Horse Mouth Humility

According to a an online source called The Phrase Finder, the best tips in horse racing came from the inner circle of trainers and stable lads. If you wanted to know which horse stood the best chance of winning a race, you’d better ask someone who’d spent time with the horses often and recently. That leaves only one better source…

So in the world of second and third hand information distribution, I’ve began to wonder if we are as hungry as the horse gamblers. Should we be so naive as to think those dudes never looked around to the left and right and then tried baiting the beasts into a little light banter? The gambler is ruthless and desperate for an advantage and that advantage comes from knowing and not guessing.

The longer I work the more I witness that it takes quiet strength to embrace the difficult conversations necessary to lead. Proactive conversation is just as valuable as honest conversation. It means you initiate the tough dialogue, the kind that stems from a corrective and passionate heart but that can be irrevocably ruinous. Going to the horse’s mouth is a brave stride to step over impediments to direct communication. In the midst of the noise between sender and receiver stands a leader armed with a choice to settle for hearsay or indulge confrontation. The horse’s mouth is not without risk of injury, rebuke and escalation. But it’s the true mark of a leader desperate for the benefit that truth can offer the team members for whom he or she is responsible.