I  recently attended a horsemanship clinic as a spectator
where  I was able to observe a variety of interactions. In
one  such  interaction, I watched as a woman tried to calm
her  horse down with the intent to get the horse to listen
and follow direction.  I noticed that the woman, lets call
her Eve, seemed to be full of energy, you know the kind of
energy  that you see in children sometimes where they just
do not know what to do with themselves. She kept moving the
horse around, trying to get him to focus to do whatever it
was that she wanted done. No matter what Eve did, the horse
only  seemed  more  agitated, upset and confused.  Eve was
getting very frustrated and so was the horse.

As  a  believer  in  leadership  and  communication  skills
training,  I was quite fascinated and kept watching to see
what was going to happen. Eve seemed to be giving the right
cues  to  the  horse but she was clearly not succeeding in
getting what she wanted for herself or the horse.

As  I  observed Eve's actions, I couldn't help but think of
all  the  times  I  had  watched  leaders  and managers in
organizations exhibit high energy with no clear direction.
They  would walk into a meeting or an encounter with their
subordinates  while  exuding  that  same  kind  of intense
energy.  They would demand something and then release that
energy and frustration on their subordinates by creating an
unjustified  sense  of  urgency,  and  then  leave without
further clarification.

These  actions  ensured  that the next several man-hours or
days were spent with everyone running around “like chickens
with  their  heads chopped off,” trying to get whatever it
was  that  the manager had asked for. Then after all their
efforts to produce deliverables, the workers would find out
that  the manager, put the fruits of their labor on his or
her  desk  and  never  examined it, nor referred to it and
surely had no real use for it.

I  have often wondered how much valuable time and resources
are spent in organizations on such useless endeavors.

Back to the horse and Eve…

I  could  not  keep my eyes off her and the horse. You know
how sometimes you get a feeling and you recognize that you
have  had that feeling before?  Well, I felt it in the pit
of my stomach, and it reminded me of, long ago, when I was
that  subordinate--asked to do something that clearly made
little  sense  with  no  direction  or  real meaning and I
immediately felt sympathy for the horse.

I  wondered how many times I might have done the same thing
to  one  of  my  horses, my children or others that I took
responsibility  for as a corporate leader and it was not a
happy thought.

Finally,  when  I  thought  I could stand it no longer, the
instructor took pity on the horse (and maybe Eve) came over
and  calmly  took the horse and asked him with clear mind,
heart and intention to do the maneuver and the horse did it
instantly.

Eve  stood  perfectly still for a minute with a look on her
face that had to be one of those “aha” moments and I could
see her take several deep breaths. It was clear to me that
she  had  now balanced herself and had become focused. She
now knew (clearly in her mind) not only on what she wanted
from her horse, but exactly how to ask him for it.  Then in
one  beautiful  purposeful step, she asked and he obliged,
gracefully  and flawlessly.

What kept ringing clearly in my  heart, mind and soul was…
High Energy with no clear Intention  only  brings  chaos to
any situation and to the people  in  that  situation.

This experience helped to reinforce what I teach in my
workshops. LEADERSHIP  requires energy, communication,
purpose and skill. All of these are critical for  those
in management and supervisory positions and all of these
can be learned.