Wyoming needs more corporate cowboys

BY ROD MILLER

On March 3, 2010, an act designating Wyoming’s official code of ethics was signed into law. Wyoming was the first state in the U.S. to adopt an official code of ethics, and may remain the only one to have done so, though I’m not sure. But we were the first. 

The language in our code was lifted from James P. Owen’s book, “Cowboy Ethics”. While it is formally called “The Code of the West,” most folks just shorten it to “The Cowboy Code,"

and for the purposes of this screed, that’s the term we’ll use because, as we all know, “the world needs more cowboys."

While we all like to think of ourselves as living up to these precepts, we, as Wyomingites, are also quick to suggest to visitors and newcomers to the Cowboy State that they should also adhere to the wisdom of the Cowboy Code. There’s nothing wrong with that. If we all conducted ourselves by these 10 rules, this would be a better world.

I don’t think there’s much argument there, even from folks who bristle at being associated with anything cowboy-ish. These are nothing more than good life goals, and they could easily have been written by an Aristotle, a Marcus Aurelius or a Lao Tzu. They are Stoic and Taoist at the same time, just a good philosophy.

With recent bankruptcies in the coal patch and energy companies that bail on their responsibilities to their workers and their families, the counties and the state, perhaps it’s high time that we suggest in no uncertain terms that the Cowboy Code applies to them as well if they want to do business in the Cowboy State. 

Here are the 10 rules in the Cowboy Code as well as suggestions as to how they might apply to corporations and individuals in Wyoming:

1 -- Live each day with courage.

If you want to live and work in Wyoming, you can’t be a tenderfoot. The climate in this state is tough on folks, and you are engaged in a capitalist enterprise. There are risks involved. If you get bucked off or have a stampede, don’t be a cupcake and come crying to the government.
Cowboy up!

2 -- Take pride in your work.

Don’t leave big, ugly holes in the ground or polluted water when you are finished. Leave a tidy camp! Folks around here hate to have to clean up someone else’ mess. Try to make your neighbors proud of your work too. Remember, in Wyoming “neighbor” is a verb.

3 -- Always finish what you start.

This is the first rule a ranch kid in Wyoming learns, and it means work past supper if you have to. Work in the dark or in the rain until the job is done. Don’t quit just because the market turned sour or some tree-huggin’ bureaucrat slapped some pesky regulation on you. Finish what you start, and don’t do it in bankruptcy court just because things didn’t pan out. Find some grit.

4 -- Do what has to be done.

This is simple and self-explanatory, plain as the nose on your face. Because nobody else is gonna do it for you. C’mon, show us some free enterprise at work!

5 -- Be tough, but fair.

Drive a hard bargain, and stick to it. A man’s or woman’s word and a handshake have real meaning around here. Wyoming will stand eye to eye with you and return toughness for
toughness and fairness for fairness. That’s pretty much the only way to survive around here.

6 -- When you make a promise, keep it.

Do you really need this explained to you?

7 -- Ride for the brand.

It makes no difference what your trademark is or your corporate logo. Nobody cares what’s painted on the doors of your pickups. Around here, there’s only one brand – a great, big W! Ride for that brand, and you’ll do fine.

8 -- Talk less, say more.

Don’t try to blow smoke down our chimney about how great your company will be for us or what a great corporate citizen you will be. Save your tall tales for the campfire. Just show us.

9 -- Remember that some things are not for sale.

The list of things in Wyoming that aren’t for sale is longer than it is other places you’ve done business, too long to list here. Our best advice is to keep your checkbook in your pocket and just do the damn job. End of story.

10 -- Know where to draw the line.

This one’s on us, the residents of Wyoming. If you, as a corporation wanting to do business with us, can’t manage the first nine of these rules, we’ll take care of drawing the line, and you won’t get across it. We’re looking for top hands, not tin-horns. 

If you can work your way past the thin-lipped, pointy-chinned, steely-eyed Hollywood image of a cowboy, I think you’ll be able to agree that the Cowboy Code is just good business sense when it's applied to corporate entities that are licking their chops at a chance to get to Wyoming’s resource wealth. 

To do less is to invite rustlers onto our range and bandits into our towns. We, collectively, need to stand up to these robber barons, not cower and sweat into our starched collars like the timid townspeople in "High Noon," waiting for Gary Cooper to stride out into the dusty street and save our bacon. 

This is how we justify ourselves and express our appreciation to the state of Wyoming for allowing us to be her citizens.

Rod Miller is a citizen, father and grandfather and a proud former Rawlins Outlaw living in Cheyenne.