never hurts to carry cookies. In an emergency, it’s best to have a way to encourage and motivate your herd to do what you need to have done – whether that’s finish a project on time or allow small children to pet their heads peacefully.

• Sometimes when you least expect it a wild dog will rush out at you and destroy all sense of order you thought you operated under. The leashes get tangled. Everyone’s barking and lunging. You’re screaming, “No!” as you try to get the situation back under control. No matter how much you prepare

There are a lot of business models out there for improving your management skills, but let me offer you one you’ve probably never tried. Find five dachshunds – the more misbehaved the better – and take them for a walk through your neighborhood. (Do get permission from the dachshunds' people first).

I’ve had more than one occasion to try this technique. You see, I have two dachshunds of my own, one foster doxie, and I regularly help take care of a friend’s two during the day. So it’s a timesaver for me to walk all five at the same time rather than make two separate trips. Our main goals are a) no one gets tripped or squished and b) we return with the same number of people (one) and dogs (five) that we started with. So far, so good.

I have definitely learned a few lessons that translate well to managing people in this process:

• Everyone does things at their own rates of speed. You can try to slow down the speediest or speed up the lollygaggers, but you’ll just have an unhappy pack on your hands. Averages are good for statisticians but not for unique individuals.

• There’s a time to stop and smell the roses (and the grass and the fire hydrants) and a time to haul butt and get out of the street. When a truck is barreling down on you, you’ve got to hightail it. When it’s a nice sunny day and your To-Do list is short, taking the time to breathe it all in could just rejuvenate you to the point where you start looking forward to getting back to work later.

• The lead dog changes. Instead of thinking of one alpha dog and a bunch of followers, what is more likely is that different animals lead at different times. With the dachshunds, I have one leader at the beginning of the walk because he’s all “Go, go, go” energy. Of course, that energy peters out quickly and he is replaced by my “Was that a squirrel” dog who takes charge whenever there’s wildlife to be examined. And I even have a “Thank god, this walk is over” leader who always makes a sprint at the finish line. If you think of all your employees as leaders in their own right, you’ll be able to encourage and maximize their strengths.

• It never hurts to carry cookies. In an emergency, it’s best to have a way to encourage and motivate your herd to do what you need to have done – whether that’s finish a project on time or allow small children to pet their heads peacefully.

• Sometimes when you least expect it a wild dog will rush out at you and destroy all sense of order you thought you operated under. The leashes get tangled. Everyone’s barking and lunging. You’re screaming, “No!” as you try to get the situation back under control. No matter how much you prepare

me time rather than make two separate trips. Our main goals are a) no one gets tripped or squished and b) we return with the same number of people (one) and dogs (five) that we started with. So far, so good.

I have definitely learned a few lessons that translate well to managing people in this process:

• Everyone does things at their own rates of speed. You can try to slow down the speediest or speed up the lollygaggers, but you’ll just have an unhappy pack on your hands. Averages are good for statisticians but not for unique individuals.

• There’s a time to stop and smell the roses (and the grass and the fire hydrants) and a time to haul butt and get out of the street. When a truck is barreling down on you, you’ve got to hightail it. When it’s a nice sunny day and your To-Do list is short, taking the time to breathe it all in could just rejuvenate you to the point where you start looking forward to getting back to work later.

• The lead dog changes. Instead of thinking of one alpha dog and a bunch of followers, what is more likely is that different animals lead at different times. With the dachshunds, I have one leader at the beginning of the walk because he’s all “Go, go, go” energy. Of course, that energy peters out quickly and he is replaced by my “Was that a squirrel” dog who takes charge whenever there’s wildlife to be examined. And I even have a “Thank god, this walk is over” leader who always makes a sprint at the finish line. If you think of all your employees as leaders in their own right, you’ll be able to encourage and maximize their strengths.

• It never hurts to carry cookies. In an emergency, it’s best to have a way to encourage and motivate your herd to do what you need to have done – whether that’s finish a project on time or allow small children to pet their heads peacefully.

• Sometimes when you least expect it a wild dog will rush out at you and destroy all sense of order you thought you operated under. The leashes get tangled. Everyone’s barking and lunging. You’re screaming, “No!” as you try to get the situation back under control. No matter how much you prepare

ique individuals.

• There’s a time to stop and smell the roses (and the grass and the fire hydrants) and a time to haul butt and get out of the street. When a truck is barreling down on you, you’ve got to hightail it. When it’s a nice sunny day and your To-Do list is short, taking the time to breathe it all in could just rejuvenate you to the point where you start looking forward to getting back to work later.

• The lead dog changes. Instead of thinking of one alpha dog and a bunch of followers, what is more likely is that different animals lead at different times. With the dachshunds, I have one leader at the beginning of the walk because he’s all “Go, go, go” energy. Of course, that energy peters out quickly and he is replaced by my “Was that a squirrel” dog who takes charge whenever there’s wildlife to be examined. And I even have a “Thank god, this walk is over” leader who always makes a sprint at the finish line. If you think of all your employees as leaders in their own right, you’ll be able to encourage and maximize their strengths.

• It never hurts to carry cookies. In an emergency, it’s best to have a way to encourage and motivate your herd to do what you need to have done – whether that’s finish a project on time or allow small children to pet their heads peacefully.

• Sometimes when you least expect it a wild dog will rush out at you and destroy all sense of order you thought you operated under. The leashes get tangled. Everyone’s barking and lunging. You’re screaming, “No!” as you try to get the situation back under control. No matter how much you prepare

t different animals lead at different times. With the dachshunds, I have one leader at the beginning of the walk because he’s all “Go, go, go” energy. Of course, that energy peters out quickly and he is replaced by my “Was that a squirrel” dog who takes charge whenever there’s wildlife to be examined. And I even have a “Thank god, this walk is over” leader who always makes a sprint at the finish line. If you think of all your employees as leaders in their own right, you’ll be able to encourage and maximize their strengths.

• It never hurts to carry cookies. In an emergency, it’s best to have a way to encourage and motivate your herd to do what you need to have done – whether that’s finish a project on time or allow small children to pet their heads peacefully.

• Sometimes when you least expect it a wild dog will rush out at you and destroy all sense of order you thought you operated under. The leashes get tangled. Everyone’s barking and lunging. You’re screaming, “No!” as you try to get the situation back under control. No matter how much you prepare

never hurts to carry cookies. In an emergency, it’s best to have a way to encourage and motivate your herd to do what you need to have done – whether that’s finish a project on time or allow small children to pet their heads peacefully.

• Sometimes when you least expect it a wild dog will rush out at you and destroy all sense of order you thought you operated under. The leashes get tangled. Everyone’s barking and lunging. You’re screaming, “No!” as you try to get the situation back under control. No matter how much you prepare for what life may hand you, there will be those unanticipated moments when you just go with your gut instincts.

• Poop happens. You can either be a bad citizen and pretend that it doesn’t or a good leader and pick it up. Neither way stops it from happenings, but a good pack leader understands that you can’t ignore problems, you’ve got to get out your doggy bag and take care of them.

• Be thankful for small miracles. It doesn’t seem like much to get home in one piece, but when the task is complicated, be grateful. Tell your team how good they’ve been. And hope that next time the results are just as positive.