Lessons for business, leadership and life in the Year of the Horse
- By Eugene Clark
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 7, 2014
With the Year of the Horse approaching, there are several equine behaviors that we can consider applying to our work and daily lives to enjoy a successful and fulfilling year.
1. Importance of culture
Horses remind us of the importance of culture. Horses and horse-like creatures have over thousands of years served as an important motif in Chinese mythology in the Han Culture and in China's other ethnic groups. In business, researchers are increasingly realizing the powerful role that culture plays in a high performing organization and in bringing about transformational change. Just one example from Chinese business is the now legendary rise to international prominence of the Haier Corporation and the changes in corporate culture brought about by Zhang Ruimin.
2. Effective communication, leadership and teamwork
Horses are great communicators, not only by their vocal sounds, but especially through their body language, whether it be a lifting of the ear, a swish of the tail, a flaring of the nostril or hoof stabbing at the ground. Great leaders are almost always effective communicators. Great organizations have high levels of communication from top to bottom, bottom to top and in between. Research shows that more than70 percent of our communication is non-verbal. Just as a horse responds to subtle shifts in the rider's weight and slight changes in tension and direction of reins, so too, organizations will respond to their leadership and employees to one another.
We should emulate the horse in being more conscious, especially of our non-verbal communication to ensure that our body language matches our verbal language; that words are backed up by deeds that are consistent with the messaging.
Horses, as herd animals, know about teamwork. Effective teams communicate well with one another. They have a high level of trust. They realize that individual team members have different strengths and that each also has weaknesses. They move in the same direction. Each individual understands their particular role and how it fits in with the whole. Each horse is aware of the presence of the other horses and is responsive to varying contexts.
Different breeds of horses have different talents. For example, draft horses are large and powerful and can pull heavy loads. Thoroughbreds are built for speed. Quarter horses are bred for agility and their ability to herd livestock. Similarly, different roles call for particular strengths, and particular contexts may suit a particular style of leadership.
3. Importance and value of clarity and consistency
For horses, each herd member has a role that is clearly understood, whether it is group leader, guard, greeter or enforcer. Both in their dealings with one another and in response to humans, horses work best when the message is clear in both thought and action and when each member of the organization understand their particular role and how that role fits in with the overall goals and direction of the larger group.
With each horse having its own role and particular talents, the herd works well together and the synergies ensure that the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts.
Horses are also consistent in their messaging. Human leaders need this quality, too, which is why President Xi, for example, has stressed "servant leadership," restricted ostentatious displays by public officials, and sought to combat corruption and abuses of power.
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