Sarah Readings

Blue Sky has been successfully delivering coaching programmes, individual and team coaching and leadership development within public and private sector organisations for many years. During this time one of the most challenging elements of developing individuals and teams is finding the type of experiential learning that can help people see the theory in practice.

Since teaming up with Learning to Listen I have found the perfect channel for allowing people to work through their experiences in a unique environment away from the politics and pressures of the workplace.

Working through set exercises with the horses in the field allows for authentic, immediate feedback and with that comes an accelerated level of learning. The horses provide a mirror that allows people to see their unique interaction with their environment and how their values are being skewed by everything that is going on around them at work.

Participants in coaching can often hold back their true feelings in their work environment and by moving away from familiar territory it is possible to inspire honest communication, often with dramatic results.

Understand your personal values and you will begin to discover the barriers that stand between you and your own success as well as your role in the successful growth of your organisation.

Russel Hobbs

It’s been four years since I took my first senior management team to the Yorkshire countryside for a Leadership development and teambuilding exercise but they still talk about the experience regularly.

I was looking for something that moved away from the traditional team building exercises, something different. What I found was Learning to Listen, one of the UK’s first specialists in Equine Facilitated Leadership Training, where exercises with horses are used to improve communication.

I knew I wasn’t being as effective as I could be as a leader and there were personality issues and an absence of an in-depth understanding of each other within my top team. Nothing I could really put my finger on but we weren’t being as effective as we could be.

On the first day I felt the need to keep an eye on everyone in the team as they worked through the exercises led by equine assisted training expert Sarah Kreutzer. I felt the need to organise people and make sure they were doing things properly. I quickly learnt that I didn’t really need to do that at all because my team were perfectly capable of working things out for themselves.

That was my biggest lesson on the three day course, which proved to be a very personal journey for both myself and everyone taking part. I realised that it’s not about what you do as a leader, it’s about what you don’t do. If you have given direction and leadership and ensured your people have the environment to do the job you  can leave them to get on with it. That knowledge in itself pushed me up a gear as I discovered the power of leading from behind. Back in the office I started to focus on further empowering my team, giving them advice, support and guidance and realised that they could achieve great things.

Since then I’ve been back to Learning to Listen with other senior management teams and every time the results have been dramatic. Everyone has come up a level and there’s a deeper level of understanding amongst my staff than I could ever have thought possible. Feedback from the team was universally positive and a number of the team have experienced very personal journeys whilst on the course which has led to more awareness of each others capabilites, more focus and improved results.

How has it changed the business? Empowering my team freed me up to be more effective in the running of the business and enabled me to have more strategic focus. We developed a great team ethos and I haven’t lost a single member of my team in four years. We’ve seen a clearly identifiable improvement in service delivery and KPIs and we’ve been successful in gaining a string of external accreditations including Investors in People, Investors in Excellence, British Safety Council Awards and ISO 9001 and 14001 accreditation. This was all underpinned by an improvement in financial performance. Team coaching has improved the performance and quality of the organisation and changed the way we operate.

Broadgate Chiropractic Clinic

Debbie Shaw, Clinic Manager, Broadgate Chiropractic Clinic, Leeds

Debbie’s husband is a chiropractor and Debbie runs the chiropractic clinic, dealing with everything from accounts and administration to marketing and staff management.
How did you feel before you came to Learning to Listen?

Absolute fear. I’d had a nasty experience with a horse as a child and I was terrified about being around horses but I was also excited because I knew I’d be learning something new. I really didn’t know what to expect and couldn’t imagine how it would help me but I was willing to give it a go. I had recently taken on extra responsibility at work and had to step up to take on more of a leadership role within the practice.

What happened on the day?

The biggest thing that happened was that I overcame my fear. I was working with a lovely horse that had been treated badly so I had empathy for it and developed a real connection with it. I quickly became less fearful which really surprised me. I didn’t think I’d be able to go near a horse all day. When we tackled tasks as a team, for example trying to persuade a horse to walk into a marked out space, it was interesting to see how everyone naturally adopted their own management styles. Some people took control whereas others didn’t get as involved. I took up a supportive role, making sure I had things covered from the rear and that the gates had been closed behind us, as I had had a powerful lesson about setting up your environment for success earlier in the day. Observing others and recognising how I reacted to different situations under pressure helped me to learn a lot about myself and other people.

What impact has the corporate training at Learning to Listen had on you and your business?

The day made me realise how much energy I waste on leading from the front. Leading from the back allows for so much more clarity and allows me to see what’s happening and react to it at the earliest opportunity. I find I step back a lot more and leave my staff to do things for themselves, only stepping in if I feel I need to. It’s also made me take more notice of how people who work for me may be feeling. It’s important to take time to understand what might be going on for a person and the things that are stopping them from doing their job properly. They might be frightened or there may be things to take into account from their past. It’s important to listen to what a person is trying to tell you when they are not doing their job to their full capabilities. Managing people involves getting to know their own styles of working and strengths.

How would you describe your Learning to Listen experience to others?

The things I learnt about myself, my role at work and my relationships with everyone in my life are still percolating through after what was a very powerful experience. I would encourage anyone to try it because it helps you understand yourself and others. The fact that you are not in your normal work environment means you’re off guard and respond more honestly to situations. You find out your natural strengths because there is no pretence or expectation to behave in a certain way. The way Sarah runs the day is also very powerful. She is feeding back to you constantly throughout, asking questions and referring what you are doing back to the way you behave in the workplace. She would comment on the way I was handling a situation and ask if that was how I dealt with things in my job. She comments and feeds back on every single move you make and helps you to understand how that relates to business.

Randisi Textile Recycling Ltd

Gillian and Joseph Randisi
Husband and wife owners of Randisi Textile Recycling Ltd

Gillian and Joseph run a textile recycling business, processing 50 tonnes of clothing a week, most of which come from charity shops and are then sent to be used as clothing in developing countries.

The couple lived in Italy before setting up their business in Leeds 12 years ago. It has been operating from Leeds Road in the centre of Bradford for the past 10 years and employs 25 to 30 staff.

How did you feel before you came to Learning to Listen?
Gillian: I was very apprehensive. I like horses but I’ve never ridden one and I really didn’t know what to expect. I knew I was going to be there with a group of people I’d never met before and I was worried about making a fool of myself. I was glad my husband was with me so I knew there was at least one familiar face. Most of all I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to do the things I was going to be asked to do and I wasn’t clear about why we were going and what we would get out of it.

What happened on the day?
Joseph: We carried out lots of exercises with the horses that helped us to understand how to deal with different situations. One involved trying to get the horses to follow us without touching them. I never dreamt I’d be able to do the things I managed  to achieve on that day and it has given me a lot more confidence. It also taught me a lot about myself and about how to lead my own team at work. I discovered how much more effective it can be to lead from behind, showing people what to do and giving them an end goal. All these years I’ve been rushing around trying to lead from the front, doing most of the work myself and it’s exhausting.

What impact has the corporate training at Learning to Listen had on you and your business?
Gillian: We started making changes to the way we work immediately. The first thing we did when we got back to the factory was to talk to the supervisors to explain their role to them. We understood that it was easy for people to feel frustrated if they hadn’t been told what to do or what is expected of them. We have done some goal setting work with the staff and are going to make sure we are behind them, supporting them and giving them the freedom to get on with their jobs.

Joseph: We also recognised that there was a lot we could do to improve communication between us and our staff. For many of the people who work for us English is not their first language so communication can be difficult but there are ways we can overcome this. We plan to spend more time with them so that we can all get to know each other better and have regular weekly or monthly meetings so that everyone has a chance to talk about things that are on their mind.

How would you describe your Learning to Listen experience to others?
Gillian: It was a life changing experience and if anyone has the opportunity to take part in a corporate training session at Learning to Listen I would urge them to do it. They won’t regret it.