Be the Dog
Lissa Coffey
A good friend of mine recently landed her dream job. After being a full-time mom for many years, she was so excited to get back to work in the corporate world. After one week, she called me, disillusioned. She said that she was having a hard time fitting in with the other people in the company. She felt like they had already formed their relationships and she was viewed as an outsider. Although she loved the work that she was doing, she didn’t feel welcomed in the office environment and she didn’t know what to do about it. I offered this advice: “It sounds like your co-workers are acting like a bunch of cats. Instead of trying to be a cat, go in and be the dog. Open that door with a big smile on your face, tail wagging, full of enthusiasm! Look at how dogs win people over just by being themselves, by being happy and comfortable right where they are. Be the dog.” She laughed at this very zen concept and promised to try it. One week later I got another call. It worked! My friend realized that by changing the way she looked at things, she was able to shift the energy in her environment. She told me she put “Be the Dog” on a note on her computer to remind herself of this. I decided to surprise her and put our new slogan on a coaster for her desk, and while I was at it, I put it on some tee-shirts and a bunch of other stuff. You can check it out in “The Inspired Store!”