Consistent
The sky was stunningly blue with an occasional splash of white provided by the clouds dotting the sky. I was in Vail seeking an answer to my annoying knee. The scent of health and athleticism dominates this community. . You just feel better in this environment. Since I was there it seemed like a good idea to stay the weekend. Good ideas don’t always materialize quickly but this one did. This confluence of happy events gave me the opportunity to be with a young four-legged companion. Animals teach us a lot about happy events, good ideas and idea execution. Animals also teach us a great deal about patience and consistent behavior.
Consistent behavior requires discipline and the belief that the idea can be achieved. What trips us up is our arbitrary belief in the amount of time it will take to achieve a goal. I spent some time this weekend with the aforementioned four-legged companion. He is an eight-month-old dog named Louis. Louis is not my dog but he is a family member. He belongs to my daughter-in-law and son. We were sharing this weekend in the mountains of Colorado. In terms of canine care, my daughter-in-law is responsible for the “early shift”. My son takes the late-night shift. Because we are both early risers, she and I would meet in the morning at 8:00am for coffee and a walk.
My idea of a walk with Louis is a pleasant stroll with Louis walking at my pace without pulling on the leash or lurching at the various distractions along the way. I am pretty sure this was not his idea of an ideal walk in an unfamiliar neighborhood. As I have been dealing with the knee situation, I was more interested in our working together to achieve a walk that did not negatively impact my recovery. To be fair to Louis he was not totally unfamiliar with this form of walking. Asking him to walk in a collected manner was not brand new but my holding the leash was new. Each day I did everything consistently. We met at the same time. We walked the same route. Given that it was an early hour there were few distractions. Each day was better than the next in terms of his behavior and how we worked together. We would make a quick stop at the coffee shop. He would wait patiently and then we would walk to a large grass area to play catch. None of this is particularly amazing in terms of a well-trained dog but he is not my dog. However, I presented myself in a consistent manner and he was soon behaving as if he was my companion. Both Louis and I brought our best and most consistent selfs to these morning interactions. It was a wonderful start to the day for both of us.
What did Louis teach me?
Consistency is important. My four-legged friend taught me that when I bring my consistent self the results are positive. It is not only a good thing to think of when training a young dog, it is a good thing to remember when interacting with people. Developing relationships through consistent behavior is a terrific developmental foundation. I don’t want to be seen as only sometimes available. I want to be seen as reliable and consistent. The low approval ratings for our governmental leadership have as much to do with their lack of consistent behavior as it does with whether or not I agree with their policies. The debt issue is a perfect example of the inconsistent nature we present to the world. Other governments want to have the confidence that our government can be relied on to behave consistently. We demonstrate consistently that we are not consistent.
Developing our relationships with business partners and clients require that same level of consistent behavior. More than your opinion or your correctness I want to know that I can rely on you to be available and consistent.
Like Louis, he and I developed a positive relationship because we behaved in a predictable fashion and could rely on each other to perform our roles and tasks with consistency.
Good boy Louis…...