An Inspiring New Message

Jim Owen has inspired audiences all across the country with his concept of Cowboy Ethics, and the belief that "we can all be heroes in our own lives."

Now he has a new presentation with a timely and thought-provoking theme: What does it take to succeed in America today? His answer: It's all about THE TRY. In a compelling 35-minute talk, he makes the case that now more than ever, qualities of character - like grit, guts, and heart - are the critical ingredients in career and life success. His message is as relevant to organizations, communities, and business teams as it is to educators, parents, and students.

Click on the video to watch a preview.


Preview Jim Owen's Speech from Havey Productions on Vimeo.

Boys and Girls Club Adopt Cowboy Ethics Program

Cowboy Ethics has been named the premier program of the Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming. We are excited so many young people are learning the cowboy code and implementing the principles into their lives. 

January 22, 2013 12:10 pm  •  by Lani McBee

The Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming has a saying: "Great Futures Start Here!"

In 2011, the club adopted “Formula for Impact,” an initiative that gives the club a clear direction to ensure they make a difference and help kids.

The club hopes members have fun in a safe and positive environment, surrounded by supportive relationships. Members are also given lots of opportunities and recognition. The goal is to help each member achieve academic success, a healthy lifestyle and good character and citizenship. That’s why the club’s motto is “Great Futures Start Here!"

Academic success for a club member is defined as being a graduate from high school who's ready for college, trade school, the military or employment. Project Learn is an example of the club’s targeted programs for education and career development. Tutoring is offered every day after school in the Power Hour. Even kindergartners participate in the Power Hour. Mills Elementary School requires 20 minutes of reading every night. Older club members might read to the younger members to help them meet their reading requirement and at the same time develop their leadership and mentoring skills.

Healthy lifestyles at the club are defined as adopting a healthy diet, practicing healthy lifestyle choices and making a lifelong commitment to fitness. The club's SMART programs are all about prevention and education. They address problems such as drug and alcohol use or premature sexual activity, and offer self-esteem enhancement programs for girls ages 8-17. They also promote and teach responsibility to boys ages 11-14.

Each of the club’s locations offer arts and craft programs on a daily basis, along with daily gym activities aimed at getting all of the kids up and moving. The clubs also offer numerous sports leagues.

Good character and citizenship are also important at the club. Being an engaged citizen involved in the community is urged. Members, for example, are encouraged to register to vote and model strong character.

Today, the premier program of the clubs is a Cowboy Ethics program.

Cowboy Ethics is based on the James Owen book, "Cowboy Ethics." Titled the Wyoming Youth Initiative, this program empowers young people to create and live by their own code. The program promotes ethics and leadership among Casper youth -- the Code of the West.

Jessica Baxter is the program development coordinator. She's responsible for the planning within local clubs and training for other organizations. Andrew Snead is the program coordinator responsible for implementing Cowboy Ethics at the club’s teen center, the juvenile detention center and Casper’s high schools. The programs focus on inspiring and engaging young people, helping them to decide for themselves what they want to stand for and what kind of person they want to be.

The Code of the West is comprised of 10 principles by which to live, such as "When you make a promise, keep it!" or "Remember that some things aren't for sale."

The code curriculum is built around the 10 principles. Discussions might begin with words such as honor and respect. The age-appropriate learning activities vary and might be a game, role playing, or a written exercise. Through these activities, kids have a chance to determine for themselves the connection between the principle of keeping a promise and the concept of honor.

Group members seek out and discover the answers to three questions: What do I believe? Why do I believe it? And how does my life show it?

Baxter is working with the staff at Woods School to implement the Cowboy Ethics initiative as a pilot program for the school’s K-8th grades.

Twice a month program coordinators visit Woods and lead group activities and Woods' teachers regularly employ Cowboy Ethics activities in their classrooms.

Students say the program has had an impact on them and that they enjoy talking to each other about problems and fears. One student said, “I think we could all use come cowboy ethics and learn a few more manners." Another said, “I do think this code benefits you because it helps you learn who you really are and not someone you're not."

Article originally posted in The Casper Journal.

Excellent, Humbling, Inspiring and Enlightening

This just in from Facebook:

Scott Pavick shared:

“Mr. Kevin Harney, owner of Stalco Construction, provided all of his employees the

opportunity to meet Mr. Jim Owen and Mr. Kent Noble in person. The presentation

explaining Cowboy Ethics and The Try and how these principles were derived and

utilized was nothing short of excellent, humbling, inspiring and enlightening. Stalco

Construction has now adopted the Code of the West as a basis to the way our company

will be run. Mr. Harney has provided a copy of Cowboy Ethics to each of his employees

not only as a gift, but as a reminder of the basics and values this country was built on. It

will provide inspiration to better ones self as well as bring the basics back to conducting

business. Lets recapture what America once stood for. On behalf of the employees of

Stalco Construction, I thank Kevin for providing this gift of true American values.”

We love to see stories like Scott’s as more and more businesses are Standing Tall. Speaking of which, here's another inspiring article recently posted in BEEF Daily about faith and the cowboy code of ethics. Keep living true to your code and share your stories with us anytime.

The Cowboy Way Is Backed With
Morals, Values

Jan. 14, 2013 by Amanda Radke in BEEF Daily

Ranchers follow a code of ethics dictated by a strong moral compass.

Even in the middle of a cold and sometimes harsh South Dakota winter, I can always find beauty all around

me. The trees glitter with frost, the snow sparkles on the hills, and the sun shines down on the cattle as

puffs of breath steam from their mouths. Birds chirp, cats hunt for mice in the barns, and our faithful farm

dog is afoot as we do chores.

No matter what the weather, we’re responsible for the livestock, and that’s one of the first lessons I learned

growing up on a ranch. Rain, sleet or snow, our cattle relied on us to take care of them. And it’s not just a

business decision; it’s the right thing to do. This cowboy code of ethics is often called the “cowboy way,”

and it’s instilled in most cowboys and cowgirls from the time they are old enough to sit up straight and pay

attention in church.

Perhaps it’s good old-fashioned values, or maybe it’s something more. Whatever it is that makes cattlemen

so great, it’s certainly worth talking about.

http://beefmagazine.com/blog/cowboy-way-backed-morals-values

Why America's Young People Need The Try

For young people today, the idea of America as a land of opportunity increasingly rings hollow. They are coming of age in the toughest economic times our country has seen since the Great Depression, with no swift recovery in sight.

For students from the wealthiest families—those we’ve recently come to think of as “the 1%”—the path to adulthood will be smoothed by prep schools, SAT coaches, unpaid internships, and family connections. But for the 99%, especially those in poor families and America’s shrinking middle class, prospects are dimmed by a climate of stubbornly high unemployment, struggling businesses, and declining real household incomes.

One effect can be seen in the numbers of young people who drop out of school, whether because they need to help support their families, or because they don’t know where they’re headed, or because they think the deck is stacked against them whether they graduate or not. While some studies suggest that the U.S. high school graduation rate may be improving slightly after years of decline, it’s still estimated that 25% of students nationwide fail to graduate. Among minority populations and in poor school districts, high school dropout rates of 30%, 40%, or even 50% are not uncommon.

Some say these problems are structural, and that it will take massive, top-down programs to address them. But, regardless of whether or not you believe government is the answer, it’s clear that no major policy initiative proposed today could possibly come on line soon enough to improve conditions for this generation of young people.

This does not mean there is no hope of upward mobility for young people who have grown up poor, or no chance of life and career success for those who come from typical American homes. What it does mean is that it’s up to each individual to make the most of his or her God-given potential.

That has always been true, but in this economic climate, understanding that reality is more critical than ever. In a recent New York Times op-ed column, author Thomas Friedman succinctly explains why:

“In the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job, could earn an average lifestyle. But, today, average is officially over. Being average just won’t earn you what it used to. It can’t when so many more employers have so much more access to so much more above average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics, cheap software, cheap automation and cheap genius. Therefore, everyone needs to find their extra — their unique value contribution that makes them stand out in whatever is their field of employment. Average is over.”

As Friedman suggests, these days the advantage lies with those who will do what it takes to rise above the crowd and be the very best at what they do. In other words, in a very real sense, we are all entrepreneurs now. The Try makes that case in a positive way, empowering young people to find the ingredients of success within. Based on our experiences to date, we have no doubt that success can indeed be taught.

The Great Experiment: Can Success Be Taught?

Getting equipped for the workplace and launching a career have never been easy.  But for today’s young people, the climb is tougher than ever. they can be ambitious, work hard, earn a college or university degree, and still find themselves stuck in a dead-end, minimum-wage job—if they can find a job at all.  

And what about the millions who can’t afford college? Or those who drop out without even finishing high school? shockingly, an estimated 30% of american students who enter ninth grade fail to graduate from high school, and among minority and lower-income students, the percentages are even higher. what chance do these young people have in today’s über-competitive job market?

For decades now, students have been taught that success is a function of intelligence, academic credentials and strong basic skills. Important as these elements may still be, it seems they are no longer sufficient. some hold that family connections are the sine qua non for building a career. But how many young people are socially linked to captains of industry? and while personal networking belongs in every job seeker’s tool kit, LinkedIn is no panacea.  

The question is, what does it take to succeed in America today? and is this recipe something that can be taught…not just to a handful of students at a time, but at scale?    

I’ve got an answer to the first question, and it’s one that every entrepreneur will understand. I’m convinced that success today depends even more on qualities of character—like grit, guts and heart—than on I.Q., credentials or connections. what’s more, there is a growing body of research to support the view that character trumps cognitive skills when it comes to career and life success.

I believe the critical ingredient in success is the constellation of character traits that cowboys call “Try.”  Through my foundation and its community partners, we’re showing that these qualities can be taught. If you’d like to learn more, and perhaps even become part of the solution, please download the white paper, and read on.

- Jim Owen

Cowboy Ethics Business Workshops in Action

Folks in Wyoming have been enthusiastic early adopters of the Cowboy Ethics programs.  From the great work that Ashley Bright and his team are doing with Wyoming Youth, to the state legislature itself, which recently adopted the Cowboy Ethics as the official state code, people in Wyoming seem to immidiately grasp the potential Cowboy Ethics has to change our country for the better.

While the inspiration that Cowboy Ethics offers has spread for beyond Wyoming, folks there continue to innovate and build upon the Cowboy Ethics foundation.  We want to share an article from the Wyoming Business Report about the efforts of the Kent Noble and the University of Wyoming School of Business to show that Cowboy Ethics are good for business too.

We've posted a expert from the article below and you can read more about what Cowboy Ethics can do for business on our website.  We call it, Standing Tall in an Upside-Down World.

Training course seeks to turn business right-side-up
By Business Report Staff

September 27, 2012 --

LARAMIE — An advanced three-day executive business training course will seek to make sense of the upside-down economy for participants.
...
A new course this year will use the "Code of the West" as a basis for business ethics "in an upside-down world."

"Adding a track highlighting the University of Wyoming College of Business 'Standing Tall in an Upside-Down World' business ethics initiative is a real advantage for our participants," said Business Council CEO Bob Jensen. "Not only will participants receive high-level training from UW professors grounded in real-world business experience, they'll also have the opportunity to learn more about business ethics based on Wyoming values."

You can read the full article at the Wyoming Business Report.