What Makes a Successful Farm Manager?

Unless you can judge success for yourself, success will be fickle and elusive. Real success depends on setting and achieving our goals. If we reach them, we can say we've succeeded, and we may set higher ones. When we don't reach some .of our goals, we usually change them.

Effective farm managers don't just "go with the flow." They set goals. That's how they make a difference. That's how they get things done. Simply reacting to change won't do.

Our values, beliefs, upbringing, ethics, morality, and experience influence how we set our goals. So do our family and friends. Others often try to give us goals to strive for. For many, wealth is a way of "keeping score" in the success game.

But another person's view of success is always suspect. There are many gauges of success in life besides the financial measures so frequently associated with being a successful business Manager.

Still the views of others can help us look objectively at our own accomplishments. Objectivity is important in establishing goals and setting priorities among sometimes conflicting goals. Objectivity can also help you recognize real success when it happens.

One must pursue success in life or business in a dynamic and always changing social, economic, and political environment. In fact without change, there would be no need for goal setting or good management and no call for problem definition or problem solving. The stresses of conflict in human relationships and in family or social responsibilities would not occur.

Five Motivating Objectives.

People have broad objectives that usually include earning a good income; achieving security, including personal health and safety; personal growth and increased understanding; acceptance by others; and recognition as an individual. The first three income, security, and growth often have some economic value. The others may not. But they are still important.

We also have goals, by which I mean something relatively specific and having a time schedule for attainment. Goals are are stepping stones to broader objectives, and most goals contribute to more than one objective. However, setting goals requires making tradeoffs. For example, there is sometimes a tradeoff between increasing income and maintaining financial security, or between increasing income and meeting family responsibilities. Individuals weigh the five objectives differently. If they did not, most of the conflicts between members of a farm management team or within a nuclear or extended farm family would cease to exist. Resolving these conflicts and the emotional stress they cause takes time, effort, and skill.

Acceptance and Recognition

We care what others think. We all want acceptance from people in the groups that we belong to or aspire to belong to. We behave accordingly. We also seek and need recognition. To be recognized as a successful person by one's peers and colleagues is a major motivating force not only in the management team but also in the work team. No one wants to be chastised or shunned. Even those who say they don't care what other people think sometimes behave as if they do. We should recognize how our needs for acceptance and recognition influence the way we think and act.

If we are tossed about by the judgments of others, we cannot be effective managers. But if we are unaware of how others view us and our behavior, we cannot provide the necessary leadership to guide an organization or to attain the goals we have set for the organization or ourselves. If we set unrealistic goals in view of the motivations and capabilities of those we work with we may doom ourselves to failure. Goal setting requires realism. We need to be able to express our goals and "sell" them to others. The success of the enterprise and of ourselves as managers depends on that ability.

Components of Success

A wide variety of management styles and attitudes can lead to management success. But there are some attributes that many effective managers share. It helps to have a positive, creative attitude that turns problems into opportunities. And it is important to set aside time to think and to manage. Being willing and able to delegate responsibility is a valuable trait. Other important elements include the ability to set specific, written goals, to make decisions based on those goals, and to modify decisions and goals as conditions change. It is also helpful to have a talent for, and skills in, communicating effectively with family members, colleagues, employees, and those in the business community.

There are strategies that can help a farm manager be more successful. One is to develop and regularly review a set of well specified goals. Written goals are easier to review and clarify when discussing them with family members, others in the management team, and lenders.

It is also important to have a clear understanding of risk and how to manage it. How much risk exposure is appropriate given your set of business and personal goals?

Keep an eye on what goes on beyond the farm fence. Farm businesses are part of a complex and dynamic world economy, and it is important to monitor national and international trends in order to avoid problems and identify opportunities.

Stress is a normal part of life on the farm or off but stress must be man-aged in order for it to be a creative force and to avoid the difficulties of distress which comes from too much financial or personal stress.

All managers have their limits. But the successful ones find ways to overcome them by building a management team of family members, colleagues, consultants, and others. The knowledge limitations of managing in a "post industrial era" and a "global village" are real. Success, in part, is a matter of getting others to "buy into" your agenda or business plan.

Image. To the realist, success is more than an image. It's great to have the tallest silo, the biggest tractor, the most picturesque farm, or the highest yield. There is nothing wrong with striving for goals of this nature; they are not much different from the goals successful managers outside of agriculture strive for. Gaining acceptance and recognition in this manner is fine as long as you can afford it. Rising profits and net worth, and improved debt-to-asset ratios are not the sole measure of success. But when image goals come into conflict with effective management, an objective analyst would have to question them.