A stable yard owner is helping some of Britain’s biggest companies reach success – by giving them lessons from HORSES.
Julia Felton launched Business Horse Power to show corporate professionals how working with the animals can improve their success at work.
She believes that being around the creatures helps individuals and teams learn more about themselves, their leadership style, how they communicate with others and the impact they create.
High-flyers who have lessons so far include executives from the American Express, the BBC, Bupa, Hilton, citigroup, Marriott and Bosch Siemens.
Julie is the first person in the UK to launch coaching for businesses based around working with horses.
The horsewoman, from Whixley, North Yorkshire, said: ‘Horses have a unique ability to mirror and react to an individual’s body language and behaviour.
They can sense whether someone expresses confidence, trust, authenticity, openness and positive energy.
‘As a herd animal, they long for leadership and will respond to non-verbal body language to decide who to follow.
‘I combine this with the Talent Dynamics assessment tool so that business teams can gain understanding and insight into their natural abilities and so work more productively together.’
Julie’s Unbridled Success Retreats focus on business leadership, coaching and teamwork.
Participants work on the ground with horses, learning to understand their personalities and body language.
This novel approach to people development is in line with the recently released Deloittes Global Human Capital Trends for 2015 report, which states that global organisations must navigate a ‘new world of work’, one that requires ‘bold and innovative thinking’.
The report shows that 78 per cent of company leaders cite culture, engagement and leadership as their key challenges for 2015. Felton believes her horse-led approach could create the breakthrough businesses need.
Julie added: ‘My programme isn’t a team building fun day out on horseback. In fact workshop participants don’t ride the horses at all
‘It goes much deeper than a corporate away day. Participants have to lead the horses through a series of challenges.
‘How they do this gives both themselves and their team members deep insight into the way they lead and impact others. I’ve never run a workshop where the attendees are not still talking about the event months afterwards.’
The programmes are based in Yorkshire but can be run at yards around the country.
For more information call 01423 788 229 or email julia@businesshorsepower.com.
