Leadership Lessons from Zenyatta
Zenyatta. Rhymes with Pinata, sounds like a town in Greece, or the restaurant down the street from my office in Washington, DC. Zenyatta is a racehorse. I saw a 60 Minutes episode one week before the 2010 Breeders Cup. By the end of the 60 minute segment I felt like an 8 year old girl--once again in love with horses. This time the horse had a name. One week after that 60 minutes segment on Zenyatta my husband and I stayed around the house all day anticipating 6:45 pm when the Breeder’s Cup Classic race would begin. I was giddy! We watched all the pre-race coverage about this extraordinary mare who had won the hearts of her owners, her trainer, the jockey who would ride her and millions of others who only knew of her story. We heard the announcers talk about some of the other horses in the race. They did a segment here and there about the other horses (Quality Road, Blame) but far and away the airtime went to Zenyatta.
The race begins. Zenyatta is dead last…I mean like no way she will ever win this race. I think something has gone terribly wrong. Maybe it is the dirt course she hadn’t run on before, maybe she was hurt, maybe she couldn’t keep up with the guys. And then, from nowhere, this magical animal begins to close the gap. Closer and closer to the pack. She passes every other horse until she is upon Blame, the leader. They are close to the end of the race…I am now literally jumping up and down in my living room cheering for this horse I have only known of for one week. They are just yards from the finish line – my fists are clenched and I’m yelling at the TV. And then it’s over. Blame wins by a nose – literally.
For a moment I am sad. I sit quietly watching the TV coverage show somber faces of Zenyatta’s owners, trainer, and the jockey who seemed to love her as if she was part of him. And then, I was no longer sad. I smiled. I knew nothing about Blame, the horse who won. And, I didn’t care about Blame. I wasn’t interested in Blame. He certainly would be named horse of the year. I only knew there was something spectacularly special about Zenyatta that would stick with me forever. Even as I write this I have an overwhelming sense of inspiration – from a horse I don’t know who didn’t win the Breeder’s Cup Classic.
While there is much written about, and many people who use horses as part of leadership coaching and leadership development programs, there is something profoundly clear and simple to me about what leaders have to learn from Zenyatta. If Zenyatta were teaching a course on leadership she might say:
- Love what you do – it will show (if you know this horse you see she dances before a race)
- Give 110% - no matter what (even if you are a hundred yards behind the pack leaders)
- Let people care about you and care for them in return (you will touch and inspire them and while you may loose a race once in while you’ll get better results in the long term)
- Give up the notion that in order to be the best you have to win (Blame won the race but Zenyatta captured the hearts of race (and non-race) fans everywhere
- The “it” factor matters – on paper Zenyatta was not favored to win – experts bet against her to win the race – yet Zenyatta will likely be remembered as one of the greatest horses in history.
How do you want to be known as a leader? Do you want to be the leader who wins the race or wins people’s hearts? What do you think matters most in a leader?
If you missed the race, you can watch it here:
The 60 Minutes episode is here:
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