PZ Cussons Case Study
An Integrated Approach to Leadership Development

PZ Cussons Case Study

An Integrated Approach to Leadership Development

This award-winning leadership programme was developed for PZ Cussons who have business units operating throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. The company has a commitment to developing local talent. The corporate HQ commissioned the programme to develop leaders across the business and help cement the culture of the company in its satellites.

The programme, which is ongoing, has already been delivered to more than 300 delegates. The programme Delegates completed 360-degree feedback prior to the workshops and were sent a pre-workshop pack outlining the programme and containing a framework to:

  • explore personal values
  • identify 3 areas of the 360 that will give the biggest performance uplift
  • identify the 3 biggest/most critical people challenges they currently face
  • create a picture of how they would like to be seen as a leader
  • analyse their communication style and personal drivers

Workshops were rolled out across the geographical areas in which the business operates, with workshop modules delivered over four days.

LeadChange delivered the highly experiential part of the programme, working with horses. The sensitivity of horses to intention and energy provides instant feedback to the delegates. Hesitancy, lack of purpose, focus or commitment are all perceived by the horses as lack of leadership. Delegates were coached to change their beliefs, intentions, behaviour etc., creating a different response in the horses, which then co-operated and followed.

A team of professional actors combined theory sessions with communications coaching (personal impact), engaging delegates in ‘presence’ and voice work. As skilled actors, they adopt the persona of challenging people in the client organisation, coaching the delegates to practice difficult conversations (the actors slip out of character and into coaching mode to help delegates reframe and experiment with different approaches).

CECO (Corporate and Executive Coaching Organisation) facilitated sessions that underpin the whole of the programme – incorporating leadership theory, coaching skills practice, exploration of individual and corporate values, and development of an individual competency matrix based on the organisation’s core competencies.

During the four days delegates received 1:1 coaching on work-related issues.

All sessions were conducted in English, although this was a second language for many of the delegates in this organisation. The practical sessions with the horses were particularly useful for these people, as it is a ‘felt’ experience, which they could easily relate to what was happening for them in the workplace.

Delegates expressed great enthusiasm for the programme. Many felt that the four-day format allowed time to explore issues in depth and reflect on them before returning to the workplace. The format also allowed time for hands-on practice (e.g. of coaching skills). In their feedback, many delegates identified the experiential sessions with the horses as a highlight of the programme.

IDEXX Case Study, Maine USA
Equine insights to develop senior talent

IDEXX Case Study, Maine USA

Equine insights to develop senior talent

Challenge

IDEXX sought a learning partner for their Altitude Leadership Talent Programme. They were looking for an innovative way to engage participants to develop greater self-awareness, build trust and create a strong leadership culture across the organisation.  As an organisation that aims to enhance the health and well-being of pets, people, and livestock there was a very clear alignment to LeadChange, and our mission to help people thrive in their environment and to promote positive horse – human relationships. LeadChange has now partnered with IDEXX for 5 + years to deliver a learning experience as part of their programme in the Portland, USA.

Solution

The solution combines learning with horses alongside a session where participants explore Insights Profiles. Completing activities with the horses, participants get instant, honest, non-judgmental feedback on how they ‘show up’ as individuals, and how effectively they collaborate with one another. We link their Insights Profiles to their behaviour ‘in the moment’, supporting them to safely try different strategies to maximise their impact.  Participants gain insight into how they are perceived which helps them work on their leadership brand. They also explore the importance of alignment and communication which relates directly to the efficiency of their business projects.

IDEXX contributes to the health and quality of life in the communities where they do business.  As part of this aim the programme connects leaders with young people in need in the local community. They also sponsored a HorseHeard programme for the group. HorseHeard, is a LeadChange charity that runs equine learning programmes for young people and adults in need to promote positive mental health and well-being.

Results

The client sums up the LeadChange solution as “a practical way to bring self-awareness, that challenges leaders and creates a sense of humbleness”.

Participant’s learning includes:

  • Add emotion to communication “what do I want people to feel as a result of what I say”
  • Recognition and praise matters “more than 0 seconds”
  • Relax into the team “move from doing to being”

Overall outcomes include:

  • Greater self-awareness
  • Improved presence and personal brand
  • Increased alignment across project teams
  • Improved communication across project teams.

Client Quotes

“An incredible experience with real value for my approach to leadership.”


“The Equine learning was surprisingly insightful. It provided a great learning framework and got us all outside our comfort zone. The facilitators were great at reinforcing the learnings and concepts.”


 

How horses changed my leadership

How horses changed my leadership

By Richard Lambert, CEO, National Landlords’ Association
June 2019

Summary

Non-verbal communication is massively important. The horse gives instant, unbiased, non-judgemental responses to the non-verbal signals you give. Your attitude, energy and body language need to reflect your words and intentions if you are to get the response you need.

What was good about their session? What were your key take outs?

It was completely different to anything I have done, and I was prepared to think it was ridiculous (my wife had done something similar learning to herd geese and said that they only thing she learned from it was that geese are really difficult to herd). The strength of the approach is to ensure that all the practical activities are clearly tied into business psychology and to show how it relates to everyday working life.

The whole session is a metaphor for how people approach leadership and working with others. It is not enough simply to direct; you have to model the behaviours, attitudes and approaches that will create the responses in others.

How have you applied it back at the office (if you did)? What were the benefits?

I have been more conscious of how I need to be seen by the whole team. We were in the process of trying to lead a culture change through the organisational leaders modelling behaviours and attitudes. This session reinforced that message, and reminded me that I need to be doing that more than anyone. It encouraged me to draw more on the energy and support from the team around me, rather than expecting that I had to rely on my own resources. It also reinforced the importance of authenticity, and I have been more aware of the need to bring a bit more of my wider self into being the CEO – letting everyone see the football scarf and the band T-shirts under the suit.

My Leadership Team colleagues mocked the idea of me spending a day doing this before I went, but they all separately remarked on the change in my demeanour and energy in the week after, as did my wife and counsellor. I had been going through a difficult period personally following several close family bereavements, and this seemed to move something inside me, becoming the start of the real recovery phase.

What a horse can teach you about leading your business

By Rosalie Millard-Evans BSc. MSc. Ch.Psychol

Horses probably aren’t the first thing you think of for leadership development but the approach is proving to be game changing for leaders and the business they work in.

When participants tell you that their experience with horses has been ‘Profound’, ‘life-changing’ and ‘transformational’ it’s time to dig a little deeper into this new but growing industry offering equine facilitated learning for businesses.

“Epic and transformational experience to build trust, shared values and sense of fun with the leaders of the business” That is what Russam GMS Managing Director Jason Atkinson thought of their recent Leadership Team Retreat with LeadChange. Watch their experience here.

The problem many organisations face is that by the time leaders reach a senior level they have acquired plenty of knowledge, formed habits (good and bad), and built up a wealth of experience – so traditional content-based leader programmes don’t cut it. Real breakthroughs happen when you move away from ‘teaching’ leaders and start working with identity, beliefs and emotions. With a skilled coach to guide learning, working with horses creates a safe environment to surface and explore these aspects of leadership.

This unique style of innovative, and often transformational learning addresses some of the core leadership challenges faced in today’s business landscape – trust, authenticity, purpose, honesty, presence and shared purpose.

So, what exactly can you expect to learn from the horses?

Horses have the keen ability to detect intention and authenticity in people and are known to “mirror” behaviours they are picking up from others. Participants can explore their authenticity. When they connect with their true selves and communicate from that place, horses are amazingly responsive. When the (human’s) thinking, judging brain comes into play, horses respond by disengaging from the interaction.

Leadership without status – Horses make no distinction between the most junior employee and the CEO, thus creating a level playing field that allows participants to truly explore their leadership capability.

“Horses give you really clear, unadulterated feedback. They couldn’t care less if I’m a CEO. It didn’t matter to them. I’m not a CEO in their environment.”

Trust is quickly becoming a differentiator for outstanding leaders and organisations and sits at the core of creating relationships and retaining customers. Horses allow participants to explore how to create instant trust without words, through your intention and energy, and how it can quickly be broken.

Working as a team with the horses brings the team’s patterns and habits to the surface, and horses provide powerful metaphors for the importance of shared purpose and alignment in communication.

 We had to work as a team, the feedback was instant, we could see the things that were holding us back from performing our best. Rosalie provided the structure and facilitation to have some really honest conversations and make changes.  This is an incredibly memorable start of a journey for us, we came out with tangible actions that are already making a difference to how we work together”. You can get a flavour of their experience here.

Teams also report how it strengthens relationships by deepening their understanding of one another, allowing them to show vulnerability and thereby increase trust. Another outcome is truly honest conversations.

Carefully facilitated, the team can have transformational conversations about what they need to change to work even more effectively as a team – adjusting roles and communication accordingly.

The true magic comes when new ways of working are trialled with the horses – enabling the team to experience how it feels when they are ‘performing in the zone’ and creating that positive shared experience to draw on.

The thing people always want to know is exactly how does it work? Horses, as prey and fight or flight animals, are adept at picking up and responding to intention and nonverbal communication.

 

Up to 93% of meaning is communicated nonverbally. With their prey instincts and hypersensitive awareness, horses size people up instantly and accurately. They are also emotionally sensitive and by noticing their response in each moment you can begin to identify patterns – making a connection between your body, feelings and mind.

LeadChange runs bespoke equine based leadership and team development across the UK and internationally. To learn more visit www.leadchange.com or contact Rosalie@leadchange.com

Spotlight on The Psychology behind Coaching with Horses  ‘And now for the Science bit….’

By Lindsay Corrigan BSc. MSc. Ch.Psychol

Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) is a holistic approach, impacting cognitions, emotions and behaviour. The field of neuroscience has since the 1990s, detailed evidence of the complex neural feedback loops highlighting the partnerships between cognitive process and the processes labelled ‘emotional experiences’ – supporting our own theoretical position of the link between our thoughts and feelings, and how they shape our behaviour.

Spotlight 1: Finding out what we don’t know: Carl Jung, whose ideas underpin many of the development interventions and tools we use today (e.g . MBTI), refers to bringing conscious awareness to our unconscious views of our self-image and beliefs.  Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) also focuses on addressing the automatic patterns of thinking which reside in our unconsciousness, to change our behaviour.  Cognitive Behavioural  (CB) approaches, well researched and scientifically supported, suggest similar changes can be brought about by raising awareness and dealing with our conscious thoughts and beliefs.

Spotlight 2: Knowing what we are good at: Authentic leadership and team membership, starts with an individual really knowing and understanding their ‘true self’(Jung). Working with the horses, creates a safe, clean space for individuals to see how the unconscious habits and thinking patterns they rely on play out in a novel situation.  This provides a fantastic opportunity for strengths based development, as positive thoughts and feelings trigger effective behaviours which bring observable results.

Spotlight 3: Accelerating new learnings: Just as NLP does not require lengthy unpicking of personal issues, working with the horses offers a quick, high impact process, cutting to the core, which brings meaningful insights to our participants to take back to work and home. We support people to be released from the unhelpful habits and thinking patterns that are slowing their growth.

Spotlight  4: Embedding new patterns: Due to the horses preference to live moment by moment, and not hold grudges about our failings, we are presented with a priceless opportunity to try, and retry, different strategies in a single session. This runs like a condensed version of the valuable ‘between session’ CBT exercises.  Each individual finds approaches that work for them and sit comfortably with who they are.

Spotlight 5: Increasing readiness for change:  EFL arms individuals with the tools and strategies they need to manage themselves in a variety of environments. As in Gestalt approaches, we focus on raising being present, having self-awareness in the moment, developing self-knowledge and building confidence, to make good choices in future situations.

Spotlight 6: Remove the threat of feedback: Shifting how people seek and perceive feedback, and what they do with the information gathered. Recognising that we have the resources to adapt and change ourselves to have a more positive impact on our environment, empowers our participants.

Spotlight 7: Connection is the key: Leadership and team work is all about relationships.  Social relationships need to be high quality and sincere, but also be beneficial to all parties.  Visually seeing and understanding clearly how we impact others and how we are affected by others behaviour, is a golden ticket to building better connections with clients and colleagues.

3 major problems with traditional leadership development training (and how to solve them)

By Rosalie Millard-Evans BSc. MSc. Ch.Psychol

For many years, organisations have spent time, money and resources on improving the leadership capability in their organisations through leadership training.

However, according to a Mckinsey & Company survey, adults typically retain just 10% of what they hear in classrooms.  Cramming all the key learnings into one lengthy training makes logistical sense, but it greatly restricts learning retention. Furthermore, the focus is usually on skills and behaviours which don’t go deep enough to result in real change.

The 3 major problems are:

  1. Limited transfer of learning.

“I have always considered myself more as a people person rather than an animal person, but throughout the day, it became apparent that leading a horse is just like leading people: you need to set a vision, be clear on objectives and engage effectively in order to get a great result.” Sebastien Le Roux, VP – GlaxoSmithKline

We only move from knowing to doing when changes take place at a deep neurological level – through insights (‘aha’ moments), which create complex new neurological connections. One of the problems with traditional learning approaches are their limited ‘stickability’. You attend a programme, and knowledge is acquired, but the challenge comes with putting the learning into practise in a sustainable way.  When you go back to your day job, clients and emails take priority and applying that valuable learning takes a back seat.  This creates a gap between theory and practice; between awareness and action; between what we know and what we do.

So, how do you create these ‘aha moments’?  Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) states ‘knowledge is created through the transformation of experience’ – in short, insight comes from experience.  This approach to learning through creating new insight is the basis of coaching and peer advisory groups such as Vistage and Entrepreneurs Organisation Network.  They create a safe and confidential environment that harness the learning cycle to help members gain new insights and develop more effective strategies.

It’s this that makes experiential learning with horses so powerful, as you experience the difference. So, is this a new fad or a truly beneficial way to enhance learning? Kolb’s recent research into equine facilitated learning seeks to answer that. His research found interactions with horses facilitated an accelerated learning cycle, and what’s more he found that working with the horses forms powerful episodic memories that inform future interactions. This means that the impact of the learning lasts well beyond the initial experience.

Our CEO Rosalie, who regularly delivers our equine facilitated learning sessions,  says she’s had many instances where clients report having a ‘Puzzle’ or ‘Tinkerbell moment’ – where, following their session, they ‘tap into’ their experience with the horse at future pivotal times, such as important meetings, negotiations or interviews, to get a better outcome.

  1. Role play vs Real play.

“The experience with horses addresses and magnifies all the key leadership skills in a concentrated and non-simulated environment, and provides instant and unbiased feedback and gives immediate opportunity to take corrective actions and see the results.” Product Development Director, Motorola

Many training programmes focus on developing skills. The challenge with doing this away from the work environment means it is necessary to role play scenarios, and ‘act’ how you would behave at work. When we role-play it can be hard to behave authentically in what is clearly not a ‘real-life’ situation. Furthermore, the feedback you receive to improve the skill is less tangible in the simulated environment, so when you return to work you still need to learn to apply those skills to a ‘real life’ situation.  The alternative is real play. Horses are

authentic beings and interacting with them is for real. Working at liberty gives a horse choice in how it responds and creates the opportunity for leaders to test how well they create followership.  By interacting with horses on the ground (non-ridden) participants receive instant, honest, and importantly non-judgemental, feedback on how they ‘show up’, and through non-directive coaching can make changes to their thinking, emotional state and body language to get a different response.  The changes they make are reflected instantly in a dramatic and memorable way by the response of the horses. This allows critical ‘in the moment’ feedback that results in rapid skills development and importantly allows you to experience success – creating a ‘mental memory’, an emotional ‘state’ that you can ‘tap’ into or draw on later.

  1. Focus on the ‘what’ and ‘how’ over the ‘why’

“Who am I? How do I project, lead and communicate? Before today I had my own perceptions. A horse called Monte has taught me otherwise. Thanks Monte, you have given me a completely new vision on leadership and expectation.”

Managing Director, Organon Laboratories

Often the focus of learning is on new skills and behaviours which can be easily seen and measured through your actions. They are tangible and visible elements of what we do.  Behaviours are the ‘what’ and skills are the ‘how’.  However, by working with the ‘who’ and ‘why’ we engage with your sense of self, identity and personal values.  You can then start to explore how values and beliefs support or hinder your leadership, the drivers of your self-belief, how you interpret events in terms of your own self-worth, whether you believe something is possible or impossible, whether or not you feel motivated.

By working at these higher neurological levels, we help leaders find the ‘keys’ to make personal changes, which are then observable in your behaviour. The ‘Courses with Horses’ go beyond behaviours, skills and competencies to explore beliefs and identity. Horses are adept at reading intention and authenticity, and by mirroring this in their behaviour, they provide participants with instant honest feedback – allowing leaders to ask – “who am I?” and “who do I want to be?”.

Self belief and focus

Self belief and focus “The best day of leadership development I have ever experienced.“ LeadChange ran a retreat workshop for Vistage the world’s leading advisory & executive coaching organization. Nurun, […]

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