Pressure and release. Those two actions along with a well developed empathy and self confidence are the tools of modern trainers of horses, dogs and other animals. Rather than taking an old school approach of ‘breaking’ an animal in order to control it, the new methods rely on stress management to produce the desired results quicker and easier. Trainers find they can get as much from releasing pressure as they can from applying it; provided the chosen action is in line with what the animal needs in order behave as desired. A top horse whisper once said he alternates pressure and release hundreds of times in getting a frightened wild horse to be saddled and rode in about an hour. To get that rapid result he must understand the signals from the horse indicating whether pressure should be applied or released.
The most successful leaders understand and apply a very similar concept with employees. Top leaders know their people and while one may need more challenge another may need relief and time to recover from a demanding project load. Great leaders have performance expectations that align with the employee’s capability to deliver and they know how to get peak performance from each person to fully utilize their capability. They know harnessing each individual’s intrinsic motivation to do their job is much more powerful than exerting power over them with fear and rewards.
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