Farm Managers need to Use Things and Lead People

In his book, "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership," author John Maxwell describes what he calls "The Law of the Lid." In explaining this concept, Maxwell says, "Leadership ability is the ‘lid' that determines a person's overall level of effectiveness. The lower a manager's ability to lead, the lower will be the ‘lid' on his or her overall accomplishments. The higher their leadership capability, the greater will be their effectiveness."

Hank Wagner of the 550-cow Wagner Farms, Oconto Falls, Wis., tells us: "I've seen different philosophies on leading people. One approach suggests that if we pay people and drive them hard, they'll do what we tell them to do. If they don't, then get rid of them and find another person to do the job.

"That's not our philosophy. We believe that people are extremely important. Our goal is to continually teach and train our employees so even if they leave our farm to work somewhere else, they'll be better than when they first arrived here."

Mark Mayo, Mayo Dairy, Le Grand, Calif., comments, "I think leadership starts with serving. I'm always asking my employees, ‘How can I get you the tools? What training do you need? How can I help you do this job to the best of your ability?' "

Wagner adds, "Somebody said:

‘Use things, not people.'

‘Use things and lead people.'

‘Do not use people to get things.'

"Here at our farm, we spend a lot of effort coaching, training and helping our people grow. When you treat people in this way, they contribute a lot more to your farm business and they will also have a lot more opportunity to have success," Wagner concludes.

Leadership: Influencing People to Follow
Maxwell's "Law of the Lid" explains why anywhere we look, we see smart, talented and hard working people who can go only so far because of the limitations (the lid) of their leadership ability.

"Leadership is about influencing people to follow." Maxwell continues, "The true measure of leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less. If you think you are a leader and nobody is following, then you're just taking a walk."

A big part of leadership is showing people the goals and then letting them figure out how to reach them. This can be a challenge for owners and managers who like to do everything themselves.

Rod Hissong, Mercersburg, Pa., adds, "We need to lead people instead of driving them. Do this by communicating the goals and help employees to understand why it's important to achieve them. Give them the education and the tools they need to reach the goals, and then let them figure out all the in between things on their own. I find it's not effective to push people; you have to lead them."

How Does a Leader Gain Influence?
What exactly do we mean by influence, and how does a manager acquire it? Generally leaders earn the right to have influence as a result of four personal attributes:

Character- who we are.Hank Wagner tells us, "Character is not something we are born with. It's not something we can buy, go to college or read books to get. I think character comes from the choices we make and the person we choose to be, even when nobody else is looking."

Relationships- how we connect with others. Dairy producer Hugh Weathers, Bowman, S.C., comments, "It's my hope that whomever I'm with, I will thoroughly enjoy the time I spend with them. I think that your relationship goal should be that people enjoy the time they spend with you, whether it's at work, with the family or anywhere else. You want other people's lives to be improved, or at least not deterred, by the time they spend with you."

Empathy-what we feel.  Gene Batson of Batson's Nursery, Mt. Dora, Fla., tells us: "When an employee has a sick child or a family member with some difficulty, you work with them to help in any way you can. I try and let every employee know if there is a problem, come and see me. No matter what it is, come and talk."

Knowledge and experience- what we know and where we've been.John Wheeler of Oord Dairy, Sunnyside Wash., comments, "To be a good leader among your troops, you need to have credibility. If you've been in their shoes, if you've done what they're doing, credibility goes a long way."

Key Principles in Leading People
Above all else, leaders hold a deep respect for people. They treat others in ways which help them feel valued and appreciated. Here are three key principles in leading people.

Key Principle #1: Help people to feel valued and appreciated. This involves a continuous effort on the part of farm managers to build employees' self-worth. People who feel good about themselves are more motivated and productive. They are more committed to solving problems and more willing to explore opportunities. They're better able to face change and new challenges.

Maria Nye, Mountain View Dairy, Delta, Utah, comments, "Appreciating people is a key part of a successful farm business. Many will say that money is what's most important to employees. And, money is a nice thing to have. But, for our guys, being concerned about their families and them as individuals is very important."

Key Principle # 2: Ask for help in solving problems. On large farms today, owners and managers rely on teams of people to do the day-to-day work and be on the lookout for minor problems before they become major difficulties which impact results. For success in this environment of inter-dependency and teamwork, supervisors need to tap the knowledge and problem solving skills of all farm employees. This not only utilizes valuable people resources, but also builds the self-worth of employees.

Lamar Anthony of Anthony's Dairy, Americus, Ga., tells us, "I find one of the best things I can do is ask the person doing a job for his or her opinion on how to do it better. Any time you ask for a person's involvement in a job instead of just telling them ‘do it this way,' they work harder."

Key Principle # 3: Listen and try to understand. Farm managers report as much as 70 percent of their time is spent in some form of communication with well over half of that time spent listening to employees!

Listening is about interpreting and understanding another person. It includes real-time involvement with the other person. One way to understand communication is to view it as a "people process" rather than a "language process." When we are really listening to another person, we reach behind the words and make an effort to understand their message.

"True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed or assigned," proclaims author John Maxwell. "It comes only from one's ability to ‘influence' others. The only thing a title can bring is a little time to either earn influence or erase it. If you have to proclaim you are a leader, you're not!"