[Article & Audio] They Call it "Herding Cats" for a Reason
They Call it "Herding Cats" for a Reason...
If you’re one of the nearly 32 million people in the USA who’s owned by at least one cat, you probably know how much fun it can be trying to keep tabs on where your cats are and what they’re up to.
They say every cat has its day (or is that every dog?), and December 15th is National Cat Herders’ Day... but as The Princess Bride’s Inigo Montoya might say, I do not think it means what you think it means.
They say every cat has its day (or is that every dog?), and December 15th is National Cat Herders’ Day... but as The Princess Bride’s Inigo Montoya might say, I do not think it means what you think it means.
Home, home on the range.
Actually, this particular national day is all about celebrating the people who are so adept at managing seemingly out-of-control jobs, teams, and situations that if you stuck them in a room full of cats, they’d have them rounded up and in good order for inspection in no time.
Every leader has days where dealing with colleagues and the occasional—if unavoidable—chaos at work feels like a day out on the prairie herding cats,* but here’s one key to helping you make it look easy: step back and stay calm.
Every leader has days where dealing with colleagues and the occasional—if unavoidable—chaos at work feels like a day out on the prairie herding cats,* but here’s one key to helping you make it look easy: step back and stay calm.
Keep calm and carry on.
You’ve heard this before (and no doubt seen it on social media memes ad infinitum), but you see it everywhere because it works.
No matter how randomly your “cats” are racing around, and no matter how impossible it seems at the minute that you’re ever going to get them all where they need to be, you need to remain calm and confident.
Why?
Because your calm, confident energy will have the same calming effect on them, and before you know it, everything’s back under control.
(And if you have pets of any kind at home, you’ve almost certainly seen this phenomenon in action: animals respond much better to people who stay calm.)
No matter how randomly your “cats” are racing around, and no matter how impossible it seems at the minute that you’re ever going to get them all where they need to be, you need to remain calm and confident.
Why?
Because your calm, confident energy will have the same calming effect on them, and before you know it, everything’s back under control.
(And if you have pets of any kind at home, you’ve almost certainly seen this phenomenon in action: animals respond much better to people who stay calm.)
So to all of you leaders and pet owners who keep calm no matter what's going on, let's hear it for National Cat Herders’ Day!
About the Author
✈✈ Gina Longo is a former airline captain and flight instructor who flew as pilot in command on 3000+ flights and carried more than 75,000 people (and many pets) safely to their destinations. She then moved to Great Britain to instruct corporate pilots, later spending three years as an international solo traveller.
As a leadership development trainer and the creator of The Calmfident Leadership® System, Gina specializes in helping businesses reduce employee turnover by improving leadership skills, so bad bosses don't drive away good employees.
Her great love is German Shepherds, and as a proud U.S. Air Force brat, she tends to answer the question "Where are you from?" with an enigmatic "It depends."
As a leadership development trainer and the creator of The Calmfident Leadership® System, Gina specializes in helping businesses reduce employee turnover by improving leadership skills, so bad bosses don't drive away good employees.
Her great love is German Shepherds, and as a proud U.S. Air Force brat, she tends to answer the question "Where are you from?" with an enigmatic "It depends."
©2024 Trigpoint Systems, LLC /
Gina Longo Consulting
Mapping Your Success,
One Step at a Time.™
The use of any materials, text, photos,
or videos found on this website in datasets for, the development of, or as inputs to any generative Artificial Intelligence programs is expressly forbidden. Any such use shall be considered copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property.