Sheepdogs Don’t Read Emails

If you could do something that would make you 34 times more impactful, would you do it? Research from Cornell University finds that verbal requests are 34 times more effective than email. Then why has our default become for people to read our words vs. hearing them? Picking up the phone, leaving voicemails, or even recording a simple selfie video are easy ways to dramatically increase the likelihood that followers will internalize your message.

Jesus taught, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Apparently, the same is true of sheepdogs. Our kids talked us into letting our family dog have one litter.  We have fallen in love with them and are keeping two puppies, but before the other six go to new homes next week, I want to share one more observation.

My wife feeds and cares for them -- an exhausting job -- but she also does something else with them -- she talks to them, constantly. Although only eight weeks old, they've started to follow her dutifully. They come when she calls and, as the video below shows, they’ve even started going to sleep when she sings to them. I doubt she could achieve that by email.