communication

…has much more impact on people than we often think they would or wouldn’t.

Here’s another “airport story” that - at least for my part - proved one of our beliefs to be true: they way you phrase something - the worst or best news - can change a person’s day quite a bit.

Here we are, coming in late with one flight, boarding for the next flight already starting when we’re not even on the bus to the terminal yet. One woman next to me gets really nervous and asks the bus driver if she even has the lightest chance to catch her connection. The bus driver remains calm, asks her about her gate and then says that she shouldn’t worry since it’s really just up the stairs and a few yards and she’ll make that distance within a few minutes. One could see that she was still worried, but feeling slightly better since the bus driver was showing a very positive attitude and encouraged her to not worry.

A few minutes later - my next flight was basically about to leave when I got off the bus - I asked the Lufthansa assistant whether I was able to catch that flight or if she had some advice. The only comment she made was “run up the stairs and ask at the other desk, they’ll be able to tell you more”. I felt like an idiot, not only disappointed about the poor customer service, but also about the lack of “mental support”, felt a sudden drain of my energy, frustration and no desire to head up the stairs and run like a goof through the terminals; I’d never make it to my flight…;  due to my responsibilities though, I couldn’t afford to miss the flight and started to run, arrived breathless at the gate and just made it to the plane.

While starting to relax and breathe deeply again in my seat, I thought about what just happened and realized, how happy that other woman must have been to just hear some encouraging words (even if she didn’t make it to the plane or had to walk at a faster pace to the next gate). She had at least much more of that positive spirit and energy in her, with a great deal of hope that she’ll reach her destination.

It’s so important how you approach people, how you tell them critical things, how you inform them about sad or bad issuess, how you can still generate some positive energy within the worst situation.

At our open house on November 7, participants had the opportunity to feel what it’s like to communicate and be successful.

As conscious beings, horses have a great capacity for independent thinking; social relationships; individual personalities; physical, intellectual and emotional abilities and, of course, limitations (just like humans!). Because of these similarities to humans (and the profound differences) horses make wonderful partners for initiating powerful change. Horses have no investment in the outcome of an interaction; they always tell the truth, they have no egos and no agendas. They are simply who and what they are, without any need for right and wrong.

This makes the information we get from them very powerful.

Participants at our open house had the opportunity to feel for themselves the power of functioning communication and learn what it takes to make communication work. Intention, focus, energy, relationship, trust and respect were some of the issues we discussed and tried out first hand with the horses.

Working with horses simulates situations we face in our everyday professional and private lives.

We all have a continual string of tasks and desires we wish to complete and various persons we wish to do this with. Each person is different and each task requires a new approach.

Our success in any endeavor is largely dependent on our ability to interact successfully with others. If we are able to create positive, motivating and clear interactions then we are much more likely to reach our goals.

Many participants were surprised how the horses responded to them and how quickly they reacted to changes and adjustments. It really is fascinating how accurately horses respond to us. It gives us the chance to examine our own professional and personal interactions and gives us the key for future success.