Dog-Gone Leadership - Bringing Out The Best In Your People

A unique and innovative approach to optimizing performance

in your company by tapping into the wisdom of dogs.

Dogs connect us to our hearts. They can bring out the best in people at home.
So why not allow them to bring out the best in people at work?

Let’s face it – people love or admire dogs.

  • Close to 40% of American households own at least one dog.
  • Dog videos are the most-watched videos on YouTube.
  • More and more companies create pet-friendly workplace policies because employees don’t want to keep their dogs at home by themselves for too long.

You don’t have to be a boss to be a better leader.

Dog-Gone Leadership with Iris Grimm steps outside of the conventional professional development box.
Iris developed an approach to stimulate better performance in companies by engaging leaders in conversations about dogs. Because the skills you need to interact with and train a dog are actually often similar to the skills you need to lead people in the workplace. So we take what we learn from dogs and translate it into leadership lessons that are totally applicable to humans! This is an engaging and practical approach where we merge people’s admiration for dogs with their desire to enhance their performance and leadership. 

Here is what we know about dogs – they –

  • shake stress off quickly
  • respond to positive reinforcement
  • read the energy of the room naturally
  • stay focused when they are at work
  • reflect our leadership in vivid pictures and behaviors

Dog-Gone Leadership teaches high performers to:

  • shake their stress off quickly and return to an emotional state that serves the situation best
  • know how to motivate their team and keep them engaged
  • read the energy in the room and adjust their style/approach accordingly
  • stay focused and tune out distractions
  • take nothing personally and let go of any grudges and conflicts swiftly
  • leverage their leadership strengths and bring out the best in others

Iris has a unique background. For over 20 years, she has been coaching and training leaders at various industries and levels. And what started out as volunteer work to raise money for dog rescue groups, she has been training dog owners and their canine companions for over 10 years. Early on, she used her professional coaching skills to help dog owners sort out their challenges with their dogs. She drew parallels from the business world to explain a concept to dog owners in their relationship with their dogs. And when she worked with business leaders, she used examples from her dog training experience to illustrate leadership insights in the business world. Her vast experience in coaching and training not only people but also dogs allowed her to merge both modalities into a practical, inspiring, and engaging program that is memorable, engaging, and personal.

The concepts of Dog-Gone Leadership apply to everyday challenges in companies, including:

  • finger-pointing, blaming, and lack of responsibility
  • misunderstandings in teams that lead to emotional breakdowns
  • team members being disengaged, withdrawn, and not aligned
  • stress overriding performance
  • being complacent with mediocre performance

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Dog-Gone Leadership?
It is a unique and customized program for companies, non-profit organizations, and associations where we merge the wisdom of dogs with leadership and professional development.

Does everyone have to have a dog?
No. Dogs are not a requirement to get the learnings and the growth from this program.

Will dogs have to be present in order to get the most from this program?
No. Quite the contrary. Dogs could be a distraction from learning to occur. Therefore, the dogs can stay at home and nibble on their bones.

Know Your Dog – Know Your Self

Partner with your dog and discover leadership growth opportunities by reflecting on your relationship with him/her. Complete this form to get access to the play sheet and audio instructions.


Is this dog training?
No, this is not dog training. Iris may share stories from training dogs, but the emphasis will be on what can be learned from living with dogs and applied in the workplace.

Our company is a pet-friendly company. Can we bring our canine employees to this program?
We can discuss whether it makes sense to bring the dogs or leave them in their cube.

Are you implying that leaders should treat their employees like dogs or refer to them as dogs?
No, not at all unless they regard and treat their dogs better than their employees.

What is the format?
Depending on the outcomes that you want to accomplish with this program, we will customize the format. This is a versatile program that can be presented as a:

  • opening keynote for a conference or retreat
  • workshop / breakout session during a company retreat or conference
  • lunch’n learn program
  • ongoing workshop series in your company
  • leadership development training that can last from 1-hour to 2-day training
  • group coaching program in your company.

Intriguing enough? If this speaks to you, the best way to learn more about this program is through a conversation. I invite you to click here and schedule a time that is convenient for you.