Agility | PeopleSense Consulting

Two things to do when someone is ignoring you

On November 29, 2011 / Communicating, Graceful Leadership / 7 Comments

"It's just easier to go around ...."

There are times when I feel that Grace is ignoring me. (And I’m sure she does on occasion.)

But mostly I think she just doesn’t always understand what I’m saying. What often looks to me as if she’s ignoring me is very likely a result of her not knowing what I’m saying. When she’s afraid and I say, “It’s o.k.; those kids aren’t going to hurt you,” her fear isn’t allowing her to comprehend me.

"And I like following where you go ...."

Agility is an incredible practice field to learn how to communicate more clearly. Every word, intonation, and movement becomes pieces to the puzzle that help Grace and I learn how to converse more effectively. If I said ‘tunnel’ when I meant ‘tire’ (which happened at times when I got hurried or distracted), I made it even more difficult for her to decipher my message. You’d think getting the right word would be the easy part – and it was! So you can imagine other times when I forgot to offer a hand signal or moved in a direction that was confusing instead of clarifying.

Can a person ever change?

On October 23, 2011 / Graceful Leadership, Leading / 8 Comments

“Can I person ever change?”

That question was posed several times, stated in a number of various ways, during meetings I held with one of my clients last week. The majority of these 30 managers are seasoned and they all care a lot about their employees. They also take their role very seriously.

They have created a culture where employees know they are valued. But that doesn’t eliminate those frustrating exchanges or difficult conversations that inevitably occur. And when the same issue crops up time and time again, it would naturally make you wonder: why? Why is it that the problem doesn’t get fixed after one, two, or three conversations about it?

Oh chute, this is easy!

On July 15, 2011 / Graceful Leadership, Training / 3 Comments

This was the first time Grace was exposed to the barrel and chute at agility. Rachel, our trainer, and I were focused on helping her feel comfortable just walking through the barrel without the chute extended.

I was a presenter at a workshop yesterday discussing best practices for successful hiring of employees. Before we started, I was talking with one of the attendees, wanting to know if there was a particular thing that triggered her to come. She said that she was always interested in learning more about HR topics, adding that “if you’re a good manager, you have interest in HR”. Her view—and I agree—is that if you aren’t interested in developing the people who you manage, you’re probably not a very good manager.

Step 2: She actually walked through the barrel! Accomplishing something that we think is easy could be very challenging for someone else. Rachel knew that the feel of the nylon and the enclosed space might create anxiety for Grace, so it was important to have patience and empathy for the roadblocks in Grace

It makes me think of the seminar I’m attending this weekend with Grace for dogs that are fearful. As I mentioned in a recent post, I do wonder where the point of progress stops for her. But I wouldn’t be going if I didn’t think it would help her (and me), so I suppose I really do have faith that it will yield some improvements.

As a dog owner, parent, or manager, there is a commitment of time, energy, and effort to constantly be focused on the development of others. It can be a rewarding process or an exhausting one, linked to the results you see and the effort put in return. When days turn into weeks, and then months, it’s natural to forget how far someone has come in their development. We start to focus on what’s left to learn, what needs to change, rather than all we’ve accomplished. I realize that lately I’ve focused on the annoying barking that I hear from Grace when I’m in the middle of a conference call or that incessant whining when we’re in the car. I’m not remembering those things that she has overcome.

Months later and lots of time spent supporting and encouraging, Grace loves running through the extended nylon chute. It

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your own progress, or that of others, it might help to stop and reflect on what has been accomplished. That can give you renewed confidence that more is yet to come.

Learning anything complex takes time—don’t shortchange the process

On June 17, 2011 / Graceful Leadership, Training / 7 Comments

As she gets familiar with the weave poles, my job is to guide her through with a treat but I think she's more interested in watching our wonderful photographer friend, Annie Card. Thanks to Annie for all the pictures in today's post!

One of the agility obstacles that Grace and I have not spent a lot of time with is the weave poles. When first learning this particular skill, the poles are “open” to create a channel that the dog walks through. Eventually, the goal is to have poles “closed” or set in a straight line so the dog then weaves around each pole in a zig-zag pattern. The most advanced dog will fly through as fast as they can – speed is required for winning agility dogs.

At a recent class, Grace did really well with these poles—considering how little we’ve worked with them. She readily goes in but she sometimes veers off in the middle or enters after the second pole instead of the first. There is also a standard for how you enter the poles and even I can’t remember if it’s right or left, so I’m fairly confident that Grace doesn’t remember that yet, either. We both have some learning to do.

The thing that amazes me about agility – and I believe it’s true about so many things—is how simple it can look on the surface but how complex it is to truly master it. Agility can provide a fun and non-competitive activity that has benefits of exercise along with mental stimulation. Yet it provides the opportunity for mastery of a complex craft; there is so much to know about the nuances of every move, yours and the dog. I’m starting to realize that it can take years to develop sufficient knowledge and efficient skills that encompass every single movement of your hand, the words you use, and the placement of your body. All of it (and most likely much more) determines the dog’s ability to perform.

Mastering the open weave poles -- staying inside!

In business, it seems we often don’t create this structured learning cycle. Because people have full plates and it is difficult to devote adequate time to training, employees are expected to perform at the highest level, immediately. Some managers provide the environment for risk-taking and mistakes, many do not. On-the-job training is valuable, but should be supported by strong mentoring and knowledgeable resources. If the learning process is rushed, incomplete or random, it can create so many issues, potentially ending in failure or blemishes on a person’s self-esteem.

"Look at me! I'm so GOOD at this!!" (Doesn't she look proud?)

When Grace goes through the weave poles right now, she thinks she’s a champion. She doesn’t even realize that we’ve only just begun. With each opportunity to build her confidence, we move to the next level. In agility, our instructor, Rachel works to make sure that the last experience for each dog on each piece of equipment is a positive one, so that they are excited to return for more. We need to stretch our physical and mental muscles, but we must also rest them, too, for the best learning.

Sometimes you really need to state the obvious—sometimes the obvious just isn’t that obvious Part 2

On May 27, 2011 / Giving Feedback, Graceful Leadership / 6 Comments

At last weekend’s “Show and Go” agility event, there were lots of obvious things going on as I described in Part 1. There were also things that weren’t so obvious to me.

The whole point of this particular event is to expose the team (handler and dog) to a new environment. We were in a new place, outdoors (versus our typical indoor space), with different equipment. But to me, I saw the same types of equipment that Grace was used to: the A-Frame, the tire, the dog plank, tunnels and jumps. Everything Grace loves. Even though I had been warned that she would be distracted, as we waited for our turn, I thought to myself, “Grace is going to love this.” I visualized her getting excited to see the equipment and run in, take control as she has in our classes. Another dog that was in our most recent class, Riley, went ahead of Grace and she flew the course with ease. I was sure that Grace would have a similar experience.

What was I thinking?

Grace made it over the first jump, but I only know that because a good friend had joined us; Brenda is also a good photographer and captured that moment (thank you, Brenda, for all the pictures in this post!). Almost immediately upon our entry into the ring, I felt like everything fell apart and things became a blur to me. She jumped off the dog plank before she made it to the top. She ran around it looking confused, and after a few unsuccessful attempts to get her on the plank, I decided it was best to move on. She reluctantly moved in my direction, but stayed her distance. She was so distracted, anxiously staring around at the new setting and all the people. All I can remember is her tail between her legs, darting aimlessly. So I squatted down to her level and optimistically called her to me. She came. Thank goodness. I hugged her and encouraged her again; she was still nervous and we ran around the course, but I don’t think she hit another piece of equipment.

The judge kindly asked: “This is the first time in the ring?” Knowingly, she had witnessed this before. She said that despite how nervous Grace was, she was “doing exactly what you would want her to be doing at this stage,” which was to keep looking to me for direction.

As I left the ring, I was struck by how different my memory had been of the last 90 seconds. I saw Grace being consumed by all the distractions; I didn’t really see that she was looking at me for direction as the judge had seen. I saw her nervous, timid; I saw Grace as she was when I first got her. I didn’t see a dog doing “exactly what she was supposed to be doing.” Isn’t it amazing how our perceptions and reality can get skewed? I had narrowed my vision to see what I had optimistically expected, hoping that Grace would step in where she left off. When that didn’t happen, I saw the negative aspects of what was going on, and hadn’t realized all the “right” things were indeed occurring. I wondered how many times I’ve done that with humans.

Success!

We went back into the ring about an hour later as scheduled and the progress was palpable. I stayed very close to her, coaxing her with lots of praise and support through my voice and body language. She was definitely nervous, but she had the courage and confidence to go through the course by my side; this time there was no wild darting and running away in a desperate attempt to escape from the scene.

The day had accomplished exactly what it had intended to do. Grace was exposed to a new environment and after only 90 seconds in the ring, she had started to adjust. In a very short amount of time, Grace had already shown signs of being more secure. I don’t know how long it would take for her to feel “at home” there, but she had already made noticeable progress. Given Grace’s background, this was a huge step for her. That should have been obvious to me, but I guess I needed the new environment, too.

Sometimes you really need to state the obvious—sometimes the obvious just isn’t that obvious Part 1

On May 24, 2011 / Communicating, Graceful Leadership / 2 Comments

This weekend, I took Grace to an agility event called “Show and Go.” It’s a mock competition – designed as a way to introduce handlers and dogs to a competitive experience without being judged. We were in a new, outdoor area, with different equipment, surrounded by more people, lots of dogs. My goal was to introduce Grace to a fresh experience, not to seriously prepare for competition.

The event started with a general briefing given by two of the organizers from the hosting organization, CATS [Canine Agility Training Society, Inc]. The logistics of the day were shared and some of the announcements were topics that were so obvious that you could argue that they didn’t be to be stated.

For example, one of the topics was to let all attendees know that it’s your responsibility to clean up after dog. It was more than a passing comment; the importance and reasons were stressed in a playful, humorous manner. There were details about where the bags were located if you didn’t have any—no excuses, in other words! I can guarantee you that every person there already knew this. Yet, it was so wise to make it explicit. Everyone heard the same message. Every now knew the ground rules. Everyone knew everyone else heard it. There was going to be no way that any dog owner would have not cleaned up after that hearing that message. Establishing boundaries and expectations for behavior is the best way to ensure compliance and it was brilliant to state the obvious. No questions. No problems.

Often I’ll hear a manager say: “They should already know that.” Yes. Probably true. But sometimes opportunities present themselves to state the obvious, so take advantage of it! It’s always easier to support than to reprimand.

Another item announced during the opening session was a statement from the judge (who was technically a judge that would have kept the scoring in an official event, but on this day, she was there to support and guide as needed), who clearly stated that all interactions between the handler and the dog were to be based on positive reinforcement. Anyone that was punitive with their dog would be addressed, she said.

I’ve never been harsh with Grace and I imagine that most, if not all, others also were the kind of handlers that tended to gush over their dog versus scold them if they made a mistake on the course. But it immediately spoke volumes to me about the core philosophy of the group, it gave me a sense of their priorities and what’s important to them. Being positive with Grace was obvious to me, so what was the point in saying it? There was a very important point in putting it up front and center for everyone: It set a tenor for the day—a constructive, positive and valuable tone, giving us all a common base for how to conduct ourselves.

This type of communication isn’t just helpful in corralling a group of dog handlers. This is good practice at company informational meetings, department gatherings, project teams, and one-on-one conversations between managers and employees. Be clear about what you expect and you exponentially increase your odds of achieving it.

There were other things that happened that day that weren’t so obvious to me. My next post will share those revelations!

Are you ready for your next hurdle?

On May 17, 2011 / Graceful Leadership, Motivating / 10 Comments

She's ready! I always have to start out before Grace as she quickly catches -- and surpasses -- me in speed!

Grace is fast. Very fast. One of my challenges in working with her during agility is to keep up with her! My pictures never quite portrayed that sense of motion and so I asked a professional photographer, Annie Card, to join us in a recent class. I love the way Annie captured our movements; the pictures here today (and you’ll see more in the future) are thanks to Annie’s talents. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

When Grace walks into the room and sees the equipment, she wants to GO. No stopping. No hesitation even if she doesn’t do all the things that are considered “correct” in agility judging. She’s takes charge and leads the way, making her way around, through, and over anything close by her. I adore that. It shows her brave, courageous, curious, and fun-loving traits that are very attractive.

And I respect the same thing when I see it in an organization. You can feel the energy in the space when employees are fully engaged in their work. You can catch the enthusiasm when people are ready to move an idea forward. You know their determination and commitment when they are ready to embrace a challenge. Ready to try something different, even if it means they might make a mistake. Ready to jump over any hurdle.

The things that hold us back are usually our own fear of failure. But as has been widely documented throughout history, we can never achieve success if we haven’t yet failed at something. It’s how we learn and grow.

What are you ready to do today?

For a small dog, she has a big jump. You can see her extension as she reaches beyond her own height.

The nuances of communicating do matter

On May 3, 2011 / Communicating, Graceful Leadership / 5 Comments

Grace was out of control. In a happy way.

She bounded into the agility room on Friday and all bets were off for getting her attention. She wanted to greet the other two dogs. Say hello to her favorite trainer, Rachel. She jumped over the hurdles. Ran through the chute. Leapt over the A Frame. It was hard to keep up with where she was going next. She was as excited and as full of energy as I have seen her there.

She has definitely enjoyed our recent visits to agility class. But it seemed that this day was extraordinarily blissful for her. It required every skill I knew to keep her engaged in what we should be doing. Even the string cheese and duck-flavored savory treats weren’t enough to maintain her focus!

Have you ever tried to communicate with someone who has absolutely no interest in what you have to say? That’s what I felt like with Grace.

While she was bouncing off the walls, I had a revelation. One of the exercises was a front cross maneuver. As Grace exited the tunnel, I was to come in front of her and direct her to the other side. I’ve mentioned this particular technique before and we’ve done it many, many times in class. Performing the ‘front cross’ is not difficult. Yet because it’s in the middle of so many other things you’re doing, the subtleties can get lost.

However, something ‘clicked’ for me and I realized the importance of using every available aspect of communicating with Grace to keep her attention. First, I needed to be near the tunnel exit, I had to make eye contact immediately, move with her to the tire jump, call out “TIRE!” and then use my body placement and arm gesture to direct her correctly. Even knowing the importance of every aspect, I didn’t do so well on my first try. I didn’t make eye contact and I was too far away from the tire given the unique, sharp angle of the desired turn. Grace moved to my right instead of my left, missing the tire.

Rachel asked us to try it again, reminding me of the things that I had not done. This time, it worked and Grace performed beautifully! It’s not enough to say the word or just move to the next obstacle. Ensuring that I had her undivided attention was critical: it takes more than just one way to deliver a message effectively. Just like when we communicate with people.

In order to ensure that the other person correctly receives any message, we have to think of so many things – while we’re in the middle of a bunch of other things! We might be thinking about the person we’re talking to, or how we need to move to the next task awaiting us, or we might be annoyed at the noise in the adjoining room that continually distracts us. There are a multitude of things that could be demanding our attention.

So it becomes immensely difficult to be 100% present at every single moment. Yet when we get distracted, that’s the likely moment when our communication can get flawed. Perhaps we didn’t hear what the other person said. Or we missed the item that the speaker pointed to during a presentation. Did their voice provide a clue for their true feeling that was missed as we “listened”?

Our agility class helped me see the impact between crystal clear communication and “almost clear” communication. It made the difference of whether Grace understood my intended message. I’d be interested to hear examples that you would be willing to share of communication that has been effective, and perhaps, not-so-effective. What did you do that had an impact on the outcome?

How much focus do you need to get what you want?

On April 12, 2011 / Graceful Leadership, Training / Leave a comment

This is an example of a discrimination exercise, where the dog has a choice of two pieces of equipment. Your job is to ensure the dog goes to the place you intended. You will see Riley, Grace

Focus. No distractions. Having all your attention on something—it’s a good thing.

Until you lose your focus.

That’s what happened to me at agility last week. And I didn’t even realize it until a fellow classmate, Patricia, recognized it had happened to both of us. I loved our class last week. It turned out that there were only two dogs and so we had a bit more opportunity to practice some of the skills.

One of the first things we did was a front cross technique; as Grace exited the tunnel, I would cross in front of her from the left to the right, then I would ask her to jump, on the hurdle now on my left. I needed to make sure to pick up eye-contact with Grace as she came out of the tunnel, not quite that easy since Grace runs a lot faster than I do. After picking her up at the end of tunnel, I needed to guide her to the hurdle, now on my left, as opposed to her running right.

My first attempt was unsuccessful. So was my second.

Patricia was experiencing this as well, so Rachel slowed us down and showed us again. With a little practice and Rachel’s clear direction, we did it! Grace and Patricia’s adorable dog, Riley, did great—through that part of the exercise. Once we had completed that stage, we had several more jumps as part of the course Rachel had set up for us.

After we had gone through the course a few times, Patricia made the accurate observation that Riley and Grace had both made mistakes at the end of course. Once Patricia and I had successfully accomplished the task we were actively learning, we lost our focus.

I know I was assuming that the rest of course was “routine” and that Grace knew what to do. But as was so clearly evident afterwards, it was critical for me to keep my focus, helping her hit every tire and jump exactly as I knew she was capable of doing. But if I was unclear or wishy-washy about what I wanted her to do, she had a free pass to do what she wanted. She didn’t ‘miss’ intentionally—she just wasn’t clear what I wanted.

As we work with others on a project or learning a new skill, this can be the explanation why mistakes are made in places that were once mastered. Consistent focus is really necessary.

Learning takes time and can be scary, especially when you are supposed to know what you are doing!

On April 5, 2011 / Graceful Leadership, Training / 4 Comments

When Grace and I entered our agility class last week, it immediately hit me that learning takes time, repetition, and patience. I was walking around the agility room in familiar territory, feeling good about that. Yet I was simultaneously starting to worry if Grace and I would do well – or would we falter? Would we remember what we had learned from last year? Did I know when to do the front cross instead of the back cross? All sorts of questions started running through my head. I was feeling the pressure.

It was a bit scary. And all this for a fun agility course! In some ways, coming back was even more intimidating to me than when we went to our first lesson last year. At that point, expectations were low. Grace and I had no idea what to do and we relied on Rachel to instruct our every move. We were given lots of time to learn and pace our progress, without a specific deadline for mastering a particular skill.

But this time, I could feel an artificial expectation I had placed on us. It was clear that Grace wasn’t bothered by any lofty goal-setting. She wore a big smile and easily made her way around the equipment, prancing over the A-frame and skipping over the hurdles, whether she was supposed to or not! She was having fun and it helped me to remember not to put pressure on the situation.

With practice, she gracefully hops through the circular shape!

When we train others in the workplace – in fact when we are being trained – do we put unnecessary expectations on where we should be? I do believe we need goals, which are critically important to know where we are going and to stretch us past our comfort zone. But I also see, far too often, situations in the workplace where a manager has an unrealistic expectation for what a person should be accomplishing when they are learning a new behavior or skill. It takes time, repetition, and patience. (Oh, I already said that. But I think it bears repeating.)

Often, our training efforts get off to a great start because there is a strong focus and commitment to the effort, and we start to get lulled into complacency, believing the person being trained is all set. However as reinforcement and encouragement begin to wane, results suffer. Lucky for me and Grace, Rachel continued to provide that much-needed support. Having that guidance calmed my nerves and settled me back into having fun, which gave me the environment where I could learn openly, without being afraid of making a mistake. It is a big help to think of that now when I see someone moving through a new phase of their learning. In what ways can you encourage yourself, and others, to learn new behaviors?

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