Soft skills help build stronger teams with fewer headaches. Written for Progressive Dairy and originally published 1/16/23 HERE. How often have you seen a highly skilled manager fail in leading their team? Some signs are high turnover, lax standards and low morale. How often have you seen employees or owners in charge of managing people struggle to connect with employees and keeping everyone aligned with the goals? How often have employees been promoted because they have the technical know-how and work hard, but no one wants to work with them? Great leaders are goal-orientated but realize they need to build...
Blog
Business Growth Strategy
Get a Better ROT (Return-On-Time)
There is a direct correlation between solid meetings and ROT. Written for MILK and originally published in the Nov. 2023 quarterly issue. The meeting room was quiet as the owners and the next generation entered. The meeting was supposed to start about fifteen minutes ago, but folks were slow coming in. No one was entirely comfortable. Everyone was thinking about something else outside, but one of the owners had called a meeting, so they all came. It was unclear what the meeting was about, but each person had an idea in their mind what it SHOULD be about. The last...
Communication, Succession Planning
How to start awkward conversations
Begin the transition planning conversation by keeping it tight. Ask to have an initial conversation about transition planning at some point in the future and encourage others to speak up about their vision for success. Written for Progressive Dairy and originally published January 1, 2024 issue. Transition planning for a family dairy is not easy, and the stakes are high, not only for the business but also for the family. Even if it isn't verbalized, there is often a powerful desire to get transition planning over with but not a strong desire to go through the process. After all, the...
Leadership
Essential Skills for Leaders: Skill 2- EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
What is EQ? And, why should I care? Written for Progressive Dairy Dec 2023. When you think of a "perfect leader," what comes to mind? You might picture someone who never lets his temper get out of control, no matter what problems he's facing. Or you might think of someone who has the complete trust of her staff, listens to her team, is easy to talk to, asks good questions, and always makes careful, informed decisions. These are qualities of someone with high emotional intelligence, also known as EQ. I know what you are thinking. Emotional AND intelligence don't belong...
Business Growth Strategy, Succession Planning
Two Habits of Successful Business Families
The natural way of a family business is a decline over time. So, successful family businesses must take actions to counteract the decline. Written for Farm Futures Dec 2023. You have heard the adage. "The first generation builds it, the second generation maintains it, and the third generation loses it." This is not just an American problem; it is an international phenomenon. The decline of family farms is due to tendencies that repeat themselves. The natural way of a family business is a decline over time. So, successful family businesses must take unnatural or unorthodox actions to counteract the...
Business Growth Strategy, Uncategorized
Essential Skills for Leaders: Skill 1- STRATEGIC THINKING
There are 3 essential skills, beyond being great at on the technical side of things. Skill 1: Strategic Thinking Written for Progressive Dairy and originally published Nov/Dec 2023 Scaling up or even surviving in dairy requires three essential skills beyond being great at the technical parts of dairy farming, such as nutrition, breeding, etc. I will discuss the first skill - strategic thinking - now and expand on the other two in future articles. Dairymen and dairywomen might shy away from the word "leader." Few in the industry wake up, look in the mirror and think of themselves as leaders....
Business Growth Strategy, Uncategorized
Move from Vision to Reality – Strategic Planning part 3
Is everyone pulling in the same direction? Written for Farm Futures and originally published Nov/Dec 2023 "We're family, and we work together every day. We know what each other wants." This is often the unspoken thought for many farmers, and it's logical reasoning. However, this logic makes several assumptions that can lead to misaligned priorities, confused employees, and sometimes conflict. The problem arises not from what's talked about but what isn't. Specifically the vision for the future of the farm. We all know it's impossible to foresee the future, so why even try? It is more common than...
Business Growth Strategy, Uncategorized
Complacency can Kill a Family Farm
Disbelief and Inaction can result in disaster. Written for Farm Futures and originally published Oct 2023 The high-performance aircraft engine ran smoothly above the Rocky Mountains on a trans-mountain flight, and the weather was sunny and calm. Life was good. The pilot scanned the engine monitor, and it showed the #3 cylinder was a little hotter than usual, but not by much. After some adjustments to the engine, the cylinder was still running warm. Was the pilot imagining things? Perhaps the cylinder always ran this hot? The pilot told himself everything else looked good, so this little thing must not...
Business Growth Strategy, Succession Planning, Uncategorized
Why do People Resist Change – Part 2
Three types of Resistance to Change I don't like it. I don't understand it. I don't trust you. Written for MILK magazine and originally published Aug. 2023 The entire dairy industry is going through massive restructuring and change. These changes are forcing dairies to scale up to remain competitive, working with suppliers, finding labor, and finding a market for the milk. The changes are also coming from within as many dairies transition the business to the next generation. These changes are profound, and change is hard. Not every dairy will make the transition to the new dairy economy. While sad,...
Business Growth Strategy, Uncategorized
Core Values – strategic planning part 2
Using Core Values Understanding your farm's values creates clarity and alignment around what we care about at a gut level. Written for Farm Futures and originally published 6/28/2023. Last week I outlined the benefits of using formal strategic planning on farms. In addition to aligning generations as part of a transition plan, a strategic plan creates alignment and helps farmers be proactive versus reactive. Farmers tell me that strategic planning allowed them to jump on the right opportunities and hire the right employees faster because it was clear what they truly wanted. I have found that the more successful the farm, the...