What a pony taught 15 State Secretaries about leading Gen Z
- Emma Costin
- Nov 11
- 2 min read
Most leadership programs have slides.
We have horses.
Fifteen senior government leaders stepped into our arena this month to explore what it really means to influence, build trust, and lead through change.
The challenge sounded simple:
Work together to move two horses towards a shared goal.
Here’s what happened instead.
Astro, the older and calmer horse, was easy to guide — steady, quick to connect, and willing to follow the group’s lead. He stood patiently during the session, calm and compliant.
The younger pony was the opposite — restless, calling out to her friend behind a wall, distracted by something unseen.
At first, the leaders were quick to judge.
“She’s difficult to work with.” “Astro’s easier. He just follows.”
Then the conversation shifted.
They began to see Astro as the older generation — reliable, cooperative, already trusting of leadership.
The pony, though, came to represent Gen Z — influenced by peers and outside factors we might not fully understand, and less likely to follow until trust is earned.
That’s when the real reflection began.
They started asking bigger questions:
What is Gen Z worried about that we’re not seeing?
What fears and pressures are shaping how they show up?
How can leaders earn trust in a generation that values authenticity over authority?
The focus quickly moved from “why isn’t she following?” to “what are we missing in how we lead?”
It stopped being about the horses and became about leadership itself — about the mindset shift required to move from control to connection, and to lead at the pace the world is changing.
As one participant wrote afterwards:
“Be kind-hearted and genuine — they can feel you.”
That moment captured it perfectly.
Leadership, like trust, can’t be faked.
It has to be felt.
Our horses are specialists in bringing leadership lessons to life — not in theory, but through real, lived experience.
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