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Horse Whispering

Horse Whispering

Organizer: Spring Partnerships

Cost: £1000 sterling (about $4,000) per person
Length: One day
Past clients: Carlsberg (CARLB.CO), Winkworth, Norbert Dentressangle (GNDP.PA)

Horses react and respond to body language, not verbal commands—just as employees respond better to what they see and sense in their leaders rather than what leaders say. At least that's the thinking behind the corporate horse whispering program at Spring Partnerships, a one-day course where executives learn how to get a horse to follow them around a paddock. "The horse has that trust in you as a leader," says Stephen Archer, co-founder and director of the Britain-based outfit. "If you get your body communication wrong, in a nanosecond the horse will look at you and [seem to] say, 'He doesn't know what he's doing. I'm out.'" To managers who have hesitated in the past, he adds, this lesson resonates.