We went camping and forgot the dog.
We were 30 minutes on our way when I realized. “Any other children you’ve forgotten?” my partner asked as we turned around and drove back to the house.
And there was Zilly curled up quietly in his crate.
Zilly is a very polite, appreciative, quiet little dog. He’s well behaved, does what he’s supposed to do, doesn’t make any demands, is pleasant to have around.
In fact, he’s a lot like how some of my coaching clients (both male and female) behave at work. They do a good job, work hard in their crate – I mean cubicle – all day, and hope to get noticed. Hope to not get left behind.
I used to have big, demanding dogs. They would have been jumping at the door, running circles through my legs, whining with excitement, making a lot of noise. I would never have forgotten one of them.
I coach my clients to ask for what they want. To make noise and be noticed. “What are you not asking for?” I recently asked a client.
I adore my little dog, but making sure he wasn’t hiding out in his crate slipped my mind amid the chaos of packing up the family for a long weekend in the woods.
Kind of like how even a benevolent manager loses track of your career goals amid the hectic day-to-day details. Particularly if you’re quiet about them and passively hoping to be noticed and rewarded.
So, are you being a Zilly?
Maximize Your Career in Your Current Organization
From a University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education webinar: Prospective clients sometimes ask me how I have the credibility to coach senior executives in industries I know nothing about. Challenging question, right? So I have a choice here: I can answer in a way that risks sounding defensive, talking about my experience and my degrees. I like to do something really unexpected instead.
I like to talk about knots.
