Cindy Masingill

The Boys in the Boat – A Book Review

The subtitle of this book – not a spoiler alert! – gives a good idea what it’s about and how it ends: “Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.” What you will find between the front and back cover are pages of powerful metaphors for building, leading, and inspiring…

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Letting Go

A few weeks ago I read a story that stuck with me. Since then I’ve shared it with clients for whom the message also resonates, for varied reasons. Here’s the story: “So much more can happen with our hands open. In fact, closing and stubbornly maintaining our grip is often what keeps us stuck, though…

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First, Break All the Rules – A Book Review

First, Break All the Rules What the World’s Greatest Mangers Do Differently Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman A colleague recommended I read this book as a support to the research I did last year for a re-design of our new-leader program. She said it was a “must read,” and after reading it, I wasn’t disappointed….

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Leading by Fergi – Lesson #8

Feeling Rusty I’m feeling rusty.  Fergi and I usually do our agility training weekly, but due to vacation and an off week, we haven’t been to class for two weeks. So not only is missing class leaving me dry for blog material, it’s also making me feel a little rusty, and I don’t like it. …

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Leading by Fergi – Lesson #7

Empowering Others I got frustrated with my agility trainer last night when she reminded me, for the millionth time, that I should not be giving Fergi treats from my hand; I should be rewarding her by throwing her ball, which has a big chunk of salmon inside (and thereby rewarding her away from me). Treating…

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Leading by Fergi – Lesson #6

Success Even In Less Than Ideal Circumstances Last month, Fergi and I spent 2 days at one of our favorite outdoor agility shows in Cato, New York, a beautiful rural area in upstate. The conditions of the show were perfect:  warm, sunny days, no rain and very little wind; Fergi was in good physical condition…

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Leading by Fergi – Lesson #5

Passion and Performance I was commenting to a friend during agility class this week about her border collie’s amazing drive when he gets in the ring. When he’s running a course, his head is down, he barks like crazy, and he flies over the jumps so fast one wonders if he even sees them there…

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Leading by Fergi – Lesson #4: What the Heck Are You Saying?!

You might think that after 11 years of agility training, seven of them with Fergi, we’d be masters of the sport, covered in ribbons and accolades, our picture on the cover of Clean Run magazine (a publication dedicated to the sport of dog agility), but that’s not how it works. At every class we learn…

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Leading by Fergi – Lesson #3: When Will We Get There?

Mondays are agility training night for Fergi and me. Agility is a sport that requires a dog and his handler to negotiate an obstacle course, racing against a clock and completing the obstacles correctly and in the designated order. It’s funny; we call it “dog training,” but it’s primarily “people training.” Classes are intended to…

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Leading by Fergi – Lesson #2: Let me fail, I will succeed. Just trust me.

In the agility world, a significant amount of training time is spent on “handling.” Handling includes hand signals, body positioning, or other moves I use to show Fergi where we are going on the obstacle course; there is a variety of such signals, positioning and moves that all mean different things. We recently learned a…

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