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  • Published: 1 January 2018
  • ISBN: 9781576754504
  • Imprint: Berrett-Koehler
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 144
  • RRP: $49.99

Ten Thousand Horses



Matt James is in trouble. Recently promoted to head his division, he’s delivered two years of divisional losses in clients, market share, and profits. He knows his workers are talented and creative, but they don’t respond to his efforts to lead them, and he’s on the brink of being fired. In desperation, he reaches out to an old mentor, David Butler, who now works with wild mustang horses and hard-to-place foster children on a ranch in Colorado. David agrees to work with his former student but only on the condition that Matt comes to him—to the ranch. Matt has no idea what the ranch could possibly have to do with his problems, but David assures him that if he spends some time there, he’ll learn exactly what he needs to know.

Through David’s unorthodox tutelage, Matt discovers that leaders who succeed in engaging their workers do so because they see their day-to-day work as an opportunity to build an organizational culture of engagement. The engagement model is illuminated as Matt comes to understand its components piece by piece—and ultimately discovers how to engage those on his team and in his life.

In this inspiring leadership fable, John Stahl-Wert and Ken Jennings draw on their years of experience as consultants and chief executives, as well as on findings from Gallup’s groundbreaking Q12 survey of 4 million workers from 360,000 workgroups, to lay out an innovative leadership model that will turn employees from dutiful drones to committed contributors. But Ten Thousand Horses is also a story of personal transformation. Beyond specific practices and techniques, Matt must learn a whole new way of relating to his employees—because, as he discovers, leading an engaged workforce is as much about who you are as what you do.

  • Published: 1 January 2018
  • ISBN: 9781576754504
  • Imprint: Berrett-Koehler
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 144
  • RRP: $49.99

About the authors

Ken Jennings

Ken Jennings was born in Seattle but spent much of his childhood in Seoul, South Korea. A graduate of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, he worked as a computer programmer until becoming an unlikely celebrity due to his unprecedented record-breaking streak on the television quiz show Jeopardy! He lives outside Salt Lake City with his wife and son. For more information, visit www.ken-jennings.com.

Praise for Ten Thousand Horses

Ten Thousand Horses brings us a stirring message of the power of trust, of love, and of hope at a time when building trust is the greatest challenge before us. We are grateful for this new resource on ‘how to be a leader’ for leaders across the sectors.” —Frances Hesselbein, Founder and President, Leader to Leader Institute Ten Thousand Horses is vitally important for leaders who want to bring out the very best in their people. Stahl-Wert and Jennings have given us another deeply moving story that offers sure-footed guidance for becoming the kind of leader people want to follow. Read this book!" —Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager® “This is a book I couldn’t put down. A book aimed at the heart, where all good leadership starts. Stahl-Wert and Jennings have integrated leadership, wisdom, the pain of unadopted youngsters, and the power of forgiveness—all courageously suffused in a lovely story.” —Max De Pree, Member of Fortune magazine’s Hall of Fame and author of the bestselling Leadership Is an Art “I thought I would scan the book out of courtesy, got hooked, and couldn’t put it down until I had read the whole thing, made some notes, and memorized portions. It made me really want to take care of issues I am facing in my real life. The [book] is filled with gold. I want to thank God for using you to show how to take action with a plan.” —Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier, football legend, actor, author, and minister “In this seminal work, the authors combine kids, horses, and serving leaders to reveal powerful truths that can change lives worldwide. What could be better than Ten Thousand Horses—all charging in the right direction?” —Laurie Beth Jones, author of Jesus CEO; The Path; and The Four Elements of Success