Great supervisors and leaders are rare and, in most cases, have worked very hard to become outstanding. It takes knowledge and, most importantly, practice!
Bob Milligan is a senior consultant with Dairy Strategies, LLC., professor emeritus with Cornell University and also is a speaker at the Online Top Producer Summit who shares several time-tested leadership strategies. Learn more here.
“Leadership is not rocket science, but you’re going to have to change your behavior to be a better leader,” Milligan says.
Many of you are being called by the legacy of your farm or workplace to be the leader that your business needs. Milligan shares three things that a common vision needs.
- A picture of the future the person or organization is seeking to create.
- Illuminating underlying values that are critical to the journey.
- The reason why this journey is important.
He notes that without the why, the vision is only a goal. Furthermore, Milligan encourages farmers to put the vision into action by:
- Write it down.
- Communicate it.
- Using it to explain direction, decisions, etc.
“A vision isn’t much good if it isn’t used,” he states.
Leaders Set Direction
Milligan encourages that when thinking about business success, think about three pieces to the puzzle.
- The fundamentals (finances, production, etc.)
- Healthy piece (productivity, low turnover, high job satisfaction, etc.)
- Be a CCO, a chief cheering officer.
“You are the face of your business,” he shares. “Be a chief sharing officer. Be positive. Portray the positives, the opportunities. Be the chief cheering officer for your business.”
The Power of Actively Listening
Most people listen with the intent to reply. A good leader actively listens by:
- Pausing a few seconds before replying. This illustrates carefully listening, avoids interruptions allowing us to hear the other person better.
- Use the phrase, “Tell me more.” Milligan says that 90% of the time, people generally have more to say.
Retention
Two critical ways to attract and retain followers is by addressing:
- What is the performance expected of me?
- Am I meeting expectations?
It is crucial to not only set the expectations, but also make sure you provide needed feedback on the results by answering how they are doing.
Three kinds of feedback:
When it comes to giving feedback, Milligan suggests providing one of the following.
- Good performance = good feedback.
- Unacceptable performance = negative feedback, a possible reprimand.
- When the cause of the performance stemmed from a situation or context, not the employee = redirection feedback. This results in more training, clarity, set expectations, etc.
If the results are either unacceptable performance or redirection feedback, this requires changed behavior by the leader.
Leadership is not rocket science, but the difficulty lies in having to change our behavior, which takes patience, practice and perseverance.
You can still register for the Online Top Producer Summit, which gives you access to content through March 31. Use the code “VIRTAL” to take 50% off your registration fee.
