Cowgirl Power

by Gay Gaddis

  Confront problems head-on. Deal with them and make sure everyone learns from them. Not confronting issues is kind, but not nice. You are not doing anyone a favor by not confronting problems—and what’s worse is that you often will cause harm to the overall emotional health of the team.

  No one has ever called me nice.

  Shoot the Assholes

  Your personal power depends on your willingness to draw a line in the sand. It is your responsibility to maintain a positive, healthy environment. If you have someone who is negatively impacting your team, you have a responsibility to intervene and try to resolve the issue. But if that does not work, you have an obligation to shoot the asshole. Negative energy drains team spirit; it is a dark rain cloud that does not go away.

  Never tolerate an asshole.

  Cowgirls Know a Good Idea

  When They See One

  We work together because collectively we are better than when we work individually. Ideas need to be managed with respect, openness, and open debate.

  Constant Forward Motion

  Our mantra at T3 is the idea of “constant forward motion.” We continually ask ourselves to gain forward motion in all things. Where can we improve? What expertise do we need to add? What capabilities do we develop next? Constant forward motion is about the big stuff. And the very small stuff.

  Ask yourself. Ask your teams for specific examples of how you have moved your organization forward. Do it every month. Then every week. Then every day. Do it often enough and it becomes an organizational instinct.

  Great Things Start as a Few Small Things

  Virtually everything is an opportunity. It may look like a problem, and it may be. But usually behind that problem is a tiny little opportunity to improve. Learn to see the world from this perspective. Always, always look for the upside in everything and believe that each little thing can be put together in ways that become wonderful things.

  This is powerful stuff. It’s one part curiosity and one part optimism. I have seen us take a simple idea like the house slippers we created for UPS and turn it into a multimillion-dollar business.

  Our Four-Step Process

  Our culture has evolved to cherish, protect, and enhance ideas. We basically have four steps:

  Generating free-form ideas—nothing is rejected

  Building on the ideas, mixing, linking, twisting them

  Evaluating which ideas are the best ways to solve the problem at hand

  Determining which of those ideas have the potential to be a platform

  Learn to Use Straw Dogs

  Success is not always a straight line. The solution to a problem or opportunity is often not clear. Real leaders understand how to work through this.

  When you face ambiguity, when the path forward is not clear, the best way forward is with straw dogs. You come up with a potential solution to the problem—it can be thoughtful and compelling, or it can be funny and whimsical. It does not matter. Ask everyone on the team for their straw dogs. It is OK because they are just straw and no one is going to get hurt.

  What you will see is that people will start shooting at some of the dogs and others will be left standing. Do it over and over again, and the solution will emerge. When you are looking at a blank whiteboard, you have nothing to react to and people get stuck. They are invaluable because they give the team something to react to. Reacting to a vacuum does not provide much insight. Put up straw dogs, shoot some down, and the ones left standing are potential solutions to the problem.

  Put up some straw dogs today.

  Gay’s Rules on Developing Ideas

  Managing ideas requires laying down some cultural principles, some ground rules. These are the steps to developing ideas.

  Fear goes out the window

  Big ideas come from small ideas, start with curiosity

  The team owns the idea, individuals do not

  Ideas are never judged, until later

  It is fine to build one on top of another

  Argue for an idea. Conflict is an important part of the process

  Take a break, get away from it

  As a group, pick the top three

  Prototype each one as fast as you can

  Release it in a safe zone

  Tweak it some, iterate, iterate

  Let it go

  Ask “What do you think?” but don’t answer with “I think.” Start your response with a positive, forceful statement.

  Put ’Em Up on the Wall

  When it is time to begin evaluating the ideas, put them up on the wall and discuss them. See what resonates. Look for opportunities to build on them. Then ask everyone to vote on the best ones using colored stickers. No discussion should be allowed during this step. Then evaluate and iterate and keep going until you are done.

  By the way, this is an incredible exercise to teach your kids how to work as a team!

  The Power of Three Workable Ideas

  Pick the top contenders and debate the merits of each. Narrow them down to three different ideas everyone would be comfortable presenting to the client. This requires real thoughtfulness. You are about to release the ideas into the wild. Never include one you do not believe in, because without fail, that is the one that will get selected.

  Let the best idea win.

  Make It. Don’t Talk About It.

  Instead of starting new projects with written proposals, elaborate project plans, and detailed estimates, go prototype it. Just go make it. Don’t talk about it. Just do it. This focus on action and making changed my business. We are often able to put our ideas in the hands of our clients and show them how it actually works. We get amazing reactions because they can see the power of it, even if it is not perfectly designed and executed yet. Powerful stuff.

  Prototype. Don’t pontificate.

  In Search of the Adjacent Possible—Find Big Ideas

  In the business world an adjacent possible is something that was not apparent before, but suddenly emerges and can be combined with another element to create something entirely new. The classic example is when Johannes Gutenberg in the fifteenth century took existing ideas like movable type, ink, paper, and the concept of a press (for making wine) and put them together and built something that never existed before: the first printing press.

  Look for new ways to combine ideas. Teach your teams to mash up different technologies. Be creative and look beyond the obvious. Ideas come from curiosity.

  One of our executives at T3 told me that she wakes up every morning curious. And that is a wonderful thing. Shouldn’t we all?

  Cowgirls Are Fearless Leaders

  We need women in leadership positions. You may not be in line for the C-suite just yet, but there are skills you can work on now that will prepare you for when those opportunities present themselves.

  Be All In

  To take a leadership role on a team, in your own business, or in the C-suite, you have to have the mentality of being “all in” the game. You have to be totally committed to actively lead with real solid conviction. You owe it to yourself and to your teams. Anything else will usually lead you into failure.

  Don’t accept leadership if your heart is not in it. It is not fair to anyone. Taking on a leadership role makes you responsible for the success of everyone on the team.

  Do accept leadership roles if you feel a strong sense of conviction that you will lead them to a good place.

  Put Yourself Out There

  First and foremost, a leader has to put themselves out there. Leaders need to be accessible and visible. They need to stitch together relationships with shareholders, customers, employees, regulators, and the press. They must be great listeners because the interests of each of those groups are not always aligned. It requires constantly reaching out and really connecting.

  Do Things You Have Never Done Before

  At T3 we pride ourselves in doing things that have never been done before; in fact, we have been doing it for thirty years. And we rarely fail. How do we do i
t? We have a process and culture around breaking new ground. When we move into that mode, we understand that risk lurks everywhere. We are all on high alert. We double and triple test everything. We beat on systems to try to make them fail.

  When was the last time you did something you have never done before?

  Build a Network to Be Visible

  As a leader your network is your pathway to success. You need to actively build it to be sure you have a big pipeline of opportunity. You need to be purposeful about those you seek to influence—are you focused on the right people? And you need to be assertive in order to be visible, to get people’s attention. It takes passion, conviction, and courage. But it is one of the best rewards of leadership.

  Actively, purposefully, and assertively build your network. Once you do, be visible and stay visible. Let people know what you are doing and thinking. Participate. Show up. Engage. Having a lot of contacts in your network is only the first step. Working with them and teaching them what you are interested in is what adds value.

  Embrace Risk

  The willingness to take risk is what moves people, teams, and organizations forward. There is very little gain without taking some risk. Leadership is all about evaluating risk versus reward. To be an effective leader you have to embrace risk and be willing to fall flat on your face. A wise leader can learn to mitigate risk and improve the odds of success.

  Think about how much risk you are willing to take to move forward. Like any smart cowgirl, sometimes you start small, then increase your risk tolerance based on your skills and knowledge.

  Give Your Power Away

  One of the joys of leadership is to give your power away. Each time you give someone new responsibilities, you make your teams stronger, more confident, and effective. You grow your people. And, what is more important, you are able to focus on constant forward motion.

  Gain power by giving some of it away.

  Say No

  I advocate saying yes to the right opportunities. But I also advocate saying no to things that don’t matter, that are distractions. The things you say no to are often more important than your yes decisions. Be judgmental. Be protective of your time and energy.

  Cut through the clutter. Focus on what matters. Don’t be afraid to say no.

  Make Fun of Yourself

  When you develop your personal power and move into leadership positions, there are very few talents more powerful than self-deprecating humor. If you can make fun of yourself, you are demonstrating both your personal power and your self-confidence. It requires strength and courage, and people understand that. If I can kick off a speech with a good laugh, I can own the room. Don’t try it if you are not in a position of strength, but if you are it is the ultimate power play.

  Learn to be the butt of your own joke.

  Watch for Life’s Plateaus

  We all reach plateaus in our life, in our work, and in our families. Maybe things are getting a little dull. Maybe systems that have worked for you for years are no longer working. Maybe your legal and financial advisors are not the best choices today.

  As we mature, as we grow our businesses, as we become more expert, we have to step up and forward. And, often, that means we have to leave some things behind. Watch for plateaus. They are usually a good sign that you are moving forward.

  When You Fail, Watch Who Has Your Back

  One last thought. When you fail, and you will, watch who has your back. Watch who checks up on you. Who cares about you and offers a hand up? Pay close attention because these are the people that really love you. It is important for you to understand that.

  Whose back do you have?

  Notes

  1Jewelle Bickford, coalition chair, Paradigm for Parity, LLC

  2Ashley Crossman, “Power,” ThoughtCo., April 15, 2016, https://www.thoughtco.com/power-p2-3026460.

  3Deborah Tedford, “Tamales for Christmas Are a True Texas Tradition,” NPR, December 24, 2009, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121791809.

  4Lisa Chadderdon, “How Dell Sells on the Web,” Fast Company, August 31, 1998, https://www.fastcompany.com/35071/how-dell-sells-web.

  5Jim Olson, “Fox Hastings, One Tough Girl,” Cowboy Heroes! (blog), October 9, 2014, http://mycowboyheroes.blogspot.com/2014/10/fox-hastings-one-tough-gal.html.

  6Sharmilla Ganesan, “What Do Women Leaders Have In Common?,” The Atlantic, August 17, 2016, http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/what-do-women-leaders-have-in-common/492656/.

  7Shelley Correll and Caroline Simard, “Research: Vague Feedback Is Holding Women Back,” Harvard Business Review, April 29, 2016, https://hbr.org/2016/04/research-vague-feedback-is-holding-women-back.

  8Steve Ember and Barbara Klein, “Annie Oakley, 1860–1926: One of the Most Famous Sharpshooters in American History,” ManyThings.org, http://www.manythings.org/voa/people/Annie_Oakley.html.

  9Ibid

  10Richard Hamilton, “Buffalo Bill with Annie Oakley Wild West Show,” Pennsylvania State Sportsmen’s Association, http://www.pssatrap.org/oakley-annie-wild-west

  -show/annie-oakley.htm.

  11Farrah Penn, “I Spent a Week Trying to Be a More Assertive Woman in the Workplace,” BuzzFeed, December, 6, 2015, https://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn

  /i-spent-a-week-trying-to-be-a-more-assertive-woman

  -in-the-wo?utm_term=.kkZeRzOVX#.gxOgLpwB1.

  12Marguerite Rigoglioso, “Researchers: How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace,” Insights by Stanford Business, March 1, 2011, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/researchers-how-women-can-succeed-workplace.

  13Claire Cain Miller, “Mounting Evidence of Advantages for Children of Working Mothers,” New York Times, May 15, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/upshot/mounting-evidence-of-some-advantages-for-children-of-working-mothers.html.

  14Taylor Bruce, “Ruben’s Drugstore Tamales,” Southern Living, http://www.southernliving.com/travel/south-west/rubens-drugstore-tamales-sanantonio.

  15Jim Olson, “Mabel Strickland First Lady of Rodeo,” Cowboy Heroes, June 17, 2013, http://mycowboyheroes.blogspot.com/2013/06/mabel-strickland.html.

  16Ibid

  17Ruth Ayers, “Champion Girl Won Fame On Reno to New York Ride,” The Pittsburgh Press, April 21, 1935, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19350421&id=5f8cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=n44EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2573,368109.

  18Pew Research Center, “Women and Leadership: What Makes a Good Leader, and Does Gender Matter?,” January 14, 2015, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/01/14/chapter-2-what-makes-a-good-leader-and-does-gender-matter/.

  19Wendy Solomon, “When Is Female Leadership an Advantage?,” Lehigh Business, November 3, 2015, http://www1.lehigh.edu/news/when-female-leadership-advantage-0.

  20Carmina Danini, “No One Told Ford Tamales Need to Be Unwrapped,” Houston Chronicle, December 31, 2006, http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/No-one-told-Ford-tamales-need-to-be-unwrapped-1536700.php.

  21Wyatt Marshall, “How a Plate of Tamales May Have Crushed Gerald Ford’s 1976 Presidential Campaign,” Munchies, November 8, 2016, https://munchies.vice.com/en/articles/how-a-plate-of-tamales-may-have-crushed

  -gerald-fords-1976-presidential-campaign.

  22Alex Katz, “Condoleeza Rice on growing up, Stanford and failing at piano,” The College Fix, October 13, 2010, https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/3972.

  23“Mamie Francis Hafley, 1981 Cowgirl Honoree—Colorado,” National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, http://www.cowgirl.net/portfolios/mamie-francis-hafley.

  24“Kathleen McGinn Discusses Benefits to Children of Working Moms,” YouTube video, 5:38, posted by CGTN America, October 2, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATimBK0YsJQ.

  Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.

  To receive special offers, bonus content, and news about our latest ebooks and apps, sign up for our newsletters.

  Sign Up

  Or visit us at hachettebookgroup.com/newsletters

  >

 

  Gay Gaddis, Cowgirl Power