How leaders are rediscovering the power of presence

Amidst a sea of uncertainty in a world that prizes intellect and strategy, leaders are rediscovering the power of presence – with help from some unlikely teachers.

In a paddock on the outskirts of Sydney, a senior board member stands face-to-face with a horse. The brief is deceptively simple – lead the animal in a circle around a cone. But the horse won’t budge. The more the executive insists, the more firmly it plants its hooves. Then, with a shift so subtle it’s almost imperceptible, the horse starts to follow.

This is equine-assisted leadership coaching — a quietly revolutionary approach that’s helping leaders to uncover blind spots, deepen self-awareness and lead with authenticity. It’s based on robust leadership theory, models and tools.

“We tend to put on a bit of a mask in the workplace, which horses see through,” says Jane Hemingway-Mohr, founder of Leading Edge Professional Development. “They read energy, intention and congruence. If our inner state doesn’t match our outward behaviour, they know immediately. That feedback is honest, immediate and impossible to ignore.”

Working with six horses in Australia, including Hemingway-Mohr’s 26-year-old Opal, she and business partner Alice Osborn manage a team of highly skilled coaches and have delivered programs internationally.

Follow the leader

Horses are prey animals, their survival dependent on sensing subtle shifts in their environment and working together as a herd, says Hemingway-Mohr. They require clear, confident and consistent leadership, which are precisely the qualities that define effective human leadership.

Directors or C-suite executives might be asked to lead a horse through an obstacle course, work as a team to complete a shared task, or simply stand still and observe how the animal responds. What happens next offers a mirror to their leadership style.

One client, a globally recognised entrepreneur and keynote speaker, came to Leadership Edge seeking greater clarity about his future direction. In the arena, his task was to walk a tight circle around a central cone while leading the horse – and to stay centred on that focus despite distractions.

“It became a metaphor for how he needed to operate as a leader,” she says.

For another executive, the lesson was self-acceptance. “She was desperate for the horse to connect,” says Hemingway-Mohr. “But the more she tried, the more the horse moved away. It was only when she stood confidently in her own presence that the horse approached and stood beside her. It was a powerful realisation – I am enough.”

Team sessions can be equally revealing. In one program, two colleagues locked in conflict discovered their horse refused to move until they resolved their differences.

What makes equine work so effective is the immediacy of the feedback loop. “The horse reflects you in real time,” says Hemingway-Mohr. “As you change your approach, their behaviour changes, too. It’s cause and effect, stripped back and visible.”

The result is transformative. “The horse needs to be led, not controlled,” reflects one senior leader. “It’s a lesson I’ll carry into every boardroom conversation.”

In a business world increasingly defined by complexity and change, horses offer something simple yet profound – a mirror that reflects not what we do, but who we are.

“Horses have been responding to this fast-changing world for as long as they’ve existed – and they have thrived.”