Leadership Styles Of Cowboys And Shepherds

When it comes to leadership styles, are you more of a Cowboy or a Shepherd?

If you are any sort of leader at all then you are likely one of the two. Rarely can you be both at the same time and occasionally your followers (we—the sheep and the cattle!) will determine which of the two you’ll need to be at any given time. The problem, however, is that Shepherds don’t make good Cowboys and Cowboys are never gentle with the sheep.

What do I mean?

To lead, you need people who want to follow you. It sounds both simple and elementary but—really—it is profound. We follow you because we believe you’ll take us where we want to go. It isn’t often that people truly follow a particular leader because they like her hair-color, website design, or even her personality. No, for the most part we’re not that shallow. The fact is that we typically follow you because you’re creative, productive, and we want to grow by learning something from you.

And that’s not a bad thing at all.

The Leadership Styles Of Cowboys And Shepherds

If you are a leader, or you hope to lead someone some day, or you’re preparing to lead a tribe real soon, then you need to understand your followers. Leaders lead people. Sometimes leaders are like cowboys who need to drive the cattle, while at other times you’re a shepherd leading the flock beside still waters.

Which kind of leader are you? When it comes to leadership styles, are you a Cowboy or a Shepherd?

Is your tribe of followers the kind who wants to be pushed and driven to a destination, or are we an introverted bunch that needs to be caressed and encouraged in order to mosey across the prairie?

NOTE: If you aren’t sure what type of tribe you have, it is unlikely you’ll ever succeed at leading us. What is more likely, however, is that we’ll find someone else to give us what we’re looking for. And you’ll be fired!

Cowboys are John Wayne-type leaders who are handy with the whip, wear spurs, yell a lot, scream at and bump the cattle, and eat a lot of beans. Cowboys are leaders who are required to push and drive us (their followers) in order to guide us to the desired location. There’s a deadline, folks, and we need to get there on time!!!

Shepherds, on the other hand, are gentle, kind, and soothing. They lead and direct rather than push or whip. They don’t have a destination in mind so much as their main concern is little more than leading us (their sheep) to find some food, some fellowship, and a bit of exercise. Frankly, the main responsibility of the Shepherd is to make sure they don’t lose any sheep!

Whereas the cattle respect and obey the Cowboys, the sheep love, trust, and rely upon their beloved Shepherd. But as nice as the Shepherd is, he’d be a dismal failure and herding us, the tough and rugged cattle. And as task-oriented as the Cowboy is, he’d scare us—the sheep—half to death.

Please understand that neither of these leadership styles is wrong. In fact, they are both necessary. We need them both. But the tribe of followers dictates the type of leader needed for the task at hand. Catch this—the followers always choose the leader! We choose you. It is never the other way around.

Seth Godin says,

“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.”

This is important for a leader to understand—whether a Cowboy or a Shepherd—because Seth also said,

“Tribes need leadership.“

If you are planning to lead us in the future, are leading us right now, or will be leading us very soon, then you need to know the following—otherwise you are destined to fail. And none of us wants that. If you fail, then the cattle will be robbed and the sheep will eaten by the wolves. And it will be all your fault.

• What is your tribe all about?
• Who are they?
• What do they want?
• What is your tribe’s goal?
• What are the obstacles that your tribe needs to overcome?
• Does your tribe trust you to lead us?
• Does your tribe have a way to communicate with each other?
• Do we have a way to communicate with you, our leader?
• Does the tribe feel you want to hear what we have to say?
• Does your tribe need to be pushed or coddled?
• Are you the right leader for this tribe or should we be following someone else?
• Do you really even care one way or another?

What Should You Do Next? Allow Me To Suggest Two Things:

1. Please leave a brief comment or suggestion below and let me know what you think about this article, whether good, bad or otherwise.
2. Look down. See those social sharers? Would you mind tweeting, sharing or “liking” it to your social media followers? (You’re awesome, by the way. Thanks!)

* Image credit (Shepherd): jeromyj  (Creative Commons)

* Image credit (Cowboy): Bisayan lady (Creative Commons)