A Leadership Lesson from Man's Best Friend

Let me introduce you to Armani and Oliver.

Armani is a Leopard Catahoula mix and Oliver is a German short-haired pointer mix.  Both were rescued as puppies and have found a place where they are loved, cared for, and more than a little bit spoiled.  They enjoy long hikes in the Northwoods and are quite the entertainers when the grandkids come to visit.

While loving and friendly, they are very protective of me and my family.

Not only are Armani and Oliver best buddies, but they get along well with Marley (our Labradoodle), the matriarch of the pack. Best of all, they are two of my best buddies as well.  They know who their “Person” is, and let everyone else know that as well…even going so far as to hijack my personal Facebook page to share their insights on “dog life”.

One of our favorite activities is playing fetch in the backyard.  The dogs will drop the ball at my feet as I stand on one end of the yard and then they will go stand under the trampoline waiting to see which way I’m going to throw the ball.  And then…the race is on.  It’s a competition to see who fields the grounders, catches the fly balls, or plays the bounce off of a tree or the chain link fence.

Their style of chasing the ball is as different as the dogs themselves.  Armani is “all in” when it comes to fetch.  Eyes steeled on the ball, he tenses as I wind up for the throw and lunges into a full sprint as soon as the ball leaves my hand.  He often runs so fast, and so hard, he overruns the ball.  At that point, he goes into “skid mode” as he digs his claws into the ground in an attempt to slow down, change course, or avoid crashing into the fence.  He often sprints right up to the fence before digging his front claws into the ground with his back legs rising into the air as he attempts to put on the brakes at the last minute.

Needless to say, my backyard bears the scars of Armani’s hard-charging style of fetch.

Oliver, on the other hand, is a bit more reserved.  He starts hard, like Armani, but quickly shifts from full sprint mode into controlled sprint mode. Like a shortstop, Oliver scoops up the ball smoothly, and rather than hard braking, he coasts to a stop usually in a wide circle before returning the ball to my feet and resetting for the next toss of the ball.

And when Oliver has had enough, he takes the fetch ball to the wading pool where he walks in and starts splashing around.  After a few minutes of cool down, he’s back under the trampoline, ready for Round Two or Round Three.

Armani, on the other hand, will continue to push himself to the point of exhaustion, and then simply takes the ball, stretches out under a shade tree, and lets everyone know he’s done.

At least until he catches his breath and gets a drink of water.

You may be asking, who’s the better fetch player?

Short answer, it depends.

The dogs jockey for position, continually looking for a tactical advantage. Tenacity also comes into play because just because one dog gets to the ball first doesn’t necessarily guarantee that is who comes back with the ball in his mouth.  I’ve watched Armani leap over Oliver to catch a ball in the air, and I’ve seen Oliver scoop up a ball just as Armani closed in for the catch. 

Regardless of who comes out on top, they both trot back together, reset, and get ready to go at it one more time – over and over again.

So, what’s the leadership lesson from man’s best friend?

I’m glad you asked.

Oliver and Armani represent two approaches to leadership.  Neither style is better or worse than the other, and they both accomplish the task at hand.  Each doggie chooses the leadership style that works best for them.

You should do the same.

Armani represents a more aggressive approach to leadership.  He sees what he wants to accomplish and pursues it with a sense of intensity. He is aware that he’s not the only one pursuing this goal, and that drives him to perform at the highest level so he can come out on top in a competitive landscape.

Now this aggressive approach to leadership has its challenges.  Armani is still young, and he gets so singularly focused on what he is pursuing, he is often oblivious to the obstacles and challenges in front of him until it is often too late to pivot.  His hard-charging style of leadership often allows him to come out on top, but it would be hard for others to follow him and maintain this high-intensity pace for a long time.

Right now, he’s winning more often than not, but his approach to leadership is physically demanding.  Over time, this can (and will) take its toll.

Armani would be better served to temper his enthusiasm and intensity, be more aware of his surroundings, and evaluate course changes that may be required in advance.  He needs to remember that, as the leader, he sets the pace for the rest of the team. 

That will come, over time, with maturity.

Oliver represents a more disciplined, approach to leadership. As a more seasoned leader, he is aware of his surroundings and what can (and often does) get in the way. Through experience, Oliver knows how to pivot and adapt to changing conditions.  He is still fast, but he has learned to throttle back his speed so he is more nimble.  Experience is key to success.

This more disciplined approach to leadership also has its challenges.  Oliver tends to hold back a bit when conditions are favorable for a more aggressive approach.  This can cause him to come up just a bit short in his pursuit of his goal.  It is easy for a leader who has experienced success early on to start settling into a routine, more willing to accept some losses because they’ve grown comfortable with doing things a certain way.

Oliver would be better served to continue to push himself a bit more when conditions are favorable and use his size and experience to his advantage.  He knows the territory he will be traversing and where the obstacles and challenges exist.  This should allow him to push a bit harder, knowing when and where he needs to pivot or change course to come out on top in a competitive landscape.

His greatest challenge is settling for less.

Now, let’s make this personal.

Are you more of an Armani or an Oliver in your approach to leading yourself and others?

More importantly, are you regularly examining your approach to leading yourself and others so you are more aware of your strengths and weaknesses?

Are you aware of how your leadership style is impacting your opportunities and the tactics you use to pursue them? 

How you lead yourself matters. How you lead yourself is how you will ultimately lead others.  All leadership styles have their distinct strengths and weaknesses.  

Don’t forget that everyone is leading someone, somewhere, even if the only person they are leading is themselves. When it comes to leadership, Black Belt Leaders understand there is always room for improvement.  When it comes to personal growth, there is no finish line.

Whether you lead like Armani, or you lead like Oliver, or you lead entirely differently, the most important thing to remember is that you ARE leading!

Be the BEST VERSION of yourself you can be today, and tomorrow strive to become an EVEN BETTER version of YOU! 

That’s a leadership lesson from Man’s Best Friend.

Thanks, Oliver and Armani.

Lesson learned…and applied.