TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER!

Well, it’s no secret that The Benwicks are huge animal lovers! To build on the current theme of Bob’s recent blog on Beau Benwick, I would like to share another perspective on leadership based on the human interaction with canines as we seek to establish the “leader in the pack” not unlike establishing our role as leader in any organization or community.

Cesar Millan, is an incredible animal behaviorist. You may have seen his show on the National Geographic Channel…. The Dog Whisperer…. I tend to tune in the wee hours of the morning on those nights when sleep escapes me – too much late night caffeine! I always get “take aways” from each show….not just in regard to our canine house mates, but I see such parallels to leadership amongst human kind. Cesar’s coin of the phrase “Leader of the Pack” has great meaning regardless of what species provides the context.

While several leadership pathways emerge from observing and reading about Cesar’s choice of methods [read Be the Pack Leader, Millan, C. & Peltier, J.(2007)], I am taken with the emphasis demonstrated on the value of calm assertive energy as a means to bring about desirable outcome…..in canine world this showcases the need for self regulation of the leader’s energy as dogs are all about reading this. It is what they respond to. If we as leader exhibit anger, excitement, anxiety, and/or fear while working with our canines, what will we bring about for them? Clearly we are modeling unbalanced behavior of which they will emulate or respond to. Watching those on TV who reach out to Cesar to bring solution to their canine problems, he is very clear as to who needs the help….the leader! It is interesting to note that those coming from a leadership position that demonstrates anxiety or excitable behaviour also tend to struggle to achieve the bottom and top line results, results they are looking for as their messaging. Just as with canines, they will often come across to others as perhaps reactive and confusing, or unpredictable, intimidating, lackluster and incredulous, often eroding that most important aspect…..trust! 

So what does this mean for us homo sapiens? In our human experience under conditions of stress (that’s constantly around us), the question is, ‘as leaders how do we show up for others and what messaging are we sending to those that we lead? If our anxiety, anger, and/or fear are not well self-regulated, particularly in these challenging times….. can you, the organizational leader, really expect to get desired contribution and performance from your people once you’ve made key decisions? Under continuous growing demands from all around you, in such a state can a you, as leader, clearly produce the best balanced decisions for the organization and its constituents? What tools could your organization provide you with to fully support you to better self-regulate, thus maximizing your leadership effectiveness and providing the leverage for you to become a highly respected “leader of the pack”? 

And….to Cesar Millan, …… it would be a sincere pleasure to eventually have the opportunity to meet a true developer of leaders!

Are there any Cesars in your organization? Are you one? What do you need to say yes to in order to create the possibility! What do you need to start saying no to in order assure its happening?