Lessons in Persuasion from Maddy The Dog

As I’m writing this^*, I’m looking at Maddy the dog, the Labrador retriever of Michele, one of my part-time team members. Maddy is sitting just to the left of me, giving me “that look” (i.e., “feed me, Uncle Bob”).

Interesting thing about Maddy; she looks at everyone as though they are the most important person in her world, and it’s easy to fall in love with her. And, pretty much everyone does.

The office complex management sort of frowns upon pets but everyone in our vicinity adores her. I think the paragraph above explains why. When she’s with you, she gives you her full and loving attention. She is totally in the moment, focusing on every word you say, as well as the way you say it. She even gives feedback (via the speed of her wagging tail) according to your intonation and pitch level.

Of course, her ultimate goal is food (trust me, that *is* Maddy’s ultimate goal). And she seems to see me as an easy “mark”; figuring – and, I suspect, mentally imaging – that, if she keeps looking at me like she is right now, I’ll give her a goody, which, I eventually do every time (even though I keep telling her this is the very last one and absolutely no more . . . and I really do mean it!) 🙂

Apparently, she also seems to think I’m a great guy, licking and cuddling up to me after each time I feed her something. (Hmmm. There’s an old saying that “behavior that gets rewarded, gets repeated.” But, as I think that about her, I suspect she’s thinking the same thing about me.)

So, let’s see; she is goal oriented. She treats people kindly. She focuses on the person lovingly and intently. She is graciously persistent. She understands the power of rewarding positive behavior. And, she lives totally  “in the moment.”

These are some great “winning” lessons we can learn from Maddy. “Thank you, good girl, for writing this blog post for me. Here’s a treat . . . but it’s the last one . . . and I really do mean it this time.

*This post is from several years ago, hence the reference to an office complex. Today, “International HQ” is otherwise known as “one of those rooms in my home.”