned out to

be way more than just a “final destination”: it became a whole journey with its lot of

surprises and learnings. From day one, it stroke me to see how much this program was

challenging my beliefs and my perceptions, and how much horses could teach me by just

being them.

The Wisdom of The Horse Coaching Program actually goes way beyond teaching people about leadership. It’s about self-awareness, managing and acknowledging our emotions; it’s about understanding our fears

and addressing them in a creative way; it’s about connecting and being authentic to

ourselves and the others. Finally, I see it as a reflection exercise that equips participants with

soft skills that are not only useful in a professional context, but can be easily translated to

other areas of life.

Leading teams of people with different personalities, needs and expectations, inspiring them

and motivating them to follow one direction in often changing contexts might at time be a

doubting, challenging, or even confronting exercise. We’re all humans with our own

boundaries and limiting beliefs sometimes.

As per many would know, one of the biggest challenges for leaders is to constantly thrive

into the unknown. So when I realised that horses WERE actually the unknown, I started to

see leadership with new eyes. Leading teams of people is all about experiencing, adjusting,

and finding our own style while remaining true to ourselves. It’s about expecting the

unexpected with openness.

In the end of the day, we all chose our leadership style. A good way of approaching it is to

simply ask ourselves: “What kind of leader do I admire? What kind of leader am I? What kind

of leader do I want to be?”

Thank you so much Jackie for teaching me the art of connecting, staying connected,

switching the energy and setting clear boundaries when needed. I am feeling very grateful

for a truly special, deep and authentic experience.

Thank you as well Kerry for your trust and for allowing me to interact with your very special

facilitators in such a unique environment.

Of course, I can’t thank the horses enough, yes I do! By acting like a “magic mirror”, they

taught me more in a few sessions that I had ever learned in years. In their own way, they

showed me how to become “part of a herd” while being me. I used to be scared of horses

due to a pretty bad experience in the past. But thanks to Jackie’s guidance and kindness, I

felt so comfortable around them after the coaching program that I just couldn’t leave them

at the end.

I highly recommend this coaching program to every person who is open to get out of his/her

comfort zone in a safe place and a truly stunning environment.

I found a quote that says: “keep sight of your goals, but be flexible about your methods”.

I would just add: enjoy the experience, and don’t forget to have fun!

Cheers,

Marion