Which is more important for success? What you know or whom you know?
Today’s blog comes for a poll that was in a local paper this morning; but certainly extremely fitting. The poll is “Which is more important for success? What you know or whom you know.” Your choices are “What you know,” “Whom you know,” “Both,” or “Don’t know.”
Which would you choose? Which is important for success? Certainly I would hope that it is what you know, but it seems that in today’s society, it is more about who you know. As I posted on Friday, only you can determine your success. So why is it that we must continue to “know” people to be successful?
I was recently at a smaller 3-day show. After a frustrating first day, I heard though the talk on the grounds, that the judges were hand-picked by a large name handler. The handler wasn’t even from that area, but yet it was very obvious that they had at least some influence over the judges and their choices. Of the 7 dogs in the BIS group on day two, 5 were handled by this handler. While I understand that the odds are in a handler’s favor at a smaller show, since they will bring in 20-30 dogs, but really, 5 of the 7?
I was later told that a husband and wife judge combo, were like this handler’s second parents and mentors. Guess what…..most of those 5 placements came from that husband/wife combo! Also guess what….when the wife was the breed judge the next day, Remmers didn’t even get one single look in the ring with so named handler in there. WOW! I’m not saying that my bitch was the best choice in the ring, but certainly she is of the quality that she should be getting a second look. To boot, she was also on a handler, so we can rule out my crappy handling skills as the reason for the lack of placement! :)
I sit on the BOD for my local home kennel club. I know that without the handlers, our entry count would have been drastically down. They do bring in a lot of entries that are certainly the life blood to the club show’s success, but I also know that our show chair would never allow one specific person to pick judges.
Why have we continued to let judges pick handers and handlers to rule the roost? I know anyone can be beaten at any point in time, but let’s face it, the odds are in the pro’s favor. Thank you to the judges who will put up the correct end of the leash. Thank you to the judges that will pick owner-handler’s over pro-handlers. Thank you to those judges who still allow it to be fair and anyone’s game in the ring. And finally thank you to the judges that know the standards for the breeds they judge.
I will be exclusively handling Remmers the rest of the year. Many of you know that she has been on ring side pick-up with a moderately known handler. Due to other reasons, she will no longer be shown by him. So, we will see….can I be as successful with “What I know” vs. my lacking of “Whom I know”? Only I can determine my success….right?
On a side note, as of when this blog was written, the poll results are as follows: 45% Whom you know, 32% What you know, 23% depends, 0 % don’t know. *Taken from the Kearney Hub Your Opinion Counts...www.kearneyhub.com
Today’s blog comes for a poll that was in a local paper this morning; but certainly extremely fitting. The poll is “Which is more important for success? What you know or whom you know.” Your choices are “What you know,” “Whom you know,” “Both,” or “Don’t know.”
Which would you choose? Which is important for success? Certainly I would hope that it is what you know, but it seems that in today’s society, it is more about who you know. As I posted on Friday, only you can determine your success. So why is it that we must continue to “know” people to be successful?
I was recently at a smaller 3-day show. After a frustrating first day, I heard though the talk on the grounds, that the judges were hand-picked by a large name handler. The handler wasn’t even from that area, but yet it was very obvious that they had at least some influence over the judges and their choices. Of the 7 dogs in the BIS group on day two, 5 were handled by this handler. While I understand that the odds are in a handler’s favor at a smaller show, since they will bring in 20-30 dogs, but really, 5 of the 7?
I was later told that a husband and wife judge combo, were like this handler’s second parents and mentors. Guess what…..most of those 5 placements came from that husband/wife combo! Also guess what….when the wife was the breed judge the next day, Remmers didn’t even get one single look in the ring with so named handler in there. WOW! I’m not saying that my bitch was the best choice in the ring, but certainly she is of the quality that she should be getting a second look. To boot, she was also on a handler, so we can rule out my crappy handling skills as the reason for the lack of placement! :)
I sit on the BOD for my local home kennel club. I know that without the handlers, our entry count would have been drastically down. They do bring in a lot of entries that are certainly the life blood to the club show’s success, but I also know that our show chair would never allow one specific person to pick judges.
Why have we continued to let judges pick handers and handlers to rule the roost? I know anyone can be beaten at any point in time, but let’s face it, the odds are in the pro’s favor. Thank you to the judges who will put up the correct end of the leash. Thank you to the judges that will pick owner-handler’s over pro-handlers. Thank you to those judges who still allow it to be fair and anyone’s game in the ring. And finally thank you to the judges that know the standards for the breeds they judge.
I will be exclusively handling Remmers the rest of the year. Many of you know that she has been on ring side pick-up with a moderately known handler. Due to other reasons, she will no longer be shown by him. So, we will see….can I be as successful with “What I know” vs. my lacking of “Whom I know”? Only I can determine my success….right?
On a side note, as of when this blog was written, the poll results are as follows: 45% Whom you know, 32% What you know, 23% depends, 0 % don’t know. *Taken from the Kearney Hub Your Opinion Counts...www.kearneyhub.com
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