[ SHOWGSD-L ] Not just mentors, EVERYONE!
- From: "Caggra@xxxxxxx" <caggra@xxxxxxx>
- To: jackkilgour@xxxxxxx, showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:03:29 -0500
Jack - Outstanding post. It seems true Mentors are few and far between these
days. However, I also believe everyone, not just "mentors" can have a direct
and drastic influence on things....
I think that outside of actual mentoring, it is EVERYONE's responsibility to
give "Joe Public" a good impression of dog shows. However, everytime I sign
on the List people are fighting and some are downright mean. Many times I go
to a dog show and witness poor sportsmanship. I hear about dog club meetings
and Parent club meetings where members are always fighting back and forth.
Why would anyone want to be a part of all this? There is SO much good in our
club and at dog shows, but it's so often overshadowed by this messy stuff I
list above.
In the end the only thing that will truly save our breed/sport is for each and
every person individually and separately to take responsibility and decide that
everytime WE go to a dog show, or a dog club meeting, or get on the List - WE
are going to make a positive impact. WE are not going to be mean. WE are not
going to display poor sportmanship. WE are going to have positive discussions,
support OUR fellow competitors and just plain old be nice! It starts with
one person, then ten, then more. As much as I know negativity spreads I have
to believe the same is true about positive behavior. It's up to each and
every single one of us to live it and be it. Then maybe people will see
something they want to be a part of. Love our dogs and love each other, even
when it's difficult. People would want to be a part of that......
JMO....
Jeff Pyle
Windfall
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Kilgour <jackkilgour@xxxxxxx>
To: list <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thu, Feb 10, 2011 12:55 am
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] "Mentor" - the Verb - The Action Word!!
I am inspired to post by the recent Board Meeting and the positive-minded
people
n this list working together to address our depleted funds, low attendance and
embership levels and our overall slump in morale. Barbara Williams offered a
reat analogy. It gave us an outline on how to find our roles in this dilemma -
he "head" (Parent Club) and the "body" (the rest of us!)...in a follow up email
he identifies a tangible "disconnect" between the number of "interested" German
hepherd Dog Fanciers (low) and the breed's "popularity" (#2 - high)! Yes, the
ap is significant.
f you are not a supporter of our current Parent Club, and/or if you don't
ssociate with local breed clubs and gatherings, then I suggest you stop reading
his now....there's nothing much in this for you! I you are a "rooftop sniper"
ype who waits for the "moment" to seize someone's attempt to reenergize and
eunite, I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunity to find fault in my
pinions.....HOWEVER, If you are like me - if you care about the future of our
reed - if you want our numbers back - if harmony matters - please give me some
eeway while I attempt to toss out a few theories and solutions.
'd like to suggest we take a hard look at the word "mentor", and perhaps we
ight start putting that word in action! A mentor can be defined several
ifferent ways. "A wise and trusted guide and advisor" is a great one in my
pinion. That definition describes a person - the "noun". I have mentors in
any different areas of my life, and the world of purebred dogs is no exception.
here are certainly those wise souls I trust and who have guided me and advised
e when I needed the help. Now, as a new judge, I'm relying on more and more of
hem than ever to assist me in my new "profession." I am a hungry mentee and
'll find my way, but not without their assistance.
believe the word "mentor" is first and foremost a VERB. If we are a mentor
o others we should not think of that as a title, but rather a CALL TO ACTION.
f we ACT as guides and advisors, we need to budget some time and energy for the
ewcomer or the "not-so-new-but-on-new-ground" people in our sport.
entors and mentees, In my opinion the following verbs apply to our Clubs' needs
ight now.
ttract
rient
ducate
rain
oach
etain
ttracting new members includes all the important elements of Marketing. I do
ot specialize in that field but I know enough to agree with Barb and others who
re calling for more advertising, more activities, more awareness of our
onderful German Shepherd Dog. One way some breeders do this over and over is
hen they promote their local and/or national club to new puppy buyers. Keep
hat up - those new people will one day lead our Clubs and will work to better
ur breed!
heck out the great definitions of the verb "orient". I like this one - "to
irect toward the interests of a particular group." Once we attract new
eople, we need to expose them to the wonders of our German Shepherd Dog world.
erding, search and rescue, protection, conformation, obedience, rally, agility,
ompanion dog and BEST FRIEND. Our breed is versatile and it is strong and it
s ATTRACTIVE and so we need to orient people on that matter.
upposing we have done so, and let's just say the newcomer is most interested in
andling in the conformation ring. Our next job as mentors would be to
educate" that person - there's the Standard, the AKC/CKC organizations, the
ules and regulations, show entries, etc., etc. To take people to the next step
to get them "trained" to do the job, we first need invest our energy and time
xplaining what their role of handler is all about. Encourage questions,
enerate dialogue - ensure understanding. This may sound methodical, and in
any ways it is, but the purpose of education is to endow the learner with
nowledge, choices, and confidence! It also has a softer side, does it? Taking
his time with someone new tells them we care - about our breed and about them.
ow the person we attracted and oriented has decided on handling her dog in the
how ring and has be educated on how it works in theory. She is involved, she
s enthused and she's maybe even decided to join the a local breed club and our
ational one. We now need to give her the "training" to do the job. We need to
ransfer the knowledge into a set of skills. That could mean one-on-one
andling classes, getting her together with local "dog workouts" or scheduled
onformation handling classes. From a trainee's point of view, for success to
revail, it should be a matter of "tell me - show me - let me - let me again -
give me feedback and let me again". So if your mentee needs to learn how to
how the dentition on her dog, explain to her how you're going to do it, then do
t, then let her do it a few times, then give her feedback and let her do it
gain. Training is awesome because it finally gets the mentee in motion.
ikely our handler is starting to feel a sense o
f belonging and kinship to the sport. Getting the trainee ready for her first
ime in the ring is an awesome experience. Most of us have helped someone do
his, haven't we. Mentorship has it's rewards.
Coaching" is it the next level. Think of it as taking a person to a point of
ptimal performance. Our same handler who is now our fellow-member, and who is
rained and experienced in the ring might still want to improve. A good coach
ill observe the handler in the ring and have a positive, private conversation
ater. That discussion should include plenty of input from the handler, focus
rimarily on what is going well and offer one or possible two areas for
mprovement.
f we do these actions well - if we proactively involve ourselves in the lives
f the less-experienced, are we not well on the way to "retaining" them big time
nd full-time? If we are leading by example, are our mentees not apt to become
entors too? Is this all measurable? Will our books balance and our numbers
ise? I believe the answer to all is "YES".
ur trusted leaders who are working hard to solve our current crisis need our
upport - our respect and our ACTION. Ultimately the future of our breed will
ot be directed by 10 or 20 people. It will need to be a grassroots effort and
e all need to be in motion.
f Barb Williams is right (I believe she is) then we should look to our Board as
ust one part of the body - in her analogy she gave them the role of the
ead/brain. We asked them to lead us and guide us in the right direction. The
est of the body - the arms - the legs - the torso - the parts that MOVE the
ody - the parts that DO the work is the rest of us....are you one of "us"?
ack Kilgour
mentee" of MANY in search of a few more
mentor" to a few in search of MANY more
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POST is Copyrighted 2011. All material remains the property of the original
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind
are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its
administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in
any post.
ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE
PROSECUTED.
For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx
VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org
SUBSCRIPTION:http://showgsd.org/mail.html
NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/
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