Leadership
Dogs: the new breed of leaders
By Karin Malkowski Stende
Are
you the top dog, or are you content to run with the pack? Are
you barking up the wrong tree when it comes to leadership?
How you deal with conflict says a lot about how you
approach leadership. Based
on conflict styles research, this funny, engaging, and
insightful program illustrates a variety of leadership styles,
from the assertive and powerful Bulldog, to the happy-go-lucky
Black Lab, and everything in between. Discover your “inner
dog” and find out how to apply that knowledge in honing your
leadership skills. Learn
some new tricks on how to recognize other breeds of leaders,
and how to adapt your leadership style so you can ultimately
become “Best in Show.”
  
 
Program Outline—
This program uses a combination of PowerPoint, group
discussion, and group activities to combine leadership styles
with conflict styles. To
make the content easier to remember and more accessible to the
audience, the styles are attached to five different dog breeds
with characteristics similar to each of the five most common
conflict styles.
The program begins with a challenge to
change the perception of conflict from negative and something
to be avoided to a positive experience that contributes to
growth and change. To
achieve this, the group brainstorms words and feelings
associated with conflict, with the intention of uncovering the
positive words during the brainstorm process.
We then examine the five different
conflict styles—accommodation, avoidance, compromise,
competition, and collaboration—linking each one to a
specific dog breed. Each
style has distinct characteristics and approaches to conflict,
just as each dog breed has distinct characteristics that make
it unique in the dog world.
As each style is discussed, the breed characteristics
that match the conflict style are analyzed as well, helping
participants to remember more clearly the attributes of each
style. The easy-to-learn and remember format of the program
makes it easy for participants to begin using immediately, and
also to take back to their own campuses.
Following this overview, there is
discussion and working in groups to determine strategies
unique to each of the styles, and situations appropriate to
each style. Groups
then come together to report on their findings; as each group
reports, the facilitator adds clarifications and distinctions
as needed. Finally,
participants are given strategies to use when dealing with
people who approach conflict in styles different from their
own.
Participants will:
·
Develop
clearer personal understanding of how they approach conflict;
·
Utilize
conflict styles awareness in dealing with interpersonal
conflict on a professional and personal level;
·
Practice
easy-to-teach and easy-to-use communication skills for dealing
with conflict;
·
Develop
a personal action plan on where, when and how they will
utilize newly acquired skills in their personal and
professional lives.
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