Robb Hiller - Running with Joy: Leadership and Life Lessons My Dog, Bentley, Taught Me

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Running with Joy: Leadership and Life Lessons My Dog, Bentley, Taught Me

Copyright 2021 by Robb Hiller. All rights reserved.

Previously published in 2014 as Stop Barking and Start Leading: Five Leadership Lessons We Can Learn from My Dog Bentley! by Beavers Pond Press under ISBN 978-1-5929-8950-8. First printing by Tyndale House Publishers in 2021.

Cover illustration of dog copyright CDH Design/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of texture copyright arigato/Shutterstock. All rights reserved.

Interior photographs of Bentley from the personal collection of the author and used with permission.

Designed by Faceout Studio, Paul Nielsen

Edited by Sam Michel

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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Names: Hiller, Robb, author.

Title: Running with joy : leadership and life lessons my dog, Bentley,

taught me / Robb Hiller.

Description: Carol Stream : Tyndale House Publishers, 2021. | Includes

bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021007060 (print) | LCCN 2021007061 (ebook) | ISBN

9781496449696 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781496449702 (kindle edition) | ISBN

9781496449719 (epub) | ISBN 9781496449726 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Success in business. | Creative ability in business. |

Happiness.

Classification: LCC HF5386 .H6135 2021 (print) | LCC HF5386 (ebook) | DDC

658.4/09--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021007060

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021007061

Build: 2021-05-24 08:20:45 EPUB 3.0

Pam, without your incredible ability to watch over the details of the business and be a wife, mom, and friend, I would never be able to do what I am called to do. Love you!

A FTER NEARLY EIGHT YEARS as the CEO of a high-tech company and twenty-five years as an executive consultant, I can honestly say that the biggest problem all businesses face is people. The day after I sold my company, I felt a huge load lift off my shoulders. I had been weighed down with people problems. Sure, I struggled with strategy and marketing and sales, but the most widespread challenge was people. Virtually every business leader Ive met agrees.

But Ive noticed something else. Ive looked at successful businesses and wondered how they became so successful. Its the same answer: people! How can a companys biggest problem also be its biggest asset?

It took me years to figure out, but once I did, the solution seemed rather simple and obvious. The difference between problem people and successful people is that successful people have tapped into their God-given talents and are in positions where their talents can flourish. Unfortunately, only 35 percent of people are engaged at work, which makes me conclude the remainder dont know their own talentsor, for some reason, they are unable to unleash them. What a waste!

Think what a difference it would make in total productivity if those 65 percent could be plugged into their natural talents. What if managers were able to select the right people and put them into appropriate positions to maximize their potential? Theyd have a team full of self-motivated leaders.

What we have now, however, is the opposite. Not knowing ones own talent or that of others results in huge personal and business costs for everyone. The general symptom is that of being stuck. The sales department gets stuck, and growth suffers. Customer service reps arent wired to be calm, helpful, and empathetic problem solvers, and a companys reputation is negatively impacted. New products are delayed and miss a window of opportunity because the team misses deadline after deadline. People feel stuck, and their morale seems to dry up and blow away. The company goes through burnout, lack of personal accountability, lower sales, and decreased profits. Everyone is dissatisfied.

Managers try to compensate by adding more heads, hoping to get unstuck, or they work harder to handle more tasks. Is that whats happening to you? Are you so busy in back-to-back meetings that you have forgotten or are ignoring your many natural-born talents? People today are so busy with overloaded schedules that the inevitable hamster wheel just keeps going round and round.

My solution? Dont be like that hamster. Try to be like my wonderful Lab, Bentley.

Youve no doubt heard about Robert Fulghums book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. For me, its more like All I Need to Know about Leadership I Learned from My Dog, Bentley. Dont laugh. Its true!

My British Labrador Retriever is a role model because he is perfectly in tune with his natural talents, and he is happy to be himself. He isnt full of existential angst or worry over whether hes doing the right thing. He is not misplaced, and he doesnt try to be something he is not. He is friendly and warm to everyone he meets, and every situation is brighter and happier when he is there. He simply runs with joy on instinct, and he has a good time doing it.

Are you tired of feeling stuck? Do you remember the passion, energy, and joy you had as a kid or early on in your career? Are you longing to rekindle that fresh excitement? Are you eager to run with joy, bringing that energy and hope into every situation?

Maybe its time to take a look at where your talents are today. The greatness of YOU lies in discovering and using your God-given talents. When you know and learn how to activate this incredible set of richesyour talentsyou will naturally head down a path of true meaning, and youll realize better and more dynamic results. In fact, when you are in your talent zone, you can do almost anything.

And, yes, I do mean anything! Which brings me to this question: Which type of person in the world do you want to be? There are two types: those who lead from their values and beliefs and those who are led by others. Which one are you now? Dont assume you have to be an executive or a manager at a company to be a leader. All self-directed people deserve to be called leaders if they believe they have much to offer the world, they know and actively express their talents, and they want to grow and make a significant difference through what they do every day. (I know of some executive assistants who are so skilled at their positions that the CEO would be lost without them. Conversely, the CEO could be gone for two weeks, and everything would run smoothly because the executive assistant is always on top of things.) In other words, leadership is not a title but an attitude with a commitment to be personally accountable.

I believe you can change if you open up and discover the greatness within you and within others on your team by following the lessons that Bentley has taught me over the years.