I learned an important lesson early in life – find someone to look up to and help someone find a reason to look up to you. I know this is easier said than done. In theory, it is a great idea. But in reality, how do you put this into practice?
I spend a lot of time thinking about the next generation and ways to connect bright, promising young people to a life-giving future in agriculture. Over the years, a few things have become apparent to me when it comes to building connections between generations.
1. Make the first move.
Who cares if you get a cold shoulder? All too often we fail to make the first move because we let our doubts have more power than they deserve in our lives. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard farmers and other agricultural leaders express their desire to have young people reach out to them with questions. People want to be needed. The next generation will be more successful if they are armed with valuable lessons learned by today’s agricultural leaders.
It reminds me of the day I met Angie Denton at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. Admittedly, she tells the story with more drama than I recall. She says, “I was at the pen and carload show taking photos and this firecracker of a college girl came up and said she wanted to be my intern. I’ll never forget the passion and drive in her voice and her sincere desire to want to learn and grow as a livestock communicator.”
This makes me laugh because I was shaking in my boots – literally. But I also knew that if I wanted to intern with Angie, I needed to create a connection. Email wouldn’t do (and no, we didn’t have social media so don’t even joke about that). Most importantly, that quick conversation was a starting point for a lifelong friendship. But in the short term, it helped me land one of the greatest mentoring experiences of my life at the Angus Journal.
Fast forward a couple decades and it was my honor to encourage my mentor to apply for the Drovers editorial position. I’m excited Angie and I have the privilege of working together at Farm Journal as we seek innovative ways to serve America’s cattle and swine producers.
2. Listen more than you speak.
As one of the youngest executive directors of a state swine organization, Seth Mitchell’s path is one that’s turning heads. He is the first person selected for the Pork Industry Immersion Program, a two-year deep dive into organizational leadership in the swine industry. I’ll never forget my husband telling me Seth was one to watch when he was a student at the University of Illinois. I try not to admit this too much, but my husband was right.
To say I was fascinated with Seth’s journey in the Pork Industry Immersion Program is an understatement. The forward-thinking approach of the industry leaders who helped create this program reminds me why the pork industry is so special. While other agricultural industries are finding it challenging to engage Generation Z, the pork industry has a different story to tell.
“I’m a firm believer that the pork industry’s greatest asset is its people,” Mitchell told me during a recent conversation we had on The PORK Podcast. “Some of our tremendous leaders in the industry are starting to age out and we need a bench of good folks to come in and fill those potential vacancies coming down the road.”
Seth learned many valuable lessons during the immersion experience, but I couldn’t agree more with the perspective he gained on listening.
“When you understand that producers drive most of what we do as state and national pork organizations, you understand the value of sitting across the table and listening to what they have to say,” he says. “I believe there is more value in listening than speaking in those circumstances. I like to use the adage, ‘be interested, not interesting.’”
3. Feedback is a gift.
My experiences in FFA and 4-H helped me discover the blessing behind constructive guidance. We’ll never be so smart that we can’t benefit from someone else’s viewpoint.
Seth discovered this early and it’s serving him well in his new role as executive director of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association.
“One thing I’ve tried to be cognizant of is welcoming feedback,” he says. “Lean into it. Be curious and ask good questions. There are a lot of things I can’t fix unless someone makes me aware of it, so being receptive to feedback is helpful.”
Oftentimes the best thing we can do is invest in someone else. How will you accept the challenge to mentor the next generation? Don’t forget that it may be equally important to give someone else the opportunity to help you along in your journey. This is an industry that wouldn’t work without people. An investment in people always pays off in the end.
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