I Want to be a Cowboy: The Leadership Myth

We all want to be cowboys, and why not? Cowboys have always held a special place in our hearts. When we are kids, we point our fingers, yell bang, and then argue for hours whether we are dead or just wounded. When we grow up, who has not daydreamed of hogtieing her overbearing boss and riding off into the sunset to the cheers of coworkers? Cowboys are resourceful, daring, and are as quick with their wits as they are with their fists. They are always right. They always win.

In many ways, we see cowboys as the embodiment of leadership. Business leaders, like cowboys, are often presented as mythical figures doing amazing things. Standing alone and apart from ordinary folks, they are dreamers perched upon their mustangs, making their plans as they gaze off into a lonesome moon. Yet, when the time comes for action, they dig their spurs into their horses’ sides, gallop down to the town people, and tell them to circle the wagons. There they are, at the front of the fight, with their six-guns blazing, dropping the vermin dead in their tracks. And when the battle is over, off they go riding into the sunset to receive their rewards—the school marm for the cowboy, stock options for executives.