Meet Coco. She's a 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever raised in a prison — and she happens to be one of the best trainers of people out there.
Coco is one of about a dozen dogs in the Leader Dogs for the Blind's executive training program, which teaches managers how to improve teamwork skills, clarify communication, build trust, do strategic planning, use creative problem solving and ultimately become better bosses.
"It's the best training for people you'll find," said Dave Bann, corporate engagement manager for Leader Dogs for the Blind in the Rochester Hills, Mich., executive training program.
Dog teaching man might sound as far-fetched as man biting dog. But not to those who have experienced the training course, such as Ginger Auten of Mitsubishi Motors research and development in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Auten donned a blindfold, took hold of Coco's harness, used precise commands to communicate where she wanted Coco to go, then surrendered control and extended trust.
The result was an epiphany: "Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and let yourself rely on help from others to guide you," Auten said. "You're still in charge, even if you're the blind person guiding the dog, and with any leader and employee, it's a give-take situation."
"When you're in leadership, you want to control things. That took me out of my comfort zone. I had to purely trust the dog," said Phil Bertolini, chief information officer for Oakland County. Bertolini and about 19 of his colleagues did the training last year.
The tighter Bertolini pulled on the harness, for example, he learned, "The less the dog was able to lead you," said Bertolini, who worked with Coco's canine colleague Flaim, a black Labrador retriever. "If you do the same thing with your team, the harder you pull on them, the less they can help you achieve."
