We've all heard of Horse Whispering and there are dozens of books out there on Dog Whispering. But have you ever heard of People Whispering?
The principle behind Horse and Dog Whispering (not terminology that most experts in those fields employ, by the way) is that you don't treat a horse or a dog like they are a person, You treat them like they are a horse or a dog.
Humans have the ability to adapt their behaviour to other species. It is much easier for us to learn what a horse needs and then communicate in the horse's language than it is for a horse to communicate in our language. A dog will always see the world through the eyes of a dog, never through the eyes of a human. We, however, can see the world through the eyes of a dog, if we take the time.
I have recently been re-reading much of the literature on Dog and Horse Whispering as we prepare to bring a new puppy in to our home. But the principles have huge resonance for me as an Executive Coach.
When you raise a puppy based on these principles you don't punish behaviour you don't want to see as such. If your dog runs off and doesn't come back for half an hour, you don't berate it. And you don;t spend the next week practising the recall in your garden hoping that it simply didn't understand the instruction and, if you practise enough, it will learn what "Come here Humphrey" means and come back to you next time.
Instead, you go back to the root of the problem. The dog absolutely knew you were calling him. He doesn't lack the knowledge or the skills. He just didn't respect you as his leader (are you starting to see the connection yet?)
Very often, when we have "People Problems" we try to treat the behaviour as it manifests itself - lateness, sick leave, poor productivity. We put in systems or bring in a trainer to enforce the behaviour we want or to give people the skills they seem to lack.
At the end of the day though, this doesn't work. People know what to do. They just don't respect you, or the organisation.
Therefore it isn't the employee who needs to be berated. Instead, as leaders (of the pack or of the team) we need to look at ourselves. What do we need to do to inspire trust and respect? Just as a dog is looking to you to be its Alpha in the pack, your people are looking to you to be their leader.
What do you think? (There's a choc drop in it if you share your opinions!)
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