Horse - and business - sense

In 2007, I spent some time in Quito, Ecuador. While there, my sister and I went on a horseback ride in the Andes Mountains. I had not been on a horse in more than 18 years and I was nervous. I got an old, stubborn horse called Buck.

Before I hopped on, I had a talk with Buck. I whispered in his ear “OK, Buck. I just want to get back to this stable alive,” patted him nicely and hopped on. We were going to be on a narrow cliff that had an edge with a 3,000-foot drop or more.

We stopped for a moment to take a break and the guide told us that the horses are so conditioned to these paths, they wouldn’t even need a rider to show them their way since they have been doing this for years. They do the same thing every day, so they could get themselves back to the stable without help if they needed to.

Many of us have been faced with an employee like Buck from time to time. We condition him on the skills to perform day in and day out, year after year. We train people so much that they can do their jobs without us pulling their reins to get them to respond.

Often, there are employees who we feel we are fighting against. They kick, buck back, don’t get along with the others, then run away and create more problems, leaving us to deal with it. Here are some steps to focus on to prevent those negative situations:

Bond with your personnel
We need to take the time to get to know all employees, even if they are stubborn. We spend eight hours a day with them and we expect a lot out of them.

When recruiting, ask situational questions. Put candidates in a scenario to find out if they can solve problems, make decisions and think on their feet. After all, this is what we want them to be able to do on their own. Don’t ask them what their strengths are. Make them show you.

Once they’re your employees, if they continue to be stubborn, have a talk. Praise their good points. Hold them responsible for their negative behaviors.

Show them the way
Talk to them. Train them. Track their progress. You shouldn’t have to be by their side every step of the way for them to perform at their highest level. If you feel they aren’t doing what you expect of them, you have to pull back on the reins a bit and regroup. You are creating leaders.

Express your expectations
Face your challenges, whether they are your people or communication mishaps – you cannot assume your staff thinks like you do. Have productive meetings to see the vision of your managers and communicate effectively with the entire company. Everyone needs to see the vision to reach it.

Reap the rewards
Happy employees will give you happy results. The most important factors that most people want from their work are to feel a sense of purpose and to feel understood, respected and that they are heard.
What are you doing on a daily basis to promote this?

Conclusion 
You put your most important decisions in the hands of your staff on what feels like a cliff with a 3,000-foot drop.
Some days you feel like you are walking on the edge with them. Other days you have confidence they can make it back to the stable on their own.

As for my ride with Buck that day, I talked with him and praised him. Every once in awhile I had to tug him to get back on the right path. We did fine that day and I made it back to the stable safely. I realized we can condition even the most stubborn employees. We may not be able to change them, but we can have a fun and successful ride.