Last March, we lost Casper, our little 14-year-old Maltese. As anyone who has had to make the most difficult decision possible about their 4-legged friend knows, it was rough. After a couple of months, my family and I decided to open our hearts to a dog once again. A few days ago, after months of waiting, we received the exciting news that in December, we will become puppy parents and bring home a little Cockapoo who we plan to call Mia. So as you might expect, my mind has been preoccupied with dogs lately.
I have had dogs in my life ever since I was a kid, and I have been fascinated by their behavior. There is an incredible book called “Leader of the Pack” by Nancy Baer. She studied wolf behavior to provide insights into how we can improve our relationship with our dogs, but I think there are some interesting parallels to human behavior in business. I still remember a passage describing the pack resting, with the alpha male and female lying on top of a rock outcropping. Apparently, it was typical for the dominant pair to sit above the pack, not unlike the executive floors in corporate America! As the pack rested, the alpha male raised his head to sniff the air, catching the scent of a large female bear that was in the mood for some wolf for dinner that evening. As you keep in mind the relative size of a bear and a wolf and the fact that the bear could easily kill the wolf with a swipe of his massive claws, what happened next was pretty incredible. The alpha male barked the alarm and tore off running after the bear, an act which by itself would mean almost certain death. But then, without hesitation, the alpha female followed her mate into danger, also sounding the alarm. The pack broke their slumber, following their alpha leaders who surrounded the dangerous invader and together leaped on the bear, subduing her and taking her down. What is interesting about this display of leadership is the complete confidence of the alpha male that he could face a challenge head-on and know that his pack would rally around him to help. He would not have made it had his pack chosen not to follow him, yet he showed no fear. We can all hope that as leaders, we, too, will create that level of confidence.
Inspired, I thought today I would share a list of other valuable business and entrepreneurship skills we can learn from our dogs.
- Choose to be happy. I think we can all agree that for most people, 2020 has truly sucked. We continue to live with the threat of COVID-19, and most of us know someone who has been impacted. Our country is completely polarized, we have had apocalyptic wildfires on the west coast, and on the east coast, we have somehow managed to name our tropical storms up to Zeta. But just like our dogs choose to welcome us home with barks and wagging tails, we too can choose to be happy. Quarantine has given us more time with our families and is forcing our businesses to innovate in ways that will help us to grow in new directions. We are all drawn to happy people, and potential clients will be more drawn to us if we choose to be upbeat and excited when we speak with them. So channel that inner feeling of a dog chasing a frisbee before your next sales call.
- Trust and be trusted. Most negative dog behaviors come from a lack of trust. When a dog doesn’t know what to expect because you are inconsistent, they tend to act possessively or react aggressively. As a leader, consistency is essential, or your team and clients won’t know what to expect, and you may find them less willing to work with you. Trust can be improved by clearly communicating what people can expect from you and your company and then moving mountains to make sure you deliver.
- Create routines. If your dog seems to know how to tell time, whether it’s dinner time or time for a walk, it’s because you have established a routine. Big companies are known for having routines that some may argue are a bit over the top. But even your smaller company can benefit from some degree of predictability. In my company, we have 15-minute 9 a.m. morning huddles to share our top 3 priorities for the day and make sure we’re clearing roadblocks. Each Friday morning, we have a 1-hour training and strategy call. We have weekly risk mitigation meetings with our account managers, and we create monthly client performance reports. Having routines helps the people in your company know how to organize and categorize their work and, in turn, improves the service you’re able to deliver to your clients.
- Be a little dependent. Our dogs depend on us for their food, exercise, and a warm bed at night, and they’re perfectly happy about it. As business owners, we sometimes feel as though we have to do it all. We don’t. This week my team met with a small business owner who will probably lose her business because she’s not good with numbers and took on debt to open two additional juice bar locations now close to empty office buildings, even though the first one was losing money. If numbers aren’t your thing, hire an accountant. If being sued isn’t your thing, hire a good business attorney. And if you aren’t sure how to get found, hire a good marketing company. Even if you don’t hire someone, at least use your network. Be generous with advice about things you know, and you’ll likely end up on the receiving end of some great tips. It’s a different type of givers gain but still really important.
- Be there when they need you. No matter what happens or how you’re feeling, your dog will be there for you. He’ll be a patient audience as you practice your speech, he’ll happily join you for a walk when you need to burn off steam during that next conference call, and if you accidentally drop your snack, then he’ll save you the work of cleaning it up. Today, being there when your clients need you mean having an omnichannel presence. Phone and email are no longer enough. We need to have chat on our website, our Facebook, and our Google My Business pages. We need to watch our direct messages on our social media. We need to make it possible for our team members to receive text messages from clients and still make them visible for follow up. This week in my company, we implemented a fancy new VoIP phone system that allows our 100% virtual team members to call and text our clients and convert a call to a video meeting if they need to share their screen. We implemented a Slack channel as our website chat since that’s the tool we all use internally, and we know it will make us more accessible to our web visitors. For our clients who use WhatsApp, we set up group chats with them. The idea is to be there when your clients need you, using channels that will scale with your business.
Our dogs know how to make the most of a situation without complaining. They know how to be a true partner. They make friends wherever they go. When they set their mind to something, whether it’s chasing a ball or getting the treat out from under the refrigerator, they don’t give up until they reach their goal. And they always give their all to every task, no matter how large or small.
Each pack is different, whether it’s your family pack, your company pack, or your networking pack. There is no one set of rules that should be blindly followed. If you watch a group of dogs playing in the park, you’ll see them adjust their behavior to match each other. You’ll see the racers, the wrestlers, and the fetchers. They all want different things from their time together, just like we do, but they figure out how to share their space and make it work. I think humans can learn a lot from that.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from author C.J. Frick, “Be the person your dog thinks you are.” I look forward to being put to that test in a few weeks and writing to you with a warm puppy in my lap.