Cowley won the League Two manager of the month for August and has enjoyed his 10-year spell honing his trade outside the EFL.
He told 'Sky Sports': "I'll forever be appreciative of that grounding, it's been a brilliant learning curve and certainly allowed me to learn the job, develop my skillset away from the pressure you get in professional football.
"It allowed me to make mistakes, behind closed doors in a sense, and to find my style. It's benefited my management and it's been really good - I'd recommend it to anyone.
"I look at Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard who have had brilliant playing careers and then taken on really high-profile jobs, and it must be tough for them to try to learn about the role under such pressure and scrutiny."
It was not long into his management career before Cowley disregarded the idea of having a steadfast style of play and instead focussed on getting the best out of what he had.
He said: "Everyone talks about football philosophy, I've never thought it was as complicated as having a philosophy, I think it's about having some values.
"We have a set of values which we try to stick by and live by, on a daily basis, we try to work relatively hard, but tactically we're quite flexible because I think you have to be.
"In the lower leagues you generally inherit players of all shapes and sizes, different profiles, and you have to try to find a way of playing for the players you have at your disposal.
"There's a definite art to that, but it's also about finding like-minded people, honest boys who love the game. If you can get a lot of those in the dressing room, all fighting for the same cause, you can be successful and have some fun along the way."