Q&A with The Cowboy’s Natalie Shirley: Life-long Learning & Leadership Lessons

VeloCityOKC spoke with National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum President and CEO, Natalie Shirley, about her time with museum and her excitement for the future of the landmark destination.

VelocityOKC: Education has been a large part of your career, and the museum has an incredible opportunity to educate all ages. Did you ever imagine your career would lead you to this position? What made you say yes when they offered it? 

Natalie Shirley: No, I never imagined that I would be running a museum. I came to this position through the same way I've gone into several positions. I am hired to fix something that a board of directors feels is broken, but yet has promise if it just gets proper leadership. All the very many different things that I have done, have had that in common. I have two requirements before I take a new job. Number one, it has to be fixable. If it's something that really isn't capable of meeting its potential, I don't want to do it. Number two, and most importantly, even if it's fixable, it has to be something I don't know anything about because that's the joy for me. I know debits, credits and people, and if you know, debits, credits and people, you can run a taco stand, you can run a university, you can run a museum, because business principles are the same, no matter what industry you're in. But the details of the industry, the nuances, the things that make that industry interesting are what excites me. I'm looking for that constant learning opportunity.  

VelocityOKC: That's an inspiring mindset. The museum has gone through a lot of changes under your leadership. What would you say is one of your greatest accomplishments during your time there?  

Natalie Shirley: The very first thing that every business needs, no matter what it is, is enthusiasm. Enthusiasm for what you get to do by the people who get to do it. Bringing a level of enthusiasm to the staff, to the volunteers, translates into enthusiasm for the visitor, and then that translates into return guests because they want to continue to experience that enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is a difficult thing to quantify, but you know it when you see it and you know it when you feel it. When that happens, you've won and everything else are just details. Enthusiasm for what you're sharing with the world is my proudest accomplishment.  

VelocityOKC: What would you say is one of your fondest memories during your time at The Cowboy? 

Natalie Shirley: There are so many fond memories for me. Some of them are just little snippets like walking through the galleries and hearing multiple languages being spoken. It tells me that this museum is important not just to Oklahoma City, not just to Oklahoma, not just to the West, but throughout the world. I love watching little kids be able to make a connection between who they are today and somebody who helped settle Oklahoma or the West. Seeing weddings in this venue, seeing people win awards who might not otherwise be celebrated, seeing people win awards who have been celebrated their whole lives and yet feel the award that they received at the museum was something that's incredibly important to them. I can't choose just one because it's all been such a wonderful experience! 

VelocityOKC: What excites you about the future of The Cowboy and Oklahoma City? 

Natalie Shirley: The museum is now at a place where it needs to be fine-tuned, and I don't do that. I make larger growth changes. Fine-tuning is best left to others and so as you see me change jobs, or move to the next adventure, that entity whatever it was before I got there, it then just needs to be fine-tuned. Getting to see the changes that somebody else brings, somebody else's talents bring, is really exciting for me. I know what I'm good at and I know conversely what I'm not good at. Getting to watch somebody who's good at fine-tuning, and watching the institution take on just a little brighter shine, is thrilling for me. 

VelocityOKC: What an amazing leadership mindset. How have you developed your leadership skills throughout your career? How did you discover what you're good at? 

Natalie Shirley: Well, I believe that good leaders have a toolbox, and in that toolbox, they have a variety of different skills that they bring to a problem. In my toolbox, I have humor, cajoling, logic, brute force, and a lot of different tools in order to get the result that is needed. Sometimes I use all those tools in rapid succession until I get to the result I need to accomplish the goal. A good leader knows when to deploy which tool, and an inexperienced leader is one who only has a few tools in their toolbox. Anger and brute force should be your very, very last tool to use. And what I mean by brute force is terminating someone. Those should be your very last options, but they certainly are options. A good leader has all of these tools. I've seen lots of different leaders that try to make their staff their friend, but that's only one tool. It's good in a lot of situations, but there's going to come that time when it isn't going to work. I see those leaders stumble and fail because they didn't have another tool that they could bring to the situation to get the result that they needed. 

VelocityOKC: What advice would you give to young professionals as they look ahead in their career? 

Natalie Shirley: I think that lots of diverse experience is important. Leadership is a craft. You can read about it, you can study it in school, but you actually have to be involved in the craft. There are some who are born with perhaps more skills than others, but the fact is you have to hone it in real time in the real world. I can tell you that the most critical, most important leadership lesson I learned, I learned at 19. It was the very first time I was asked to assume a leadership role at a job. I've built on that ever since, and I just believe that that there's no substitution for actually doing the job. Good leaders have a foundation in who they are. They have to know what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are. They also have to have a sense of purpose. Where am I leading this organization? For me that’s my faith because sometimes the tool that's needed is prayer. So, you just have to round out as much of yourself as you can and be incredibly self-aware. 

VelocityOKC: Is there any advice that you learned later in life that you wish you would've known earlier in your career? 

Natalie Shirley: Eighty-hour weeks are not sustainable! I always believed that I could outwork the competition and in fact, most of the time I did, but over the years I've learned that being well rounded means more than just staying in the office until nine o'clock at night, six days a week. I've learned that there is more to life. Frankly, I think that this generation learned that lesson from watching their parents do things that they just don’t want to do. They don't want to be in the office until nine o'clock at night. So, looking to achieve that work-life balance, I think, is an appropriate inquiry and one where I wish I had done a better job. That said, as a leader, don't expect a 40-hour work week. Some weeks it is going to be 80 and some weeks it's going to be 30 but staying in the office for the sake of staying in the office is just silly. And I wish I'd learned that earlier. 

VelocityOKC: What are you most looking for forward to in retirement? 

Natalie Shirley: Well, people like me never really retire! This is just a way for me to consider what my next options are. I've gotten really picky at my age. I'm really looking for something that will allow a better work-life balance that I've just come to understand and appreciate. The next thing I do is going to have to be something that is incredibly interesting to me. 

VelocityOKC: Well, that's great to hear. I know a lot of people will be excited to see what that next step is! Is there anything else you'd like to add or share? 

Natalie Shirley: The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber is truly the greatest chamber in America. I go to lots of places and spend time in lots of different cities and nobody does it as well as you guys. It makes me proud to be associated with you.