Managing your emotional energy is important in your leadership development

Copyright (c) 2008 Jean Starling

My day began with my horse Minnie who had so much uncontrollable energy that I finally put her out to pasture deciding to just leave her alone for the day.

Since I still have two other horses to work, after putting Minnie out to pasture I head up the hill to the barn.

Dee is a little red mare with a white blaze down her face and three white stockings. Her mane and tail are the color of corn silk. She has big, wide, quiet eyes that belie the energy and athleticism she has in her body. She is very flashy and fancy-looking and I expect her to have a long show career. Her hocks are strong and she can move exceptionally slow but she is also so athletic that she can actually buck while running up hill. She will be able to perform multiple events on the quarter horse circuit. She is two years old and occasionally attempts to treat me as if she were the lead mare.

She is quiet today, but pushes her nose out at me to tell me to get out of her space. Tapping her on the shoulder to tell her to stop it, I halter her and lead her out to the round pen.

Beginning our work with free lunging allows her an opportunity to move around the pen without any pressure from a line and tells me what her attitude is before we get started on anything else.

So I unsnap the lead line to begin our work and before I can even speak she races off, rears up on her back legs, jumps into the air and starts bucking around the arena. She runs around and around the pen rearing, bucking, and snorting.

Each time I ask her to whoa she screeches to a halt just long enough to turn and jump into the air, twisting and heading in the opposite direction. Allowing my temper to get the best of me I yell at her to whoa and head out of the pen leaving her inside to work off her energy alone.

Funny thing, when I leave she settles down and trots over to the side of the pen so she can watch Minnie in the pasture.

Mumbling and frustrated I flounce into the house, pour a cup of coffee for myself, and head out to the covered viewing room to see what they are doing. Now that I've had a few minutes to calm down and I'm sitting watching Minnie peacefully grazing in the pasture and Dee standing longingly watching Minnie, it finally dawns on me.

My emotional energy is out of control and until I can manage my own energy I won't be able to communicate what I really want to say to my horses or the people I am attempting to lead.

My team members just like my horses are reading my energy that is just under the surface of my emotions. Both the horses and my team feel how unsettled I am and know something is wrong.

While they may not know what is wrong they are responding to the feelings rather than what I am saying. So they feel unsettled and frustrated not knowing how to respond to me.

In order to be an effective leader I have to become more aware of what is going on inside me and why. I must resolve my own issues and manage myself if I am to successfully lead and mange others.

It's in the subconscious mind where thoughts and emotions begin to take shape. These thoughts and emotions carry both positive and negative energy, and energy communicates with those you desire to lead.

Left hidden, unmanaged, and raw, this energy will sabotage your leadership efforts. Inspired follow-ship at the highest level can only be achieved when your inner person and your outer person act as one.

Effective leaders not only prepare their spoken word but also prepare their subconscious to effectively lead.

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