Dogs teach me important lessons about leadership.
Though I do not live with an actual dog of my own, I meet canine mentors while walking around. It is educational to watch dogs leading their people around town. Some of them are even able to persuade their people to carry them.
This week, not entirely by my own choice, I am learning from dogs at a televised show. It is a little like watching dog TED talks on leadership.
We know about alpha dogs. Many breeds of dogs have been developed to perform particular tasks. Some dogs were bred to pursue specific kinds of prey, or to do clearly defined jobs. There are dogs that were bred to guard monasteries in Tibet. Some were designed to herd other animals, or to survive extreme weather conditions. Some breeds were created with painstaking attention to detail. Some developed almost by accident.
Each breed has characteristic qualities which are strengths or weaknesses in different circumstances.
Each contestant in the show is assessed based on a standard for their own breed. Some are faster than others. Some are larger, some have longer coats. Some breeds seem to be high maintenance. Some play to the audience, while others seem to be all business. Some are more apartment friendly; others appreciate more room to roam.
Within each breed, dogs are trained to behave. Dogs from breeds developed to pursue prey can be trained to become family companions.
The dogs I meet, even on television, teach me lessons about leaders. Each is an example of their own breed of leader.
Which of your breed’s leadership qualities help make you best in show? Which could be experienced as weaknesses?
How does your leadership come from who you are and how you have trained yourself?
[Image by dannymol]
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