Communicate Through the Hiccups

By Ginny Telego, MBP, CEO of The Collaboration Partners

“Communicate through the hiccups”?

This was the insight from a participant in an equine experiential leadership workshop Ginny Telego, MBP did recently.? What made this realization impactful for this person??

When the participant and her team were practicing The Diamond Model of Shared Leadership? with their horse partner to navigate through an obstacle course they created, their greatest challenges occurred when they weren’t communicating what they were seeing in their respective roles (Front, Middle, and Behind).? When each person communicated what they were noticing, it allowed the other team members to adjust what they were doing to create alignment for the team and the horse, making it easier to navigate through the course.?

Those of us who facilitate leadership and team development hear over and over from clients that their teams need to communicate better – why is this such a challenge for a species that loves to talk through human language? LOL?

There’s a difference between talking just to talk and talking to communicate important information.? When teams are navigating through uncertainty, it can be easy to get solely focused on one’s own area and not realize that other teams may NEED to know what’s happening in other areas to make adjustments that will keep things on track.?

So why doesn’t this communication happen?? When we facilitate conversations about this during our workshops, the most common reasons are these:

1. The person with the information doesn’t want to “step on the toes” of others on the team.
2. The person with the information doesn't want to be perceived as “bossy.”?

These belief systems are the result of hundreds of years of social conditioning that only one person can be “the leader,” and if you aren’t that person, you shouldn’t share what you are noticing.? Can you see how this is actually dangerous to the organization?? This kind of culture puts the organization in great danger from threats that could be mitigated before they become so big that “the leader” is able to actually see them. By that time, it likely is too late to address the threat in a way that doesn’t drain resources.?

Horses lead their herds by sharing leadership.? There are leadership roles, not ranks. The safety and unity of the herd are not relegated to just one person, which is a tremendous amount of responsibility.

The truth is, it’s hard for us to wrap our brains around this thought process, literally, because the well-worn neural pathways in our brain tell us that there can only be “one” leader.? So how can you start to create new ways of thinking about this?

• Say what you see. June Gunter, Ed.D. (creator of The Diamond Model of Shared Leadership) shares this nugget:? "If you don’t make it visible it isn’t valuable.” Don't assume that others on your team see what you see. You may have a different perspective on what's happening with stakeholders or in the environment. Not sharing this information may create unnecessary chaos for your team. If they choose not to listen, then that's on them. But at least you made the effort and won't punish yourself for not sharing important information.
• Go slow to go fast. Organizational teams are intensely focused on going forward all the time as fast as possible. While this is important to stay ahead of competitors, not pausing to check in and reset when necessary will actually cost time and money in the long run. Check-ins don't have to take a long time. It may be as simple as sending a note to your team or taking time at the start of a meeting to just ask - "What are you noticing?" It can be in the context of a specific project or in a more broad perspective, depending on what it helpful in the moment.

We have the privilege of witnessing insights like “Communicate through the hiccups” over and over. The leadership and team development work we are doing in partnership with horses all over the world continues to reinforce for us that there IS a better way for people in organizations and communities to lead together.???

If you are curious about shifting the leadership paradigm on your team, in your organization or community, we would love to collaborate with you.?

#equineassistedlearning #sharedleadership #collaboration #leadershipdevelopment #teamdevelopment?