The Herd

Running across the open plain, a dark horse is captivated by sunlight shining through an apparition in the clouds. Pausing briefly, he gathers confidence in his unique talent and wisdom, preparing to accept a leadership role when he rejoins the herd.

 

The entire community benefits when we trade leadership roles according to who’s calmest, most precise, and most creative in a given situation.

Consensual leadership is not a job description. It’s an improvisation. To be confident in your dreams and talents while remaining responsive to the needs and gifts of others, you must check your ego at the gate.

 

In a horse herd, social behaviour fits the pecking order concept, and plenty of behaviour does not. Horses that seem to be in charge for the long term can lose their authority in a split second.

 

Domesticated horses afraid of humans cannot act the alpha in all situations; they’ll hang toward the back, missing the tasty treats and massages that people-friendly companions rush forward to secure. If someone knocks a gate down and the herd runs off at midnight, members of the herd will look to the most trail-savvy herd for direction, especially when something rustles in the bushes.

 

In these equine communities, what an individual knows about, what he cares about, or what he’s calm about determines leadership, as all members have some talent, drive, or experience the value of the other or, at times, defer to. Consensual leadership seems to be a more appropriate term than pecking order.

 

If you propose to create an authentic community where people’s true feelings, talents, dreams, and motivations are acknowledged, you have to head in this general direction.

 

No leader knows everything. To convince your followers otherwise is dishonest, requiring increasing levels of posturing, deception, and, finally, intimidation. Yet it takes powerful self-esteem and discernment to conceive of others taking the lead now and then without letting them dominate you.

 

Basically, you have to maintain good boundaries without feeling the need to order everyone else around—or to be seen as the expert in all possible situations.

 

Consensual leadership draws on the wisdom and sentience

 of the entire herd. Way of the horse Oracle Cards.