"The tragedy of life is that we understand it backwards
but have to live it forwards"
- Danish philosopher
It can be hard to know who we are and what to think at the best of times, never mind when we are around our horses and suddenly all of 'who we are' and 'the stuff we desire' when apart from them no longer matters anymore! Angelina Jolie once offered an interesting explanation of such human complexity:-
“Every character I’ve ever played is me, because there are about
40 people inside me and I just take away
39 of them for any particular role”
40 people inside me and I just take away
39 of them for any particular role”
Job Descriptions have often helped to explain 'who we need to be at work' and 'how we need to do our daily job' in order to be successful. So it begs the question as horse owners or trainers "what is our job?" "What role have we been recruited to fulfil when we take on a horse or pony?" "If we had a job description for the position how would it read?"
One thing for sure is that we would all have our own slant on it. Jobs in the world of business have changed beyond recognition. In the past, successful roles in busy Corporations (one of the 40 characters I play) required us to work with facts, metrics, objective analysis, formal planning and so on. Today, firms are better understood and managed if treated as a living and breathing organism - unpredictable and multifaceted. Business Leadership today teaches that explicit knowledge is no longer enough. So how can we believe that once taught Rider, Trainer roles and methods still apply today when everything else has changed?
Homework!
Grab a pen and paper and pause for a moment. Write down your Equine Job Description. The job description that captures why you do what you do with your horse.
- What title would you give yourself that symbolises what your role means to you?
- To whom do you report?
- What is the overall purpose of your role?
- What would be your top 10 responsibilities?
(My sample JD is at the end of this blog - a work in progress)!
My bet is that even if you do this mentally and not on paper - nowhere will your JD include 'mucking out', 'poo picking' 'emptying haynets' - all of which we do but none of which capture why we work or live with horses, in the bigger scheme of things.
Even at home I doubt a Parent's job description would include nappy changing, preparing meals, washing clothes etc. Not if written from the point of view of 'how to be a great parent' in which case its about passing on big things like 'life skills'.
Both caring for horses and raising children have much bigger goals and purpose to them than the tasks of simply surviving every day out of duty and obligation.
The purpose of a job description at work is to express what 'success' or 'greatness' looks like so that the right person can be hired, and their performance and development measured and managed over time. It might be interesting to apply such a process to our modern world of horse care. It would be sure to open our eyes and help us see where we meet the expectations of the role and where we fall short and why.
Both caring for horses and raising children have much bigger goals and purpose to them than the tasks of simply surviving every day out of duty and obligation.
The purpose of a job description at work is to express what 'success' or 'greatness' looks like so that the right person can be hired, and their performance and development measured and managed over time. It might be interesting to apply such a process to our modern world of horse care. It would be sure to open our eyes and help us see where we meet the expectations of the role and where we fall short and why.
Companies and nature are more than ever being recognised as having characteristics in common versus apart. Businesses behave like herds of horses or flocks of geese. When the geese migrate the lead bird constantly changes, to be replaced by another and then another. The lead role amongst mares in a herd of horses can alternate in a similar fashion. In business life we call this 'distributed leadership' meaning just about anyone with the talent and drive can at least temporarily play an important leadership role.
Actors, Dancers and Sportsmen and women learn by practise to refine their skills and art. Do we ever practise living or how to be a great addition to our horses life? As Martha Graham, US Dancer and Teacher once said:
“I believe we learn by practise. Whether it means to learn to dance
by practising dancing, or to learn to live by practising living,
the principles are the same.”
Of course the exercise of writing your equine job description is not especially important, the thinking that it promotes however is! I continue to be convinced that we live so much of our lives (whoever we are) on automatic pilot, not stopping to think about what we are doing, how we are doing it and of course WHY! Never mind can we be better, or more enlightened at it?
There can be no 'single' job description as there is no one single Marketing Manager or universal way to be a great Actor. Angelina does it her way, others will use their own system. Knowing that we don't have a template to follow can be the most exciting gift we give ourselves. Following the lead of others is rapidly in my opinion becoming a recipe for disaster. Mediocrity rarely results in exceptional performance or breakthroughs in understanding.
The alternative is to respectfully allow ourselves and others to find our own individual way and it is a continuing theme of Essy's Wishes as we wake up more than ever to the freedom that is there for the taking! (See comupance and just deserts, or Emperors New Clothes).
The alternative is to respectfully allow ourselves and others to find our own individual way and it is a continuing theme of Essy's Wishes as we wake up more than ever to the freedom that is there for the taking! (See comupance and just deserts, or Emperors New Clothes).
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche, (19th Century German philosopher )
I am drawn at the moment to Malcolm Gladwells book David and Goliath. A book that shares amazing human stories of people overcoming disabilities to turn a negative into an advantage. Life is full of every day stories of this type. Take Dianne Thompson, a butcher’s daughter from Batley in West Yorkshire who became head of the UK lottery service Camelot. At the time there was widespread comment that Camelot had shot its bolt and some other company should run the lottery. Battling to insert her company back in the race for a renewed lottery licence, Thompson relied on just being herself. “There was no PR spin,” explained non-executive director Michael Grade. “She believed in the cause, she was a master of the facts and the detail...she came over as a real person.” Ultimately she prevailed, and against the odds defeated the bid from the more high-profile Richard Branson.
Be YOURSELF is a message that holds strong. But first we have to find ourselves...
....Back to Angelina Jolie and her 40 inner selves! To help us find ourselves, what can we do? The answer in part (as well as healing our hurts) includes developing consciously the different parts of us that may lie dormant within. Think of yourself as a vessel that needs to expand and connect with more of you - the parts you didn't even know were inside.
For fun, consciously take on the job of being an Actor and consider how you would be living your life if you were to bring to life character traits such as authenticity, vulnerability, observing, living, laughing and re-creating the YOU!
As an example, this might look like the following:-
For fun, consciously take on the job of being an Actor and consider how you would be living your life if you were to bring to life character traits such as authenticity, vulnerability, observing, living, laughing and re-creating the YOU!
As an example, this might look like the following:-
Character No. 1: Buddha! Practise being Authentic: Our horses like our human friends want us to be authentic; genuine. Not conflicted or faking it, not pretending or acting (sorry Angelina). They can't read us and know whether or not to trust us if we are hidden behind masks, expectations, or volatile emotions and full of contradiction. We have to practise being reliable, dependable, confrontation averse (or at least knowing when it's essential versus picking fights for the fun of it), saying what we mean and meaning what we say. Being truthful and honest. Valuing these things in others and spending time with people like this.
Character No. 2: Forest Gump! Be vulnerable: Openly share with loved ones your fears, or vulnerabilities - it is both endearing and brave. It is also much bigger than simple bravery. From such a place of openness we are trusting those we love not to exploit that very Achilles heel. We give them incredible power NOT to hurt us or betray our trust. So be selective when you do this. You will learn who you can trust and that's a lesson best learnt sooner rather than later.
Character No. 3: Gypsy Rosa Lee! Practise seeing others: In order to find ourselves we have to look first. To help develop the art of looking and seeing we must be curious, have good powers of observation without judgement, be able to listen and to reflect on what we witnessed. Forcing ourselves to see things from another point of view, and then another, adds perspective and awareness. Start by seeing your horse for who he/she is! Who is he/she?
Character No. 4: A Toddler! Practise living: Don't just settle for existing; making it through another day, another year, another job! Life is supposed to be fun! Know what are your passions and develop and explore them don't store them in a bottle for a day when you aren't so busy. Time is a man made convention so take your watch off and do it now!
Character No 5: Mother Theressa! Be light: Show your compassionate side as often as you can especially towards those that bring out the reverse in you as they will need your light the most! Let your funny side shine through with good humour, light hearted-ness and lots of laughs!
Character No 6: YOU! Discard and throw away all of the above characters and replace them with your own; more fun and authentic to who you are and who you want to become more of!
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, (essayist, lecturer, and poet)
My Sample Job Description - a work in progress just as it should be as no role or situation ever stays the same, especially if our eyes are opening a little wider each day we live it.
Another fab post
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