Chasing Cows and Pushing Plows
Versatile Leaders Are Part Cowboy And Farmer
The skills it takes to be a fearless cowboy and a successful farmer are very different. I recently had a fascinating discussion about this difference with one of my coaching clients. He is the consummate city slicker, which made the following analogy so surprising. He just moved into a new role in his company where he has been asked to oversee a huge customer. He compared his new position to farming. He said, "A lot of the job is like being a farmer – you have a highly productive plot of land, and the work is knowing and following tried and true processes – making small changes where necessary." This is a dramatic change from the role he just left leading one of the company’s dynamic, high-growth channels. He said, "I used to have all the freedom and creativity to innovate… I felt more like a cowboy.”
I thought of his words later that day when I had my first experience “farming” since retiring and moving here. Some local farmers recommended I purchase some seeds and plant “test plots” of various prairie grasses directly on the snow to see which would grow best on my land this spring. As they described what was required, I realized that farmers must be meticulously process-oriented when carefully planting, watering, fertilizing, and weeding their crops. I am just getting some confidence in ranching and realize that I am totally out of the element with farming.
We have all read about the innovative founder of a company who struggles to adapt to his or her new role as the president, where they are expected to lead the day-to-day execution of the strategy. The truly versatile leader can be both the creative freewheeling cowboy and the process disciplined farmer. My client said, “The key is to leverage both skills and develop the best combination of consistency and new different thinking to lift the entire enterprise.” In the west, traditionally, cowboys and farmers have had a rocky relationship but as the lyrics from the great American musical Oklahoma says, "Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends. One man likes to push a plow, The other likes to chase a cow, but that's no reason why they can't be friends." Or great leaders.
