Patience and Momentum: Rescue Pup Reflection

The holiday season is here, and our family has been diligently decking our halls with boughs of holly. Twas a busy weekend.????

This year, we have an extra stocking hung for our foster dog, Ollie. If you read my last article about Ollie, he joins my wife, son, and I thanks to Buddy & Friends Animal Rescue. We are his mindful caregivers while he acclimates to life inside a warm home with "friendlies", and diligently work to ensure his future owner(s) find him. (just like sales, these things don’t happen immediately). Our household mission is to find Ollie the forever-person(s) of his wildest dreams. He’s a very good boy, he deserves it.

I previously described a bit about our early steps of our journey with Ollie. Decompressing after a lot of chaos. Today, I reflect on how hard it can be to take good advice, even when it’s your own, and how wonderful it is to see this dog grow and thrive.

The past week has been a testament to patience and the subtle art of pushing boundaries just enough to foster growth. There's a delicate balance for leaders and dog trainers alike: how to stretch capabilities without snapping spirits. I've learned it's not just about my ambitious visions of him letting his guard down fully and being comfortable to take on any situation, it's about his journey, his comfort with new challenges, and his readiness to dig into them.

This ambition, like the ambitions of company leaders, must be tempered with empathy/reality, to allow employees to become their best quickly, and realistically. It’s too soon for Ollie to be the dog that jumps through hoops, or even follow a request like “sit”, It’s also premature for a freshly hired, untrained employee to lead the charge on a major project. Both building a dog’s skills, and getting an employee to “guru” or “rockstar” status require the same ingredients:

Time, trust, and customized guidance.

Those ingredients are already leading to some great progress for Ollie. What I haven’t mentioned yet… is that we attended an adoption event, put on by Buddy and Friends Animal Rescue , over the weekend.

Deep within the furriest, and most energetic holiday parties I’ve been to this year, Ollie's spirit truly shone. He was a social butterfly, his paws barely touching the floor as he went from one new friend to another, both canine and human. There was a sparkle in his eyes that communicated, "I am ready for this!" I was smiling ear to ear, standing on the sidelines (keeping my son entertained with holiday crafts). I felt sincerest pride for Ollie.

We've been planning, Ollie and I… not in words so much, but in the silent language of leash tugs and encouraging pats, that we’re going to be taking longer walks, following new routes, and introducing a bigger world beyond our block. It’s a work in progress, but it’s also progress at work.

By pacing his exposure to the things that seem to truly upset him, to a speed that suits him, and nudging him into the discomfort zone now and then, he’s not just surviving; he’s thriving.

Navigating this path with Ollie reminds me every day that our best growth often lies just beyond comfort's edge. As leaders, managers, and founders, we must note: it's not about our timeline. It's about the journey of those we guide, whether four-legged or two. We must be honest about setting realistic timelines, so we have the collective ability to execute strategically, and tactically among teams.

I just wrote a post about patience last week. 1 week in and I’m having to regularly remind myself to BE PATIENT. It might be the hardest “simple advice” for me to follow, esp. when I see progress. Anyone else find it hard to resist, or am I alone on this one?

I’d love to continue this conversation with you. Please let me know if you have thoughts you can share on the topics of #animalrescue #coaching #strategy #people-first #worklife