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Leadership Development

Resources > Leadership Development

If you want 1 year of prosperity,
grow grain.

If you want 10 years of prosperity,
grow trees.

If you want 100 years of prosperity,

grow people.

Chinese Proverb
 
Like climbing a mountain, operating a business is a life-affirming experience. The summit is the goal, and the incremental measures of success come from readiness, preparation and an aptitude for the endeavor.
 
One of the single most important factors in business success is the ability to recruit leaders into the organization.
 
Leaders are necessary at each level in every organization; the good news is leadership begets leadership. Strong leaders gather and groom a cadre of capable talent, creating a bench of back up leaders and a team of willing participants.
 
 In the right environment, the leadership imperative will blast your business to the stratosphere. Without it, growth will be limited and development will be hobbled.  

The drive to be first, best or most, in any worthwhile accomplishment, takes certain leadership skills and abilities. At every position and every level in your organization leadership is a must. Leadership development comes through education and experience; attitude and aptitude; and motivation and desire. In a family agribusiness we must learn to measure leadership skill and abilities from two perspectives - the hard skills of systems and operations, and the soft skills of people management.
 
Leadership development is first and foremost a self responsibility. A good leader knows his capabilities, understands the limitations of his current skills and strives to grow in abilities.
 
But the skills of good leadership are not learned in a vacuum. We must utilize educational opportunities, mentoring relationships, daily experiences and new opportunities to learn.
 
The good leader should:
 
  • Perform a self assessment, objectively measuring personal leadership skills, abilities and the aptitude for achievement.  
  • Design a personal leadership skills improvement plan – including education, experiential exercises and practical applications.
  • Seek mentor / mentee relationship that will grow personal leadership capabilities.
  • Attend meaningful seminars, workshops and presentations that may improve leadership skills.
  • Participate in classroom studies designed to grow capabilities.
  • Periodically reassess leadership skills and abilities to check for progress. 
  • Devise methods to develop, or compensate for, persistent deficiencies. 

 

 

One positive aspect of early planning is that it allows the child to be developed as a successor, giving them time to become deeply familiar with all aspects of the operation, both internal and external.  Professional development is key in farming and ranching, just as it is in any other field. 

- Danny Klinefelter *
Professor and Extension Economist - Texas A&M

 

 

 

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* Klinefelter Bio

  

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