The Equine Perspective: A Women’s Leadership Retreat scheduled for August 22-24
The retreat, facilitated by Julie Puentes and Jennifer Combs of the Austin, Texas-based Bridges Solutions, is designed to help women improve relationships, communication skills and decision-making abilities to truly embody the “art of leadership” through an equine-assisted learning process.
The equine experience is a pioneering approach to learning that includes partnering with horses to create circumstances that mirror real life and teaches the power of being “in the moment”. The retreat will focus on accessing and developing authentic leadership style, communication – both verbal and nonverbal – and create an understanding of how one’s life history contributes to their perspectives and decision-making style.
Over the course of the two days, participants will take part in both horse and non-horse exercises and in-depth discussions. For example, one of the activities involves the participant working with a horse in a round pen to achieve specific goals and work in partnership with the horse. The pen, horse and task create a situation that serves as a teaching metaphor for the workplace.
“Participants are often struck with how much can be said, communicated and understood through non-verbal cues and how a lack of this awareness can severely undermine their ability to lead or build consensus,” said Puentes, owner of Bridges Solutions and a certified facilitator of Equine-Assisted Leadership Development
Future retreats – for both men and women – are planned for
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