Are You Ready to Go Bigger? Maybe Even Fly?
If you have been following the Fortunato Files, you won’t be surprised I am learning a brand new thing. (As always, it turns out to be less about dressage and more about living and leading.)
I smelled trouble when my trainer, Erin Bell, recently appeared carrying a lunge line. We only use the line when we are about to do something big and scary. (Incidentally, the bigger it is, the more excited Erin gets. On this day she was literally beaming.)
Erin loves breakthroughs and knows how to create them. Sometimes she’ll even ‘sneak up’ on you with a break through, by breaking BIG things into small steps. Before realizing it, you are actually doing it!
We started with the normal warm up, get organized routines. Fortunato relaxed and went to work. I did too. What used to be difficult and frustrating, now comes more naturally and quickly. (It’s wonderful to think about how far we have come.)
Then it happened. Erin walked over with the line. “Are you ready to go bigger?”
I gulped and vowed in my heart to be brave.
“Yes. I am ready.”
Then the lesson arrived.
“If you want to go bigger and get to the canter, you need to sit back, relax and get out of Fortunato’s way. Your tension constricts his movement. It blocks his energy.”
I will never forget the surge of my first canter. It was exhilarating, like flying! PURE JOY!
It was also counter intuitive. To go bigger, I needed to work less and relax more. This has me thinking about life and leadership.
- How is fear and tension constricting you or your team?
- How are you putting yourself out there (willing to be the student)?
- What are you clutching too tightly?
- As leaders, how do we manufacture the circumstances (and confidence) for others to take risks, be brave and lift off?
- How are we setting people up for greater success?
- How do we break BIG achievements into a series of small, confidence-building wins?
- What ‘lines’ can we use to create exhilarating experiences?
