How do you teach a leader with decades of experience to think differently? That was the challenge faced by Melanie, the technical training manager of a national logistics organisation when shaping the company’s labour management programme. The answer might surprise you: horse whispering.
Melanie’s role focuses on the technical training required across transport and warehouse operations, and she’s currently working on an innovative new programme.
She said: “Rather than problem solving, labour management relies on us to coach leaders and unlock issues. It’s a different approach, and it required a different solution, instead of a traditional classroom.
“Many of our leaders already have good self-awareness and some of these managers have been around for anything between 15 to 30 years within the company, so they know how to lead a team. How do you teach them to think differently about something they already know?”
A unique approach
That’s when Melanie turned to Altezza People UK, and our unique approach to embodied learning and leadership development. Our programmes don’t just feature behavioural insight, including Thomas International profiles and coaching, they involve equine assisted learning with our herd of horses in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside.
Part of what appealed to Melanie was the idea of placing people in an unusual situation, such as leading a horse around a field. It created an opportunity for leaders to see their own style play out in real time, rather than talking about leadership in the abstract.
She said: “By working with different members of the team they wouldn’t necessarily work with, and removing them from their comfort zones, it allowed them to communicate differently.
“I also wanted the experience to stand out and create a bit of hype and excitement around the equine day, which became a talking point. Some of them really weren’t expecting it, and they all embraced the change. I needed them to talk about it very differently – and that’s exactly what they did.”
Learning at a different pace
We’re all used to working at a fast pace, with teams having rapid conversations, dealing with one issue and moving straight on to the next. The equine environment creates a slower pace that allows people to reflect more deeply.
Following the equine session, Melanie observed: “By taking themselves away from the norm, it allowed the teams to reflect a little bit more and think differently. For example, I discovered I tend to want to understand the point of doing something, before carrying out a task. Because it's going a bit slower, you've got other people's opinions around you and you're seeing it play out, so you're then like, ‘oh wow, yeah, I do that’. You can see your own leadership behaviours play out in front of you. It was really interesting to have the ability to self-reflect on why you did the things you did.”
Leaders could see their own behaviours in action and observe how other people approached the same situation, which created further opportunities for reflection.
Melanie said some of the most valuable learning happened on the field due to the psychologically safe environment. Senior people were able to relax, reflect and have moments of insight without those conversations leaving the field.
Multi-level management
Altezza created a bespoke programme for all levels of management, from senior directors through to first-line managers due to the variance in roles, such as that of a general manager and an operations manager. General managers and senior directors took part in the equine day because they set the leadership tone for their site.
By tailoring the programme to each level, the organisation and Altezza could focus on what each management group needed from the learning, rather than delivering the same content to everyone.
The programme began with coaching sessions, emotional intelligence assessments and then progressed to the equine assisted learning day, followed by further coaching based on insights collected.
As with any large company, some areas of the business can become siloed, so the logistics firm wanted to reduce siloed ways of working within depots to create a broader operational function where teams worked together towards shared goals.
The programme helped bring leaders together in ways that would not usually happen, particularly during the equine day. Melanie said: “It’s created the direction we need, and it’s been great for our senior leadership team to experience the equine day and work with people they don’t normally work with to gain a stronger relationship there.
An evolving plan
Altezza created a fluid programme that could be adapted as feedback and insights were gathered. “I think it’s been great because it’s allowed us like to shape the programme and we can flex and adjust it as we go,” said Melanie. “Now we’re looking to create a succinct list of five top actions, so quite simple, but all the leaders will sign up and commit, and then that’s what they’ll implement.”
Break throughs
At the time of writing, the programme was still ongoing, but one of the biggest breakthroughs was with the first-line management population. Melanie said: “I’ve seen a lot of impact and they’ve had an opportunity to hone some of the skills that Julia has taught them, such as the drama triangle and victim/responsibility thinking, and having this ability to not look back, but to move forward. That’s definitely come through. Staff also understand that there has to be a process that we follow, and if we don’t, we won’t unlock labour management.”
When asked what she would say to another organisation considering this kind of development, Melanie said: “It’s something different which allows real learning. Sometimes in a classroom you wait for a light bulb moment to come from your delegates, whereas this happens on their terms rather than you trying to create it. It’s more natural.
“Staff have enjoyed the investment and their time, which has been great to see. It helped create engagement and opened conversations that could support the wider transformation work.”
At Altezza, participants are not simply told what to take away from the experience, they are placed in situations where they could notice their own behaviours, reflect on them and draw their own conclusions. This makes the learning feel more personal and memorable.
We offer three signature programmes, Emotional Advantage in Sales™, Teams Reimagined™, and Leadership Recalibrated™. To enquire, call +44 (0) 7739 285053 to discuss which would suit your situation.
