Here’s the cowboy version of the business seminars that sprung up after the Everest climbing disaster of 1996, which used the poor leadership and decision making of the mountain guides to teach executives how to run their companies better. Steve Wood of Dallas is applying rodeo skills to life and money.
When most people hear the word leadership, they probably don’t think of the world’s most dangerous bull. In the 1990s, Bodacious was the most feared animal on the national rodeo circuit. He was a take-no-prisoners, World Champion bucking bull. So when Dallas executive Steve Wood created a series of talks designed to motivate leaders in the toughest of corporate jobs, he knew exactly who his mascot should be. Bodacious Leadership was born.
Wood is also publishing a book called Be Bodacious: Put Life in Your Leadership—a collection of entertaining tales from the business trenches and from Wood’s own experiences as a working cowboy. From ranch hand to experienced sales strategist, Wood’s professional journey has been anything but ordinary. Thirty-five years ago, he was more comfortable sitting on a bucket milking cows, than standing behind a podium giving speeches. While working on a Texas farm, the last place Wood envisioned himself was in an auditorium with hundreds of people, teaching them to be better leaders. But when he heard an internationally known manufacturer was recruiting lab technicians near his hometown for the Research and Development division, Wood jumped at the chance.
“Go the full eight seconds in relationships and opportunities; get up off the ground when you fail; pay the entry fee, and try it again,” says Wood. “It may be your only opportunity to go the full eight, in a relationship or an opportunity.”
Today, Wood serves as a member of senior leadership for a sales organization with annual revenue exceeding $1 billion. It’s the same company who hired him off the farm fields.
Sample discussion points:
· How to put “life” into leadership
· The eight-second rule to life & realizing your dreams
· How to “be bodacious” and stand out from the crowd
· Cowboy leadership in a corporate world: Redefining the model leader
· Lessons from a cowboy on life and leadership