Culture of Denver Dog Works: Self Development

Culture of Denver Dog Works: Self Development
By Robert Forto, PhD


This is the sixth installment in a series on the Culture of Denver Dog Works. I am not only doing this to give our readers an idea of what we are about at Denver Dog Works but also as an exercise for us here at the training center to make sure we are all on the same page and delivering exceptional customer service and training a client's dog to be one of the best trained dogs in the world. 

The 10 Elements of Culture as defined by Denver Dog Works are:

Integrity
Professionalism
Development
Service Availability and Belief
Character
Self Development
An Event Culture
Structured Activity
Leadership
Fun

Self Development at Denver Dog Works and our Culture:

If you want more you have to require more from yourself--Dr. Phil

Being a business owner is tricky business. It takes a tremendous amount of time and even more risk. It is not for the faint at heart or the ill-prepared. It takes a decade of learning in every decision you make every day but you don’t have time to hit the books or research a topic before making a decision that could mean the difference between success and failure of your business.

At Denver Dog Works we pride ourselves in allowing everybody involved to be creative and chase after what they want in business while we give them the tools to make them the best dog trainers in the world. Its hard to share your trade secrets with others. Many even ask me why I do it. It’s simple. I want to be the best dog training school not just in denver but in the world.

We do this in seven key areas: they are: Working Toward Success, Building a Better Team Acquiring New Skills, Giving Back and Getting Back into Focus, Strive Forward to Fulfill our Company Purpose, Help Others with Professional Development and Balancing Work and Life.


Working Toward Success
Our main goal at Denver Dog Works is to continue to work toward success. Not only in business or in our industry but personal achievement as well. If we continue to build our success through our strengths and recognize and correct our weaknesses we will be a much stronger company in the next year. Our goal is to continue to learn from those who have walked a mile in our shoes and to teach those that are looking for guidance.

Building a Better Team

First and foremost my goal as the training director is to build the right team to grow our business. By training most of our team from within in our canine career courses we harvest new talents to complement our business in different training disciplines and philosophies.

Acquiring New Skills

Our business manager’s mantra is: Learn! We continue to learn everyday from our clients, attending seminars, lectures and CEU’s but also from each other. We strive to coach our team in all aspects of business not just dog training. We encourage daily discussion of challenges and issues and offer advice and guidance on these matters.

Giving Back and Getting Back into Focus

At Denver Dog Works we have a service dog training program. This is one way that we give back to our community but it is also how we get back into to focus. A service dog training program takes approximately two years to complete and in that two years you have to be totally focused on the goals that you want to achieve. By training service dogs it brings everything in our culture to the forefront so we can be the best that we can be.

Strive Forward to FulFill our Company Purpose

At Denver Dog Works we strive to improve communication in every way we can. We strive to have organization amongst our team and complete an ambitious list of projects, maintain a high level of customer service, and coach our clients in training their dogs to be the best.

Help Others with Professional Development

At Denver Dog Works we help our team preserve with integrity and to always encourage continual learning as they strive to reach their goals and vision. This is done by working closely with our team and helping them see what they don't know and helping them over come.

Balancing Work and Life

This is the most important area of Self Development in our culture at Denver Dog Works. There has to be a clear boundary between work and personal lives. If one of our trainers, or even us as the owners, work non-stop it will kill any personal goals that we have. You have to have fun and you have to let loose every once in a while because constant work will burn you out. It will become more difficult to muster the energy to work. If you don’t have the energy to work you wont fill inspired and don't have time to enrich your soul. Work affects life and life effects work.

I encourage any feedback you may have and of course share the culture of your business as well. I can be reached anytime by email at train@denverdogworks.com 

Next Week: An Event Culture

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Dr. Robert Forto is the training director of Dog Works Training Centers and the host of a weekly radio program, The Dog Doctor Radio Show which can be heard every Saturday at 9:30 am in the Rocky Mountain West or download it anytime. Dr. Forto can be reached through his website at http://www.denverdogworks.com