The Five Roles of a Master Herder - by Linda Kohanov (Paperback)

About the Book

A new approach to leadership rooted in equine-based wisdom and the nonverbal leadership skills of ancient herding cultures

Book Synopsis

Includes Assessment Tool for Analyzing Your Leadership Style and Becoming a Better Leader

In The Five Roles of a Master Herder, Linda Kohanov adapts horse-inspired insights into powerful tools for developing collaborative leadership and managing change. Over thousands of years, Kohanov writes, "master herders" of nomadic herding cultures developed a multi-faceted, socially intelligent form of leadership combining the five roles of Dominant, Leader, Sentinel, Nurturer / Companion, and Predator. The fluid interplay of these roles allowed interspecies communities to move across vast landscapes, dealing with predators and changing climates, protecting and nurturing the herd while keeping massive, gregarious, often aggressive animals together -- without the benefit of fences and with very little reliance on restraints. She includes an innovative assessment tool to help you determine which roles you currently overemphasize and which roles you may be ignoring -- or even actively avoiding. Through this powerful and surprising book, Kohanov will show you how to recognize, cultivate, and utilize all five roles in the modern tribes of your workplace, family, and other social organizations.

Review Quotes

"The Five Roles of a Master Herder will amaze and delight anyone interested in why humans in positions of leadership behave the way they do."
-- Juli Lynch, PhD, president of Turning Pointe Coaching and Consulting

"A seminal masterpiece, Linda Kohanov's The Five Roles of a Master Herder . . . clearly defines how nonpredatory power can lead to an evolved level of emotional heroism and the genuinely empathetic emotional intelligence needed to heal a world suffering a crisis of predatory leaders."
-- Chris Irwin, author of Dancing with Your Dark Horse

"An innovative and practical nature-based approach to leadership -- and life. This book is not just for corporate executives. Parents, teachers, community organizers, film directors, and especially politicians would all benefit from learning these skills."
-- William Shatner, actor, director, and author of Leonard and Up Till Now

"As a trauma specialist, I help people recover from abuse and criminal acts. Over the years, I've learned that empowered families are crucial to protecting their loved ones to begin with, for helping survivors of extreme experiences heal, and for leading the kind of cultural change that prevents violence. The Five Roles of a Master Herder provides a template for all adults to reclaim their power and use it wisely, at work and, perhaps more importantly, at home."
-- Rebecca Bailey, PhD, psychologist and author of Safe Kids, Smart Parents

About the Author

Through her Eponaquest Worldwide, established to explore the healing potential of working with horses, Linda Kohanov teaches internationally on subjects including leadership, social intelligence, and stress reduction. She lives near Tucson, Arizona.