I sometimes get asked what my work with horses, coaching, facilitation, and sales performance have to do with each other. They’re the four service lines of my business, Acacia Growth, and on paper they look like a strange mix. But here’s what I’ve discovered over 25 years – there’s one thread running through all of them, connecting every piece of work I do.
Throughout my career, I’ve been on both sides of the fence. As a senior commercial leader, I lived it – I saw where real sales performance broke down. It wasn’t just about skill gaps. It was about mindset, limiting beliefs and a lack of leadership.
I personally experienced coaching that shifted how I showed up. I was lucky enough to have worked with horses and discovered what emotional regulation and presence actually unlock. I watched behaviour change happen – in myself and in the teams around me.
This is why I do this work now and absolutely love it. I’ve lived the proof that connecting deeply with people and catalysing genuine behaviour change is where results actually come from. Not techniques or templates but real human shift.
Leadership is deeply personal. It’s not separate from who you are – it’s an expression of who you are. And here’s what I see with the senior leaders I work with: many are waiting for permission to lead in their own way. Permission to experiment. Permission to make mistakes. Permission to forge their own path.
In my time in senior roles, I didn’t master this. But what I do know is this – you’ve already got that permission. The job title gave it to you. There’s no manual. Leadership isn’t about following a playbook; it’s about understanding yourself deeply enough to show up authentically.
It connects the personal and professional in the most authentic way. When you stop compartmentalising and bring your whole self to leadership – when you move past the fear and the self-doubt – that’s when decision-making gets clearer, and the results follow.
So here’s my question for you: are you leading as the person you actually are, or as who you think you should be? What I’ve discovered – whether it’s in top sales performers or in leaders across organisations – is this: when mindset and behaviour shift, ownership emerges, agency follows and courage shows up.
That’s why I’ve brought together coaching, facilitation, horses, and sales performance – because transformation happens when you understand yourself deeply enough to show up differently. Take control of your own leadership, and the weight lifts. Decisions come more clearly and the results simply follow.
If this resonates, I’d love to explore how we might work together. Drop me an email at: edrenshaw@acaciagrowth.co.uk