LEADING WITH PRESENCE

Leading with Presence: Transformative Leadership through Equine Wisdom

Program Overview

Leading with Presence is an immersive leadership development experience that transcends traditional training methodologies by leveraging the profound insights gained through equine-assisted learning. This innovative program is designed to help leaders develop critical leadership competencies by engaging with horses in a carefully structured environment that mirrors complex organizational dynamics.

Core Philosophical Foundations

The program is built on five interconnected themes that represent the essence of authentic, purpose-driven leadership:

Leading Authentically through Change

Participants learn to navigate organizational transformation by first understanding their own capacity for adaptability and resilience. Through interactions with horses—natural experts in reading authentic leadership signals—leaders discover how genuine presence and emotional intelligence are critical during periods of uncertainty.

Clarity and Connection for Purposeful Communication

Horses represent a masterclass in communication that transcends words—a living model of how clarity, intention, and collective purpose can transform group dynamics. As highly social and perceptive herd animals, they offer profound insights into communication that goes far beyond human verbal constructs. The program uses equine interactions to help leaders:

  • Develop crystal-clear communication strategies
  • Inspire action through genuine connection
  • Understand how internal state broadcasts externally
  • Recognize their  unconscious communication patterns

Trust: The Cornerstone of Leadership

Horses respond instantaneously to a leader’s internal state, providing immediate, non-judgmental feedback about trust and authenticity. Participants learn to:

  • Build genuine, transparent relationships
  • Recognize the subtle dynamics of trust-building
  • Understand how their internal landscape manifests in external leadership behaviors

Alignment: Integrating Individual and Organizational Goals

Through specific groundwork exercises with horses, leaders explore:

  • The importance of congruence between intentions and actions
  • How misalignment creates resistance and disengagement
  • Techniques for creating systemic harmony within teams and organizations

Shaping Culture through Intentional Action

Participants discover how leadership is fundamentally about creating environments where individuals can thrive. By observing horse herd dynamics, leaders learn to:

  • Recognize and influence cultural patterns
  • Create psychologically safe spaces
  • Develop leadership practices that nurture organizational well-being
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corporate volunteering
Dell Grooming Day

Program Structure

Experiential Learning Modules

  • Self-Discovery Workshops**: Individual and group reflections with equine facilitators
  • Leadership Simulation Exercises**: Complex scenarios managed through horse interactions
  • Embodied Leadership Labs**: Practical applications of insights gained from equine experiences

Professional Coaching

Each participant receives personalized executive coaching to:

  • Integrate learnings from equine interactions
  • Develop actionable leadership strategies
  • Create sustainable personal development plans

Our approach differs from traditional leadership training by providing:

  • Immediate, non-verbal feedback from horse interactions
  • A holistic approach that engages physical, emotional, and cognitive intelligence
  • Experiential learning that bypasses intellectual defenses

Expected Outcomes

Participants will develop:

  • Enhanced emotional intelligence

  • More authentic leadership presence

  • Advanced communication and relationship-building skills

  • Greater resilience in complex organizational environments

  • A profound understanding of systemic leadership dynamics

Facilitator Expertise

Our team comprises:

  •  Certified equine-assisted learning specialists
  •  Executive leadership coaches
  • Organizational leadership professionals

This program represents a paradigm shift in leadership development—moving from theoretical knowledge to embodied wisdom, from disconnected training to transformative experience.

 

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“With innovative backgrounds in trauma-informed practices and corporate leadership development, Lynne, Sarah, and Julie have created a supportive scaffolding in which I was able to re-connect with my most authentic, and incidentally long-ago forgotten essence of who I really am, and then re-build, emerging with growth and transformation I didn’t know was possible. The scaffolding has become a trellis; I feel deeply rooted, nourished, and vibrant with life and yet-to-be-revealed potential.”  – Marty Wolins

“Delivered with a spirit of heart-centered leadership, the well thought out exercises and experiences of the Facilitator Training Program provided an enlightening journey into the portal of the healing potential of the horse/human connection. I feel well stocked with practical skills and tools to create the conditions for others to experience the magic of this work.”  – Patricia

“Julie, Lynne and Sarah at HorseLink are experienced, knowledgeable, easy-going, and very supportive coaches in the Equine Assisted Learning Training Program.  Their work— in tandem with the sublime work of their horses—has facilitated growth and healing among us all.  We have learned to ask respectfully of the horses, observe their reactions, make adjustments in ourselves, and learned what we needed from the horses’ immediate feedback. It has been a tremendously rewarding privilege to overcome some personal challenges and find joyful partnerships between ourselves and the horses in the serene countryside at HorseLink.

Thanks to all who contributed to creating this program!”  – Pamela