Leading a Horse - Saturday, June 19th, 2010

In a speech, Russell Ballard shared this experience that a friend of his had.

“He had never owned a horse in his life until he married a wonderful woman who loves horses. Wanting to impress his new bride, he announced one evening that he was going to the pasture to teach a colt how to be led. He weighed more than the colt. He knew more than the colt. He assumed all he would need to do was pull on the lead rope and sooner or later the colt would follow. He was confident that the process would be short and simple.

He attached the lead rope to the halter, got in front of the colt, and pulled. The colt resisted. My friend pulled harder, and the colt planted his legs more firmly. So he really pulled, and the colt fell over. The process was repeated several times until my friend made this assessment: in just four or five minutes he had successfully taught the colt to fall over. All he had to do was get in front of the colt, pick up the rope, and over it would go.

His wife, watching this process, finally suggested that instead of getting in front of the colt and pulling, he might try wrapping the rope around the colt and simply walking alongside. To my friend’s chagrin, it worked.

There seems to be something inside each of us that resists being told or pushed or pulled. But if someone puts an arm around a young man and walks alongside him, he is likely to follow.”

This is a great story for parents, coaches, and any leader looking to learn how to better help others.  Not many people will allow you to pull or push them into something.  If it does work, the chance of it working long term is slim.  The bottom-line is that people have to know you care about them before they are willing to listen and follow you. 

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”
— John C. Maxwell

On the reverse side if you are the athlete or person looking for help, choose wisely who you do listen to.  But once you figure out who really cares about you (your parents, coaches, siblings, etc) then LISTEN to them!  Be careful and wise who you choose to follow and once you figure out who to follow….FOLLOW them!

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