There’s a growing trend in the workplace that’s hard to ignore: parents are becoming increasingly involved in their adult children’s careers. From helping with applications to sitting in on interviews and even contacting employers. At what point does helping someone succeed begin to prevent them from learning how to succeed on their own?

In this conversation on the Leading with Instinct podcast, Katie Navarra-Bradley, Professional Facilitator and Leadership Coach with Katie the Coach, and Ginny Telego, President of Collaboration Partners, take a look at what happens inside a horse herd as younger members learn how to navigate boundaries, relationships, mistakes and uncertainty.

Rather than protecting young horses from every uncomfortable experience, older horses provide guidance, correction and protection when it’s truly needed.

Support doesn’t have to mean stepping in and solving the problem. Sometimes it means opening a door, asking good questions, allowing someone to experience disappointment or failure, and giving them safe opportunities to make decisions on their own.

Takeaways

— Support without taking over. Helping someone find an opportunity is different from navigating it for them.

— Let failure teach. Disappointment and rejection can build resilience when people are allowed to work through them.

— Create safe independence. Give younger employees opportunities to make real decisions before the stakes become higher.

— Correct, then move forward. Good feedback provides guidance without repeatedly reliving the mistake.

— Challenge stereotypes. Don’t assume younger workers want someone else making decisions for them.

— Prepare for uncertainty. Resilience comes from learning how to handle unfamiliar situations, not rehearsing every possible one.

— Know when to protect. Strong leaders recognize the difference between a growth opportunity and a situation requiring intervention.

The Leading With Instinct Podcast is brought to you by Collaboration Partners and KatieTheCoach.com.

Chapters

00:39 Introduction

02:30 Helicopter Parenting

11:33 Helpful Parental Roles

15:39 Lessons Learned from “Parental” Horses

21:07 AI’s Impact on Younger Workers

24:33 Lessons Learned from Young Horses

29:00 Understanding the Real Needs of Generation Z

33:05 Setting Boundaries

Helpful Links:

Katie Navarra-Bradley, Katie The Coach: https://katiethecoach.com/

Ginny Telego, Collaboration Partners: https://www.thecollaborationpartners.com/

Disruption has become a constant companion for many leaders. Whether it's uncertainty in the marketplace, changes inside an organization, or challenges at home, the question isn't how to eliminate disruption. It's how to remain steady when it arrives. Nature may offer a better answer than we realize.

In this conversation on the Leading with Instinct podcast, Katie Navarra-Bradley, Professional Facilitator and Leadership Coach with Katie the Coach, and Ginny Telego, President of Collaboration Partners, discuss relaxed readiness. Horses instinctively stay calm, alert, and prepared without living in a constant state of anxiety. Leaders can learn from this example

Horses naturally assess a threat, respond appropriately, and quickly return to grazing once the danger has passed. Ginny and Katie connect these observations to neuroscience, burnout, decision-making, emotional contagion, and leadership effectiveness to help you navigate uncertainty, make wiser decisions, and create calmer, more resilient teams.

Takeaways

— Leadership can’t eliminate uncertainty; But leadership is about developing the ability to stay calm and prepared within it.

— Horses demonstrate that true readiness comes from awareness and discernment, not constant tension or hypervigilance.

— Leaders who continually replay stressful events drain the energy needed to respond effectively to the challenges that truly matter.

— Emotional regulation is contagious. A leader's ability to remain grounded directly influences the confidence and stability of the people around them.

— Burnout often begins when we lose the ability to "return to grazing" after disruption, allowing stress to become our permanent state.

— Preparation creates confidence. Being ready for difficult situations allows leaders to respond thoughtfully instead of reacting emotionally.

— Relaxed readiness is a leadership practice that grows stronger every time we notice our stress, regulate it, and return to our best thinking.

The Leading With Instinct Podcast is brought to you by Collaboration Partners and KatieTheCoach.com.

Chapters:

00:56 Readiness During Forest Fires

08:56 Three Stages of Readiness

13:24 Get Back to Grazing

17:33 Relaxed Readiness Defined

24:58 Wired with a Negativity Bias

31:22 Examples from the Arena

37:10 Horses Release Stress Quickly

38:32 Can We Find That Reset?

39:01 Responding to Disruption

Helpful Links:

Katie Navarra-Bradley, Katie The Coach: https://katiethecoach.com/

Ginny Telego, Collaboration Partners: https://www.thecollaborationpartners.com/

What does a leader look like? Who are leaders choosing to develop? Many organizations still rely on assumptions about ability, and about who looks like a leader, unintentionally overlooking people whose experiences may have developed exactly the skills modern leadership requires.

In this conversation on the Leading with Instinct podcast, Katie Navarra-Bradley, Professional Facilitator and Leadership Coach with Katie the Coach, and Ginny Telego, President of Collaboration Partners, explore a question that began with a challenge: How can equine-assisted leadership programs become more inclusive for people with different physical abilities?

his episode is a deep examination of leadership pipelines, workplace assumptions, and who gets invited into opportunities for growth.

Drawing parallels between herd dynamics and human organizations, they discuss how horses assess safety without judgment and why humans often default to assumptions rather than curiosity. The strongest leaders pause long enough to question assumptions, ask better questions, and create space for people to contribute in ways that align with their strengths.

Takeaways

— Leadership potential is often hidden behind assumptions about capability.

— Curiosity is more valuable than certainty when evaluating people.

— Inclusion begins with conversation, not accommodation.

— Horses respond to authenticity before appearance.

— Quiet leadership qualities are often overlooked.

— Discernment requires pausing long enough to question assumptions.

— Value does not disappear simply because someone contributes differently.

The Leading With Instinct Podcast is brought to you by Collaboration Partners and KatieTheCoach.com.

Chapters

00:29 Introduction

02:04 Inclusion of Employees with Disabilities

06:05 Disabled Horses in the Herd

10:56 Creating Opportunities

18:09 Making Assumptions

21:47 Developing Partnerships

25:58 Shifting Perspectives and Perceptions

28:18 Rethinking Inclusion Options

32:19 Takeaways and Final Thoughts

Helpful Links:

Katie Navarra-Bradley, Katie The Coach: https://katiethecoach.com/

Ginny Telego, Collaboration Partners: https://www.thecollaborationpartners.com/