Multi-Dog Syndrome and a Pack of Employees

By Connie Cleveland

 

Growing up, whenever I asked my mother for another dog, she would reply, “When you have a home of your own you can have as many dogs as you want.” I took her at her word, and as a young adult I acquired multiple dogs. At one point, I believe I maxed my capacity at seven, sharing my home, my yard, my life. I joked that I had been afflicted by “multi-dog syndrome.”

When you own a pack of dogs, your ability to be a good leader is tested. You must take that responsibility extremely seriously. For the sake of the pack, you need to be decisive, ready to respond to untenable behavior, and willing to protect the young or less assertive members.

All I ever wanted to be was a dog trainer. Soon, “being a dog trainer” became larger than I could handle — and let’s face it, owning a business is about far more than your core competency. I needed help. So I started hiring team members, thus creating another pack and quickly realizing that the leadership qualities that my pack of dogs had taught me were exactly what my employees needed.

The Dog Trainers Workshop is a small business. My team is generally 10-15 people, not all of whom are full-time. Adding team members is done with great care, because I find having to fire an employee extremely distasteful.

Years ago, when my pack of dogs was large, I could not seem to create a harmony among the group. The chaos and tension ever increased, and I was unable to trust all the dogs together. Either small skirmishes would break out, or one dog in particular would end up bullied, hiding from some of the older members. It was a horrible experience to finally point my finger at the instigator and realize that he needed a better home than I could offer. Thankfully, I had a friend that found herself dog-less. She adored him, and allowing her to take him home, although heartbreaking, proved to be just what my pack needed. And just what the instigator needed as well — he needed to live in a one-dog house.

The tension of my household changed immediately. If dogs could smile, the remaining members visibly relaxed, played more gently, rested more comfortably, and interacted much more calmly.

Years later, my employees started coming to me with concerns. A particular team member was impatient, rude, condescending, and critical of her co-workers. Sorting out the conflict in my small team was far more complicated than that of a dog pack, but the similarities were striking. Could I believe one employee’s account more than the offender’s defense? As the leader, I was faced with a heartbreaking dilemma. If I failed to act, I would lose credibility as the leader. Additionally, if I failed to act, other valued team members may leave, looking for a more suitable environment.

However, ending employment is an enormous decision, and I could not do it without multiple meetings discussing behavior change and with warnings that  change must occur. It seems ridiculous as I look back on the event, but just as I had done with my pack of dogs, I even tried separating the team members that seemed to have the most conflicts by changing work schedules.

One day the team member lost her temper with two co-workers, while I stood a room away. The words she said, the tone she used, and — when I entered the room to find out the problem — the body language of the two co-workers in response to her severe criticism were strikingly negative and disturbing. Furthermore, these were the same actions that her co-workers had come to me about for several months. I was seeing and hearing it with my own eyes and ears. That confirming incident made my decision for me — I asked her to leave that afternoon. It was heartbreaking for me, but a bit of advice that a mentor had given me echoed in my mind, “If the rest of the team is to respect you as their leader, you must lead decisively and in the team’s best interest.” It was the same lesson that the dogs had taught me.

By Friday of that week, the atmosphere in my business was remarkably different. Just as my pack of dogs had shown me so many years before, one unsuitable team member had created a tension and anxiety that had permeated our culture. However, thankfully I had reacted in time, and the smiles, the laughter, the warmth and the comradery came roaring back into the group.

I took the opportunity, then, to have a conversation about the kind of culture we all wanted at our work. I listened and shared, and together, we came up with some key attributes of our desired workplace culture. Here are just a few of the principles I use for growing the kind of culture I want at DTW.

• All of us should feel safe where we work, free from harsh criticism, raised voices, and relentless negativity. Yes, it’s necessary to let an employee (or even a boss) know where he or she might do better. Without feedback — including negative feedback — individuals cannot improve. But negative feedback that deflates, discourages, or destroys is not necessary and it damages the entire workplace’s sense of joy and peace.
• Encouragement, positive words, compliments, thanks, polite requests, and respect should be a daily — hourly — occurrence in the workplace.
• A part of the workplace culture should be to help others achieve their goals and dreams. Every boss — and every peer and employee — should know what others in the workplace hope to achieve. Sometimes these goals have to do with work. But other times they concern hobbies, family, or personal growth — “life” goals. Encouraging your employees and one another to share those dreams, and even offering practical help or wisdom to one another in order to achieve those goals, makes the workplace more than simply about “making money” or “serving customers.” It can be a place where a group of people help one another achieve their goals.
• Along the same lines, “teamwork” involves working together on different work projects. Working together — “taking up slack” and pitching in when schedules and deadlines are tight — means that employees can involve themselves more in family and other personal events outside of work when the opportunity arises.
• Everybody should know the boundaries of appropriate behavior; these should be communicated clearly, and upheld firmly.
• Leaders are to step up — even when it is hard and uncomfortable — to protect and serve those who depend on them, which includes employees. Nobody else can do your job which, in part, is taking decisive, firm action to protect the group as a whole.

 

 

Connie Cleveland is a nationally-recognized dog trainer recognized for her work with family dogs and dogs involved in obedience and field trial competitions, as well as dogs exhibiting challenging behavioral problems. She is also the owner of the Dog Trainers Workshop, a spacious training and boarding facility for dog lovers featuring an indoor training facility, an outdoor agility ring, and a boarding kennel set on 14 acres with a pond and walking trail. Cleveland’s eleven obedience trial championship dogs include her dog Eli, the first Golden Retriever to earn both field and obedience championships, and her dog Ezra, the only Labrador to have earned an obedience trial championship, a field championship, and an amateur field championship. To learn more about Dog Trainers Workshop or to reach Connie, see https://www.dogtrainersworkshop.com or  https://www.facebook.com/DogTrainersWorkshop.