You can't pick and choose your rules

Yesterday's blog was about communication and how important it is in management. It is also important for any walk of life. However there is one thing that is much more important than communication and that is what you wish to communicate. If you say something that is good but don't communicate it then you will get nowhere. If you say something bad but put a good spin on it then you might get somewhere but it wouldn't be good. So the message is all important.

I was walking my dog Molly in a park yesterday where there is a sign saying that dogs must be kept on leads. There was one lady with three little dogs walking next to her who were very well behaved but not on a lead. I explained to my dog that this is how she should behave but I don't think I was the main thing on her mind. One of her dogs came close and I had a struggle to hold on to Molly. She is very friendly but she is not good with other dogs which may be something to do with her coming from a rescue home. Yet she can be good with other animals if she is given a chance. She got a chance shortly after this experience with a big dog who was off the lead.

I thought that this was great. My dog had a chance to socialise with another dog. In the first experience my dog had struggled with me. Both the other dog owners had broken the rules but I knew which one I preferred.

As I was leaving I overheard the first owner complaining about the other one because her little dogs were threatened. You really can't complain about others breaking the rules if you are doing so yourself. Whatever defence she has for herself really isn't good enough to allow her to complain about others. Her dogs had irritated mine, the other dog had become a friend and she was complaining. The moral of this story for me is that you can't pick and choose which rules you are going to obey.

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