Explore what our dogs can teach us about leadership:
Articles, Audio, and Videos for Your Inspiration and Learning
February is Pet Responsibility Month – A Perfect Time to Step Up as a Leader
Who knew? February is Pet Responsibility Month, and I can’t think of a better opportunity to talk about what that really means. Too many people get a pet without truly understanding the responsibility that comes with it. Since I’m a dog enthusiast, I’ll focus on dogs,...
Leadership Lessons from Thanksgiving Prep (for You and Your Dog)
Leadership Lessons from Thanksgiving Prep (for You and Your Dog) The holiday season is upon us, and for many families, this week is packed with preparing meals, cleaning, hosting guests, and trying to keep everyone happy. It’s a lot to manage, and as leaders—whether...
How Crisis-Proof Are You?
Do you enjoy friends who only reach out when they need something? Neither do I. Yet, we often treat our personal growth in the same way—only giving it attention when something goes wrong. But what if we could build the kind of resilience that keeps us steady, even...
Lessons to Bring More Ease and Peace Into Your Life
Take a Snapshot of Your Life If you were to take a snapshot of your life right now, how would you feel about it? Do you love your life? And if not entirely, how much do you love it—80%, 60%, 50%? What would you change to improve it? As a recovering perfectionist, I...
Behavior Speaks Louder Than Words: Understanding Your Dog’s Communication
Dogs don’t speak our language, but they communicate with us every day through their behavior. In fact, behavior is one of the most honest forms of communication—whether for us humans or our furry companions. I’ve always believed that to truly understand someone, you...
Ordinary Visionary
"Barking Up the Right Tree: Leadership Lessons from Dog Training" If you are a dog lover, you will love this interview! In this interview, Robert Middleton invited me to share the parallels between corporate leadership and dog training. I explained that my program,...
Summer Time is Vacation Time: Relax or Stress?
Are you looking forward to your summer vacation?Ah, summer! The season of sunshine, travel, and, ideally, relaxation. But for many high-stakes professionals— attorneys, finance gurus, business owners and the like, —summer vacation can feel more like an impending storm...
Mindful Mornings: What my Dogs Taught Me about Mental Clarity
Ever feel like your thoughts are pulling you in every direction? Join me with my dogs Queeny and Deno, as I share a morning walk revelation! Just like my dogs need direction to stay focused, our thoughts also need mindful guidance. When Deno wants to sniff everything...
Power Hacks with Power Naps
I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate feeling tired and sluggish. As someone who works with clients on performance optimization all the time, I often talk about the power of naps and the importance of sleep. Research consistently shows that getting enough...
Discover the Power of Systems
As we quickly approach springtime, it’s a perfect moment to reflect on the goals and ambitions we’ve been nurturing since the start of 2024. What have been your dreams for 2024? What goals have you been diligently pursuing? And where do you sense opportunities for...
The Power of Being You
At the beginning of any new relationship, whether with a family dog or a romantic partner, it's easy to lose sight of ourselves amidst the desire to please others. We can feel inclined to loosen our boundaries and alter our behavior to fit someone else's expectations....
Panic to Peace Virtual Conference
Holistic Approaches to Easing Anxiety in Rescue Dogs A virtual conference for dog lovers: Feb 19-25, 2024 The event is for those who have adopted a dog who is anxious, perhaps reactive, struggling to overcome trauma or separation anxiety. And it’s for those who are...
A Fresh Perspective on Leadership – Bringing Canine Wisdom Into The Workplace
In this episode of "Soul Touched By Dogs," host Anke Herrmann interviews me, Iris Grimm, the creator of the Dog-Gone Leadership program. Among a few other things, I share my journey of merging my love for dogs with my expertise in leadership coaching, revealing how...
Rise to the Challenge: Dogs, Leadership, and Personal Growth
A couple of months ago, Jeff Christian from C4Leaders.org invited me to his podcast "Life's Essential Ingredients Podcast." Jeff leads the only non-profit organization to utilize the pizza-making process to create learning opportunities for those we know, love, and...
What Dogs Tell Me: Unleashing Leadership with Dogs
🎧 Listen on Spotify Earlier this year, I was invited to the Podcast "What Animals Tell Me" with Annie Bourke from Australia. In this episode, we discussed the powerful intersection of animal insights and leadership development. We exchanged our ideas about the...
Why Pets Matter in Leadership: Insights from Iris Grimm of Dog-Gone Leadership
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of sharing my unique approach to leadership development by partnering with our dogs with Deborah Hamilton, podcast host of "Why Do Pets Matter" and attorney of Hamilton Law and Mediation, PLLC....
Become the Person Your Dog Inspires You to Be
I am thrilled to share the exciting insights from my recent podcast interview on "Find Your Leadership Confidence" with host Vicki Noethling. As the interviewee, I had the opportunity to discuss my unique approach to leadership development, which involves learning...
Your Purposeful Life – Dogs bring out the best in us!
What Dogs Can Teach Us About Leadership As humans, we often overlook the lessons we can learn from our 4-legged companions. Dogs have been our loyal companions for thousands of years. Therefore, it's no secret that they have a lot to teach us about leadership. In this...
National Hug Your Dog Day: The Power of Appreciation
Today is National Hug Your Dog Day, a day dedicated to showing some extra love and affection to our furry friends. There’s something special about hugging a dog – the warmth, the unconditional love, and the pure joy that radiates from them. But did you know that...
The Power of Collaboration in Healing Our Dog’s Knee Injury
Last Summer, our dog Deno started to limp on his right leg on and off. We took him to the vet several times but no conclusive diagnosis was made. The x-rays didn’t show any major injuries either. Yes, the area around his knee was slightly inflamed but it didn’t lead...
How to keep employees engaged and retain talent
Melinda Thomas and I continue our conversation about marketing and leadership. In the below video, she asks me how leaders, who have to balance budgets and do more with less, can they keep their employees motivated and retain talent.
Grownlearn
The latest episode of the GrownLearn podcast explores the unique connection between owning a dog and career success. According to a study by Kelton Research, 78% of C-suite executives attribute their success to owning a pet as a child. In "Unleash the Leader in You,"...
Five Habits that Impact Performance of Leaders
How Dogs Train Business Leaders
How do you incorporate dogs into training business leaders? Now that varies because I have group workshops that I provide in companies and I also work 1-1 with business leaders all over the country. Let's start with the second, when clients tell me about a situation...
Dog-Gone Leadership is effective in pet-friendly Workplaces
I know you say that one of your sweet spots are pet-friendly companies. Can you tell us why? Yes, of course. I love pet-friendly companies for several reasons. They are employee-focused. They understand that they have to serve their employees and provide a convenient...
Success Stories of Dog-Gone Leadership
Why I do what I do
Why do you do what you do? First, it is a natural blend of my two loves – dogs and leadership development. I have been working with business leaders in their companies for over 20 years and I have been volunteering in the dog rescue world and teaching dog owners how...
The Power of Walking Your Dog
Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Yes, you can. And here is why? We create our relationships. We create the people who work with us or for us. We create our dogs. That’s why you hear stories of dogs that destroyed a house or we hear stories of people in companies...
Dog-Gone Leadership – Are dogs allowed?
In this 4-minute interview, Iris explains how Dog-Gone Leadership is unique as a leadership development training in companies. Dogs can stay at home and eat on their bones while their caretakers learn effective leadership skills that make them not only better leaders...