What Round pen Training Can Teach You About Team Building

I’ll bet that you are really waiting to see how I will pull this story off with a business twist.

It is all about communication. When to listen and what to listen to. And by listen I don’t necessarily mean with your ears. To truly listen to someone, you need to take in everything in that situation. When you learn to do that, you will have your blueprint for a building team.

This is real round pen training. I am going to give you an example of what successful horse trainers know, that unsuccessful trainers never see. How to know what the horse is saying. This psychology is not limited to horses. If you pay close attention you will see how this same psychology can be used in your recruiting.

So here’s how to recruit a horse… I mean prospect.

There are three things in general I look for the very first time I put a new horse in the round pen. Learn to work with these three things, and you’ll be able to put a rider on the horse the very first day. If not, the rider better be able to hang on.

I like to let the horse spend a little time alone in the pen before I join him. The very first thing I want the horse to know is there is no way out. Now some of your more spirited prospects will take this time

to try and climb the fence. The best thing to do is let them. To this day I have never seen a horse climb out of a 6 ft high round pen.

People feel the same way. Their first instinct is flight. What you need to do is put them in the pen. Let them see that the world revolves around one business or the other. There is nowhere to run, and no way to climb out. They can let you lead them to financial freedom, or they can keep their job at the factory. Either way, they’re in the pen.

Next, psychology kicks in. I begin to run the horse around the pen, never touching him, but aggressively moving him in the direction I choose. By pushing him away from me, keeping him tight to the fence, something begins to change in this horses mindset. Instead of becoming more afraid, a flight animal will do just the opposite, cutting the pen, running closer to the center, where you are.

How do you accomplish this with your prospects?

After you have shown them they are in the pen one way or another, you switch to a qualifying position. I mean this literally. Be selective with your team and be completely honest. Make a list of what you want in a team member, and make sure each prospect qualifies. If you are true to this, they will see it, and they will want to qualify.

After the horse cuts the pen, you can back down a little and be less aggressive. This is very important because the horse has to be calm to give you his next piece of the conversation. He cuts the pen as a way of telling you that he doesn’t want to run; he is ready to listen. The next thing is very important, and you must be paying attention.

Once the horse settles down, and gets comfortable with you, he will begin to chew (don’t get hung up on this. It’s just what horses do. Moving on…). You have to be paying attention, this is your queue to slow down a little more and step a little further back, but not letting the horse stop. Keeping your trailing arm out as you follow will keep him moving.

It doesn’t matter what he is chewing on

With the horse, if you watch closely, you will see him chewing. With your prospect on the phone, this might be a turn to a light-hearted remark. In person it could be as subtle as leaning closer in on the table, or beginning to hold eye contact in conversation. Look for the small things most people miss. The signs that they are becoming comfortable with you.

The last thing now, is very simple. You wait for the horse to submit. Follow slowly behind from center (that makes more sense if you’re watching it) until the horse drops it’s head. When you see that, stand. As soon as the horse stops moving walk all the way up to it’s head and then turn away before you get to him. When you walk away the horse will follow.

This is the most important queue and maybe the hardest to recognize with your prospects. If you don’t wait on the horse to bow, he will not follow. If you wait to long, the moment is lost. With people, this is significant, as you will not likely be able to run them around the pen again. If you’re looking beyond what others will, you will see that moment. The moment your prospect is sold.

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So now you have a team of horses

Can you see the significance in that. If I didn’t know what the horse was saying to me, I could run him for hours and make absolutely no real progress. I would have to wear the horse down until he didn’t have the energy to resist. Or just fight it and put a saddle bronc rider on. The problem with a colt, if you ever let it buck once, it now knows how.

Recruiting is easy when you know the psychology. Put these tactics to work and I guarantee you better results with your recruiting and team building.

P.S.  Join the conversation… leave your comments in the box. And don’t forget to share this with your friends. Who knows, they might be planning to buy a horse… or a business.

Thanks,

Chris Owen