{"id":26007,"date":"2014-05-09T05:00:49","date_gmt":"2014-05-09T10:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=26007"},"modified":"2014-05-09T05:00:49","modified_gmt":"2014-05-09T10:00:49","slug":"dog-training-and-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/dog-training-and-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"What My Dog Trainer Reminded Me About Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, my wife bought me a Labradoodle puppy. I had wanted one ever since my daughter got hers. My grandson named him \u201cCharlie Brown,\u201d since his fur was a beautiful chocolate brown color.<\/p>\n\n

Though he was born in January, we didn\u2019t get to meet Charlie until last week. He spent the first eleven weeks at the breeder with his mother and siblings. Then he went straight to a trainer for \u201cCompanion Training.\u201d (Yes, we believe in outsourcing!)
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\nLast Monday, after what seemed like forever, we drove five hours to Indianapolis to pick him up. He was everything I had hoped he would be\u2014cute, calm, and compliant.<\/p>\n

The trainer spent three hours with us, going over the training. We watched with delight as Charlie responded obediently to nineteen different commands. Then the trainer let us work with him, as she coached and corrected us.<\/p>\n

The Foundation of Success\u2014and Failure<\/h3>\n

Though he was house-broken, I had to ask her, \u201cWhat happens if he has an accident and eliminates indoors. How should we respond?\u201d (This is the part I always dread about getting a puppy.)<\/p>\n

\u201cNo problem,\u201d she assured me. \u201cJust take a newspaper and roll it up real tight\u2014like it\u2019s a stick. Now hit yourself on the forehead and say, \u201cBad owner!\u201d<\/p>\n

We laughed out loud. She went on to explain. \u201cIf he has an accident, it\u2019s your fault. Either you got distracted or ignored the signals.\u201d She let that sink in and continued, \u201cCharlie\u2019s trained. Now we just have to train you.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had to smile. She was giving me a dose of my own medicine. When I teach on leadership, I always begin with self-leadership. To get better results, you have to become a better leader.<\/p>\n

In any situation, we can practice self-leadership by taking these actions.<\/p>\n

Action #1: Take responsibility for the results.<\/h3>\n

This is a challenge for many leaders. It\u2019s much easier to offer an excuse or blame someone else or something else.<\/p>\n