Leadership Article: Four Human Whisperer
Principles for All Living Beings

This leadership article reveals the power and importance of effective communication skills - all learned through my dog Oscar.

Do you want more effective communication skills? Would having more trust in relationships make a difference? Read on for 'Oscar Wisdom.'

"My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet." ---Edith Wharton

It’s amazing how much Oscar communicates with us. He can’t say a word but he’s always communicating. Oscar’s our 17 pound shi-poo and a very important member of our family.

He's pictured here in his Priceless t-shirt that reads: Collar: $38 T-shirt:$22 My pup: PRICELESS

In my interactions with and about Oscar I see genuine communication wisdom that would help us all improve every relationship.

That's why I wanted to write this leadership article - he provides so many cool examples of great communcation even though he can't speak:

• When he wants to go outside (or when he’s bored and wants attention) he hits the bell we have hanging on the door that leads outside to tell us.
• When he wants water (usually at night when we’re trying to sleep) he stands on me or Jeff and stares with precision at the bedside table until one of us makes water available.
• When he wants a treat he stands at the refrigerator door telling us intently and expectantly that he’d love for a treat to appear.

Our neighbors have just added two cute-as-button puppies to their already busy household. I ran into the new puppy parents separately several weeks ago – both were expressing distress. It seems their new family members are a handful and they can’t get them trained to not ‘mess’ in the house.

We’ve had such success with the bell hanging on the back door (Oscar was trained in just a few days) I tried to share that idea with each parent.

They were very busy complaining, so I guessed they didn't hear my suggestions, because when I ran into them again this weekend, they were still complaining about puppy-mess problems.

Other then the fact that you now know that we have a very smart and cute dog what’s the point of this leadership article?

The point is that there are key communication principles that apply to how you communicate with all beings (be they human or animal). They apply to dog or kid parenting, in sales, in leadership or on a team.

Human Whisperer Principles for all Living Beings:

1. All beings communicate their needs and wants. Even if they’re not saying anything, they ARE communicating important information.
2. Our job as a parent, leader, sales person or team member is to tune in and listen aggressively to what they’re saying. (Listening aggressively is to hear with energetic pursuit with a demonstrated desire to understand.)
3. We have to provide regular and reliable communication systems so that people will share their true insights, wants and needs if we want to be effective. These systems can include anything that gets a conversation going, such as a bell on the door for the dog or for human, confidential online surveys or face-to-face, one-to-one discussions.
4. If we get stuck complaining about what 'they're' doing - we can’t hear answers that are right in front of us.

The most important point of this leadership article is that: Every living thing is communicating. The question is – are you tuning in and listening aggressively or do they have to create a 'mess' to communicate with you?

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.” ---Gilda Radner

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