How leadership and people skills can grow your farm business

Actionable strategies and practical, peer-based learning opportunities will be the focus of a new initiative delivered by The Capacity Co through MLA’s Profitable Grazing Systems (PGS) program.

Titled the ‘Effective Leadership and People Management’ program, the initiative features a two-day course complemented by one-on-one coaching to ensure participants build knowledge specific to their business objectives.

Finding the key to success

When it comes to driving the success of any business, Managing Director of The Capacity Co and People & Culture Specialist Claudia Mitchell said effective leadership and people management is more important now than ever – especially in the agricultural industry where teamwork, decision-making and adaptability are crucial to everyday production.

“Recently, we conducted some research through surveying over 100 young people in agriculture on key elements that helped to build employee satisfaction, retention and productivity,” she said.

“Survey findings not only informed us on just how pivotal effective management and leadership are in shaping workplace culture, but they also provided us with insights we could incorporate into the design of the workshop to address leadership challenges, styles and their effectiveness, and opportunities in the workplace.”

Improving yourself, your team and your business

Including theory-based, practical and peer-based delivery methods, the ‘Effective Leadership and People Management’ course is structured into three modules – self, team and business.

“Our ‘self’ module looks at enabling our participants to enhance their personal leadership capabilities through building self-awareness, ability to show emotional intelligence, and understanding of behaviours,” Claudia said.

“In the research we conducted, employees consistently noted that self-aware leaders – those who understood their strengths and areas for development – nurture trust and authenticity within their teams.”

“As one employee surveyed shared, when a manager knows their limits and communicates openly, it creates a sense of security within the team.”

Moving into the ‘team’ module, Claudia said the focus is on clarity and communication.

“Conveying expectations, providing feedback and keep communications open all play a big role in building confidence within employees and keeping them on the right track,” she said.

“Taking the time to understand where your employees work strengths lie and what skills or knowledge they might be interested in developing not only further boosts that confidence, but also fosters that environment of trust and openness.”

The final module within the ‘Effective Leadership and People Management’ workshop, is the ‘business’ module.

According to Claudia, the focus of this module is workplace values, behaviours and practices and how they determine the satisfaction, retention and productivity levels of your employees, and therefore the prosperity of your business.

“A strong workplace culture doesn’t happen by chance; it’s built through intentional leadership and consistently showcasing values the whole team can resonate with.”

Program takeaways

“Often times, people will leave a workshop feeling inspired by all the valuable insights they’ve gained,” Claudia said.

“But when it then comes to implementing these newfound strategies into the business, it can be overwhelming figuring out where and how to start.”

“This is where our one-on-one tailored support comes into play – catered to help you implement what you’ve learned in a way that make sense for you team and business.”

“We want our attendees, whether they’re managing two employees or two hundred, to be able to connect our modules materials back to their day-to-day business needs and with a clear step-by-step guide on how they’re going to achieve outcomes with lasting results.”

How to get involved

To ensure a high level of one-on-one support is provided to program participants, spots are limited.

If you would like to get involved, visit Effective Leadership and People Management and join the waitlist to secure your place when registrations open.