Chief Joseph Case Study: Cowboys as Managers

1. Chief Joseph Case Study: Cowboys as Managers Done by Kundananji Namwizye (Tau)

2. Cowboys as managers • “Rugged individualism and unbridled competition.”

3. Cowboy management This form of management is characterized by a manager who: • Prefers to be alone in the business wilderness • No constraints and, • A few savages to fight

4. A “Tough” management style • This is a survival of the fittest management style, in which the best in the business will survive, and be recognized. • Managers create groups in the company in order to spark structured competition to determine who is best. • Corporate cowboys are to enjoy combat and are supposed to be tough enough to take it. • This management style has been glamorized, encouraging many to pursue this leadership style

5. competition • This form of leadership is accompanied by competition in various forms. • This keeps people off balance, and weakened, while the strongest keeps fresh and survives.

6. Reigns of Terror! • Businesses today have adopted this form of leadership. • For example a Midwestern firm used this form of leadership through public humiliation. When departmental results were poor, the executive would humiliate them without room for defense. • This created an atmosphere where employees would strive not to be like those humiliated and try and act better to avoid humiliation..

7. Parallel start-up and replacement • When a chief executive officer of a company is not satisfied with the performance of one major division, he decided to stir up competition. • He encourages an ambitious manager of another division to develop a competing line of products – otherwise known as parallel start-up. • Management chooses to replace a line of products with expected spectacular success for personal interest - replacement business.

8. Let’s hold a rodeo! • Some companies regularly hold “rodeos”. • These rodeos involve: 1. testing the strength of managers under difficult circumstances. 2. testing of individuals through the process of stacked ranking; categorizing individual employees in order of excellence.

9. “I am boss” • Many in positions of leadership have chosen to adapt this leadership style as shown in the previous examples. • The “I am boss”, and “ I am the best” characteristic is what defines this form of leadership. • This attitude has affected the whole atmosphere of the business or company.

10. What are the implications? • This form of leadership produces a lot of fear and terror. • Employees are motivated by fear and not for benefit of the company and themselves. • When departments compare each other, they loose focus on what is really important. • While other departments thrive , growth in unfavorable departments slows down or declines.

11. The exemplary chief Joseph • Chief Joseph’s leadership style was characterized by the desire to do what was best for his people. • Whenever the government would ask the Nez Perces to move from the Wallowa preservation, he stood ground because he knew that land belonged to his people. But at the same time, he did not want blood but wanted peace. • There was a time before the war when many of his men wanted to revenge against the white man for having killed his father, but he still encouraged his people to pursue peace.

12. The most outstanding lesson learnt from Chief Joseph is that no matter how difficult a situation may be, a good leader will always do what is best for his team or his people. • Unlike a cowboy manager who seems to like the figurative “sight of blood”, a good leader always strives to have a good and beneficial influence on others and tries to maintain peace.

13. Why chief Joseph? • The cowboy management style of leadership is completely opposite to Chief Joseph’s style of leadership. • To avoid the negative effects that the cowboy style has in the long run, management can try hard to adapt Chief Joseph’s style of leadership. • Instead of intentionally putting employees in difficult situations to test them, they can motivate them in the right way to work hard. • Management would not have to compare employees or departments to benefit themselves.

14. Competition can be healthy for a short while, but focus will no longer be placed on benefiting employees and the company, but will just be placed on who can do the best. • An effective leadership style will not instill fear in employees. • It is necessary to review the performance of employees and departments. • But this is not to stir up competition, but to see what is needed for the company to function effectively

15. An effective leader will always strive to do whatever he/she can to benefit the company as whole; not just for personal gain.