The Horse Race As a Leadership Selection Strategy

Horse racing, of chariots and horses ridden by riders, dates back to prehistory. Archaeological records show it took root in ancient Greece, Rome, Babylon, Egypt, and Syria. It is central to Norse mythology, as exemplified by Odin’s contest with the monster Hrungnir. In modern times, many of the world’s most admired companies use a succession “horse race” to choose their next CEO. Despite the concerns of some executives and governance observers, the horse race approach has proven to be an effective leadership selection strategy for corporations that prioritize talent development by rotating high performers through a range of functional assignments and stretch opportunities.

Horse races are grueling for both the horses and their jockeys. The equine athletes weigh up to twelve hundred pounds, have delicate ankles, and are pushed to their limits over a mile-and-a-half course. The runners’ desperate attempts to outrun their rivals give the animals’ lower legs a punishing pounding, straining ligaments, tendons and joints. The horses bleed from the effort, and for decades every thoroughbred in America has been injected with Lasix, a diuretic noted on the racing form with a bold face “L.” It is not only a performance-enhancing drug, but it also helps reduce the risk of pulmonary bleeding that hard running causes in some horses.

Before a race, bettors look at a horse’s coat in the walking ring to see whether it is bright and rippling with muscled excitement. A horse that balks is frightened or angry, and bettors will avoid the mount. At the starting gate, Mongolian Groom balked.

Observers at Santa Anita were worried for the safety of the horse. The management and track veterinarians flooded the race area with vets, equipped with expensive imaging equipment, screening for injuries and a host of possible ailments. The horses were pumped full of cocktail of legal and illegal drugs to mask pain, conceal injury, and improve performance. The stewards, who are charged with the safety of the equine competitors, kept a watchful eye on them throughout the event.

Some political experts liken the tightly wound campaign for a presidential nomination to a horse race, with each candidate chasing his or her rivals in the polls and trying to win over swing voters. A study by Johanna Dunaway and Regina Lawrence, associate dean of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, found that print news stories framed elections as a horse race, particularly in tight races and in weeks leading up to Election Day. That bias, critics say, skews the coverage and underplays third-party candidates and other alternatives.