Normally, I write on LinkedIn about professional stuff, and thought I’d start adding some personal touch about things I value to my posts as of today.

I wasn’t feeling comfortable sharing the following but thought I’d have to learn to share my vulnerability, and values.

Due to the war with Ukraine and the fact I didn’t support that crap, I urgently evacuated from Moscow to Georgia in 2022, leaving all three of my adopted beloved dogs with my parents back at home… That was a tough decision. I miss them all a lot. At the moment I live near Batumi on the Eastern bank of the Black Sea.

You won’t believe how many homeless pedigreed dogs are here. Although looking at them I cannot say they are unhappy…

You make a turn and you meet at least one-two. You make another turn and three more walk along with you in the hope you’d share something yummy.

There is at least one four-leg angel waiting for you nearby every supermarket. And they watch straight through your soul.

Someone said a dog is like a 5-year-old human baby, no matter how old, strong, or intelligent they are.

You can meet here a lot of hunting types, serving ones, like Schnauzers, Poodles, or a mixture of various kinds like the ones in the video.

I adore dogs and enjoy feeding them. So I’ve made myself a new hobby – feeding homeless dogs. A pack of Chappie or meat/bones leftovers always sit in my pocket before I leave home.

It’s such an enjoyment patting a dog, feeding them, communicating, and playing with them!

Did you know people and dogs are a lot alike?

Dogs build solid teams through social behavior, empathy, strong bonds, respect, commitment, and leadership. Forming strong bonds with others is crucial for creating a sense of community and unity within a team.

Dogs are strongly committed to their role in the group, highlighting the importance of creating a clear structure and promoting respect and commitment within a team.

Empathy and the ability to understand emotions are important for building teams. It allows individuals to resolve conflicts and promote collaboration. And just like people, dogs can show different feelings and emotions, and even communicate with one another using different sounds and body language.

Dogs have a strong sense of routine and structure. That helps them reduce stress and maintain well–being. This shows the importance of creating stability and predictability within a team to foster security, whether you work in a corporate or a startup environment.

When things go South on your team

As you start noticing your teammates agree with everything you say without asking questions or asking questions outside the team calls, there are zero conflicts, and, yet, you think your team doesn’t deliver to your expectations, there’s a high probability that the team’s trust is gone.

It’s time to run an investigation as simple as regular one-on-ones with your mates to discover what is going on well, what’s going on not so well, and how they think it could be improved. They usually know it quite well.

But, as always, as a leader, start with yourself:

1. Do you feed them and do you feed them well? In other words, are they paid well? Were there any repeating salary delays until recently? Or are they completely unpaid for several months in a row?
2. Did you step forward to explain to your team the tough situation your company is in and offered them options to choose from (even when these options suck)?
3. Did you meet your promises? How about your ongoing commitments?
4. Do you come to the meetings on time? Do you always show up at the team meetings you RSVPed for? How about last-minute cancellations?
5. Do you always keep your camera on?
6. Do you regularly jump off in the middle of the calls because there’s something more substantial?

If you said ‘yes’ to either of these points, dogs don’t do that. 🙂

Do you have a dog?