Czaro Strategic Communications

My wife’s cat, Buddy, died this week. Buddy had been in her life far longer than I have. In fact, if Buddy were a person, he’d have been old enough to vote.

Losing a pet is hard, and during the grieving process you think about the times – good and bad – when the animal touched your life and the lives of others.

As I reflected on my relationship with Buddy, I realize that he taught me three important leadership lessons that are relevant to everyone, both in the workplace and in their personal lives. 

Loyalty. My wife and youngest daughter are the only two people on the planet that ever earned Buddy’s loyalty. No other relative, neighbor or door-to-door vacuum salesperson ever got close to him. Rather than spreading his love around in a shotgun approach, he had a laser focus. Managers should strive to be that loyal to each of the individuals on their workplace team. If so, they’d receive loyalty in return. Leaders have to be willing to defend their followers, just like a parent would protect a child. I’ve seen managers go belly up and let their direct reports fend for themselves. It never ends well. Think of a supervisor as a tree. Each time one of their direct reports is attacked and the manager doesn’t come to their aid, the leader gets hit with an axe. After enough whacks, they're going to fall over. The team will lose respect for the leader and they will leave.

Transparency. The term "transparency" has quickly become a part of today’s business vocabulary. Transparency is associated with websites, blogs, but mostly with corporate financials. The market rewards more transparent companies with higher appraisals because the risk of unpleasant surprises is believed to be far lower. Buddy didn’t play games. There were never any surprises. What you saw is pretty much what you got. I knew that getting near him could result in torn pants or shredded calves.

Conflict Management. Conflict itself isn’t the problem. It’s when conflict is poorly managed that setbacks occur. Effective leaders should be consistent when addressing conflict. Leaders should look for understanding and compromise as the answers to resolving conflicts. That’s not possible if you avoid conflict. Buddy and I had an understanding. It took a couple years, but eventually we came to an agreement. He had his space (the house), and I was allowed to live there. Conflict (not really) solved.

Our tumultuous relationship ended this week. Buddy lived a long and fulfilling life, and he’ll be missed. Despite his passing, I’ll always have his leadership lessons to guide me. Especially the unspoken lesson that the more evolved species should drive conflict resolution. Wait, maybe, that’s exactly what happened.