Homework for management students: Go home and observe your dog. If you don’t have one, get one immediately. Instead of spending hours pouring over case studies you would do better to just look at dogs and learn from them.
Surprised? Well, that’s the advice from leadership gurus Sherri McArdle and Jim Ramerman.
Dogs are cute, they drool and bark, and sometimes just loll around. But despite all these characteristics, our four-legged friends can teach us how to find happiness in any situation, including at the workplace.
After all, think about it: You never see dogs frowning, or stressed out, or most important, sitting in mindlessly long meetings. That’s why leaders can learn some new tricks from their pets, leadership gurus Sherri McArdle and Jim Ramerman were quoted as saying by Gannett News Service. “Finding happiness is a natural talent for dogs, but it’s not so easy for the rest of us,”
McArdle said. “For people, joyful things rarely happen effortlessly.”
McArdle and Ramerman wrote Why Dogs Wag Their Tails: Lessons Leaders Can Learn About Work, Joy, and Life. Both dog owners themselves, they know what they are talking about.
McArdle said, “I have learned a lot from my dog that applies to my professional life. For example, I learn better work-life balance from my pooch. He teaches me time management by whining at me when I work at home and he has to sit there and watch.”
Here are some dog-mas the duo feel people can implement in their working relationships:
Dogs are pack animals. “In order to manage dogs well you must pay close attention and provide them with the leadership they need,” she said. “Dogs need a leader to help them understand their role in the pack and to behave appropriately.” The same is true about organisations and performance, she said. People in companies need and want great leadership, sometimes without the tight leash.
Training is essential. The most effective leadership training comes from “on the job” growth experiences, being coached and mentored and getting feedback from peers, McArdle said. “Managing a dog is also an everyday growth experience, if we open ourselves up to the lessons we can learn,” she said.
Dogs give immediate feedback. Think about it. You know when dogs are happy with you - their tails go wild. And you know when they aren’t - their tails go between their legs.
“That’s the best way to learn - if only we all received such immediate feedback in the workplace, imagine the growth we could experience,” said McArdle.
