📌 When leaders become dysfunctional and hurt the integrity of the herd: a perspective on leadership inspired by horses.
In a mixed herd, an older, more experienced mare is always in charge. She is responsible for the safety and well-being of everyone. She has a lot on her plate, and everyone looks up to her. She will have several stallions at her service, who will be on a lookout for danger and who will tell her when decisions need to be made. But she is always the one making them. And she simply cannot fail - a herd is an interdependent unit, and their survival depends on the mare's leadership skills.
Leadership positions in a herd are fluid, not fixed. At any given moment an established female leader may get challenged by another mare willing and capable of taking her place in the hierarchy. Pecking order is determined through a careful assessment of strengths and weaknesses, which may be a daily occurrence. Although most herds are normally quite stable and won't have such competitions very often. Reason being, these internal disputes take away attention from a thing that matters most to horses - their safety - and horses normally settle these very quickly and don't pick up fights just because. Sometimes they gang up against a horse that disrupts stability, and sometimes all it takes is just one glance from the leading mare and maybe a set of pinned ears. Then it all goes quiet again.
A herd typically accepts a female leader without hesitation. Yes, stallions normally do not challenge the authority of the herd's female leader, but they will compete with one another to earn her favor. They make themselves useful and fulfill their given roles.
When a mare loses her position, eventually, she becomes a herd's matriarch in a nurturing capacity, educating the young. No ego, no misplaced ambition, no wasting of time, energy and resources. Sure, she may sulk a little, but a shift in the hierarchy of leadership is usually taken at face value and one's dysfunction is accepted with grace.
Humans do things differently.
And in some cultures, humans would rather keep a dysfunctional male leader in place rather than supporting a capable female leader and working together for the unity of the herd. Human females, therefore, very rarely seek big leadership roles, knowing what they'll be up against. Knowing what this artificial competition will cost them. Knowing that they won't be able to focus on the integrity of the herd while they are being dragged into drawn-out fights and sabotage every step they take.
At the moment we are at an impasse. Our female leaders withdrew, our male leaders became dysfunctional. What are we to do ...
We aren't equines, and obviously our species has a different learning curve compared to the rest of the animal kingdom. But at times like now I wonder if we could be, just for a moment, a bit more like horses.
#leadership #newleadership #elections #horsemanship #personaldevelopment #humanconnection #thinkaboutit #mondaypost
Managing Partner at PetsPhd
3moAlice was one of the best and the industry will miss her. Hopefully she stays in our industry in some capacity as it is better for her having been in it.