After taking a brief from a work colleague and on instructions to contact a counterparty to communicate my organization’s concerns about a matter and to make certain demands, I proceeded to execute the mandate. Then my colleague said to me,
“So our leader was right about how you would respond if I followed his advice.”
Curious, I prodded my colleague to explain himself. He laughed and said he hoped that I would not take offence at a certain description accredited to me in the discussion. I promised I wouldn’t take offence because I was most interested in the other juice!
I was told that my leader described me as a Rottweiler whose character can only be useful if I was sufficiently armed with information and the extent of eminent danger to the organisation. My colleague was instructed to get me sufficiently “riled up” so that the organization could get optimal benefit and effect from legal counsel.
I thought, Rottweiler? Me? I quickly remembered my promise and decided to pack it for a number of years until a few days ago. At that time, I simply laughed it off.
Recently, I decided to revisit the matter and did some research. I found out that a Rottweiler has the following characteristics;
✅Loyal and loving – Great family pets, especially with proper training.
✅Confident and powerful – Originally bred for guarding and herding.
✅Intelligent and trainable – Respond well to positive reinforcement.
In this sharing, I reflect on some things a corporate actor needs to do in the best interest of the organization which includes communicating a hard position to a counterparty in a manner that brings it home while maintaining the corporate etiquette.
My leader at the time was committed to my growth as an executive and I remember one time he came to my office during a heated exchange I was having with a colleague. He turned to me and asked me to calm down and drink some tea or something! I learned that to be cool is also an art worth learning and I became intentional at it. He was the same person that encouraged my colleague to bring out the rotweiller in me…confusing? Not at all, now that I have had years to think it over. It is possible to be calm and lethal at the same time and corporates demand such sobriety in the way actors carry themselves on their behalf.
Be a corporate Rottweiler when you need to. It should be developed as an attribute that impacts chances of success at a venture positively. It is about taming the inner tiger and refining the hunt to precision and grace in execution.
Are you a corporate Rottweiler?
