Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Model for Socially Intelligent Leadership

Linda Kohanov, author of the bestselling The Tao of Equus, pioneered a deep understanding of “the way of the horse,” including the extraordinary nonverbal communication of skilled riders and the collaborative power of “herding cultures” through the centuries. She has adapted this profound, time-tested approach to modern life and the organizations in which top-down management hierarchies have become obsolete. Detailing the five roles of “master herders”—Dominant, Leader, Sentinel, Nurturer/Companion, Predator—she shows readers how to recognize and utilize them in the “modern tribes” of our workplaces and other social organizations. Richly nuanced and yet wonderfully practical, this model facilitates the mobility, adaptability, and innovation essential today, and allows groups to achieve goals, overcome obstacles, and sustain one another with the powerful grace exemplified by skilled horse and rider.