| Jay Olsen speaks about successful farms and ranches.e |
During one of the break out sessions at the Castle Valley Economic Development Summit, Jay Olsen, Farm/Ranch Manager Instructor from Snow College, presented a Power Point program of Habits of Successful Farms and Ranches in the 21st Century.
Jay gave out the following publications “How To Grow The Feed Your Critters Need,” “Pasture and Hay Land Management Guide,” “The Business of Farming: The Farm Executive for The 21st Century.” He listed 15 habits of successful farm executives. These habits are as follows;
1. There are four patterns that consistently emerge when you look at the most successful managers.
1 They adapt changing needs of their market.
2 They are open to exploring new ideas.
3 They operate as resource managers rather than as producers.
4 They realize the importance of networking and developing alliances.
2. They are strategic thinkers. Top executives recognize that to be successful you have to clearly define what you want to accomplish,then determine how to achieve that goal. He uses the skills and resources at his disposal to reach a successful conclusion.
3. They are able to objectively and accurately assess strengths and weaknesses in people, including themselves. They avoid blind spots of being either overly critical or overly confident.
4. They operate in a continuous improvement mode. They go by the notion that if the competition is walking, they need to be running.
5. They look at things more from a systems point of view, than from a component perspective. They have the ability to see the over all picture and how each element fits, not only in their own business but across the whole value chain.
6. They are calculated risk takers and excellent risk managers. They do their homework, consider their options and develop a strategy before undertaking any new venture. Most have made mistakes and had failures, but the experience has made them more successful.
7. They spend more time thinking about “what if” scenarios and developing contingency plans. They analyze every decision, reviewing what could go wrong and what they will do if it does. They consider their options and develop both entry and exit strategies.
8. They are more likely to seek input and expertise from outside the business.This means getting outside their commodity group and even their home territory. It may involve interacting with people outside of agriculture.
9. They see change and challenges as opportunities and don’t tend to view themselves as victims.
10. They see themselves more as the head coach rather than as the boss.
11. Their approach to management is more balanced between key performance areas.
12. They spend more time on monitoring and analyzing performance.
13. Their decisions are based more on reason and judgment and less on emotion.
14. They are more creative and innovative in their approach to business.
15. Finally, they work harder at communication. The biggest roadblock to success in most business is secrecy.
It is important to recognize that the time you need to be most concerned about what changes need to be made is when things are going well.