When you think of all the contractors that were involved in building your house, which one do you think was the most important? It turns out that mine was the insulation guy. Actually, I didn’t say that… he did. As far as he was concerned, the work that he does is the most important part of building a house.

Sure, insulation is pretty important. In fact, I couldn’t imagine what it would cost to heat and cool my house without it. But at the same time, I’m pretty happy that I have a roof on the house every time it starts raining. And don’t get me started on the marvels of indoor plumbing… definitely beats the alternative! And although I could survive without a TV, I’m afraid my house would be pretty loud if I had to use a generator every time I wanted to turn the lights on.

The truth is… of all the trades that are needed to build a house, there’s not just “one thing” that’s the MOST important. Collectively, all of the trades make a house what it is.

And your dairy isn’t any different. But… that doesn’t stop a lot of dairy professionals from making the claim that the area they specialize in is the “most important”.

If you ask the milking equipment guys, they’ll remind you that keeping your parlor running is the most important thing to keep all your milkings on-schedule. Veterinarians and Herd Managers tend to agree that the cows are the dairy’s most important priority. Talk to the Nutritionists and they’ll tell you that the Feeder has the most important job on the dairy. And if you ask me, I’d tell you that your employees are the most critical key to your dairy’s success.

Even though we’re correct to say that our area of expertise is important, we’re all wrong when we say that it’s the “MOST important”. You see, if there’s just one “MOST important thing”, there has to be one “LEAST important thing”. So then, what’s the LEAST important?

Although each function of your business is important, the reality is that not every area of the dairy is created equal. And while every day presents a different set of challenges, a few things remain the same… your cows and your people do the work that makes your dairy what it is today.

Without a doubt, your dairy has a lot of important priorities. Collectively, everything matters. And where you choose to invest your time and attention… matters MOST!

Chances are when you were growing up, your parents were a lot like mine… strict and frugal.

The first time my dad took us fishing on Lake Michigan we were about ten or eleven years old.  A friend of my dad invited us on his boat that he kept in front of the McDonald’s in Two Rivers, WI. After fishing for a few hours, we got back into town and my dad gave my brother and I a dollar each so we could go for lunch at McDonald’s. When we told him that two dollars wouldn’t be enough for us to even get a burger and small fries, he relented and gave us just one more dollar and told us to share an order of fries. Ironically, my parents are some of the most generous people I know. But when it came to raising their kids, they believed in “tough love”.

On top of having strict parents, I also had two grade-school teachers that believed in implementing tough love in their classrooms. As a second and third grader, and then a few years later in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, Romaine Thompson and Jane Quinette taught their students a lot more than just the three R’s. They were also focused on teaching us the value of respect, discipline, and accountability. I didn’t exactly appreciate it at the time, but I’ll be forever indebted to both of them for teaching me what they knew was right.

As you can probably imagine, from a kid’s perspective, my parents and these two teachers were not always very popular back then. And had our young opinions mattered at the time, I bet their approval ratings would’ve suffered every time they took away our recess privileges.

But you know what? They didn’t care about that. They cared more about our personal development than our self-interests.

You see, good parents and teachers are leaders who focus on developing and preparing kids for their future. They’re too busy looking out for a child’s best interests in the long-term to worry about winning a popularity contest in the short-term. Fortunately for me, I was blessed to have great leaders in my life from little on.

So what do you think makes some parents and teachers “true leaders”? Ultimately, true leaders do what they know is right and judge their own performance by the results their “followers” achieve. They don’t do what they do because it’s easy or popular, they do it because it’s right.

So what about you? What kind of leader are you?

Do you have the courage to take a stand for doing what’s right? And more importantly, do you have the fortitude to hold strong to your convictions when you’re pressured to give in and do what’s popular?

In a recent episode of Restaurant: Impossible on the Food Network, the owner of a failing restaurant referred to himself as being “too nice”. Without missing a beat, the “tough guy” host of the show, Chef Robert Irvine, didn’t hesitate to shoot straight with the restaurant owner. He told this misguided owner not to confuse being “nice” with being “weak”. Chef Robert made it clear to him that his employees desperately needed the owner to lead them. And if he didn’t? The lack of leadership was going to cost his family their restaurant, and his employees their jobs.

Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or a business owner, the people you serve are counting on you to lead them every day. More than anything, they need you to look out for their best interests in the long-term. No, being a genuine leader isn’t always easy or popular. And that’s precisely what makes true leadership so scarce and valuable.

Now more than ever, we need strong leaders to do what they do best. The question is, “Can we count on you?”

When you hear business people use the term “servant leadership”, who do you think of first? I bet you probably don’t think of Moms as servant leaders. But, who better in our lives would you say lead by serving others?

Although you’ve most likely never thought of your mom as a leader in the ‘formal’ sense, her role of developing, encouraging, and supporting her children is exactly that, leadership. No, your mom didn’t actively seek out a leadership role when having kids. Her style was more subtle than that. No politics or games, just a sincere desire to see her kids succeed and be happy. Moms work hard and make countless sacrifices in order to keep their family on track. They’re motivated to simply help their kids make a meaningful contribution in whatever they choose to do. And when moms eventually see this simple goal become a reality, it turns out their journey is its own reward.

So what can you do to be more like ‘Mom’? Ask yourself a few questions… How well are you supporting and developing the people that you’re responsible for leading? Are you dedicated to teaching and encouraging the people that look to you for guidance? Or do you simply expect them to do what “they’re supposed to do” with little or no direction and supervision?

An easy place to start is to simply pay more attention to what’s really going on every day. Take fifteen minutes to check in with your team a few times a day to see who’s doing their work correctly and who isn’t. Just as it’s important to catch people who cut corners, it’s equally important to catch the others when they’re doing things right. Another easy way to be a servant leader is by making sure your team has everything they need to do their work. When they tell you that something’s missing or broken, get it fixed… not in a month, but within three days.

Of course, servant leadership is more than just checking if stalls are clean and getting supplies at Fleet Farm. At its core, servant leadership requires that you sincerely and genuinely care about helping and supporting the people that you’re leading. Servant leadership, like motherhood, is a commitment that requires time, sacrifice, and doing more than what’s expected.

Whether you’re fortunate to still have your mom around or blessed to simply carry her memory with you, take a little time to reflect on all the leadership lessons she taught you by example. Your mom worked hard and sacrificed more than you can ever imagine to help get you where you are today. So do you mom a favor… pay it forward.

And to all you hard-working, servant leaders we call ‘Mom’… thank you for all that you do. Happy Belated Mother’s Day.

Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot of people who are highly motivated and driven-to-succeed “just don’t get it”.

These highly productive people are focused on getting results, and they expect others to be “doers” too. It seems that these go-getters have a hard time understanding why people don’t operate the same way they do. You see, they don’t need to be told more than once to get them to do something, and they get frustrated when they have to repeatedly ask others to get things done.

Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as simply telling someone what to do. Sure, it might work that way with you, but everyone is not like you. In this case, it looks like you’re on the “20 side” of Pareto’s 80/20 Principle.

Now, I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be that simple and easy. In fact, I think it should be… but it’s not. Like you, I wish we could always just tell people something one time and know that it would get done. But people aren’t that simple.

You see, if everyone responded that well to just telling, the world would be a completely different place.

Companies wouldn’t need as many supervisors… managers would just read a list of rules, policies, and protocols to their employees on their first day of work and they would just follow these instructions. Husbands and wives would seldom encounter conflict… they’d just tell each other what they expect and accommodate one another. There would be little need for police and the court system… people would just follow the laws as they’re written. We wouldn’t have to sit through countless commercials and political ads either… there would just be one simple commercial for each product and candidate and then we’d all take action. And for all of you who don’t like dealing with salesmen… we would simply just tell you to buy what we are selling, and you would. If only it were that easy!

The truth is we humans don’t like to be told what to do. It turns out that most of us need to be convinced to do something. Actually, that’s not true either. Ultimately, we need to convince ourselves that we should do it. And I think that’s what makes all of us different and separates the 20% from the other 80%. While many people don’t appreciate how their actions determine their consequences, some of us are easily convinced to do what we know is logical and correct.

So, how do you convince your people to do what you need? Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer to that question. But here’s where you can start… show your employees that it’s in their best interest to help you achieve your objectives. When your team realizes that everyone wins when they help you succeed, it’s a lot easier to convince them to do what you expect, without having to tell them twice.

Do you remember when certain times of the year were a lot busier than others? Now, it seems like the whole year is just one big blur of busyness and we’re always running around. And considering the alternative, I guess being busy is a good thing.

But now that spring is here and your days are getting longer, how do you plan to get everything done? Is that even possible, or does “something gotta give”?

The reality is that whether you have a full schedule or not, you choose how you spend your time. To put it a little more candidly… you choose what you want/need to do with your time and who you want to spend it with. Unfortunately, not everything can make the cut.

No, that’s not a bad thing, it’s reality. Some jobs and projects are more urgent and critical than others. And when it comes to people, some relationships need more time and attention. That, and you probably prefer interacting with some people more, and other people less. But that’s just stating the obvious.

So what happens when you’re busy and you choose to ignore your people? Instead of making time for your team, you choose to focus the majority of your time and attention on the tasks you need to complete. Chances are you become disengaged from your team, and your company’s day-to-day performance pays the price.

Of course, you can’t avoid all the decisions, jobs, and phone calls you have to take care of every day and still be successful. But at the same time, can you honestly afford to ignore your management role and still be an effective leader?  Sure, maybe that works for a few days at a time, but how sustainable is it in the long-run?

Like everything else we choose to do, balance is key. If you ignore your work responsibilities in order to spend all your time with people, your business would certainly suffer. Ironically though, if you don’t make time to manage and interact with your people on a consistent basis, it probably will any way!

When it comes to delegating your work, what’s the main reason you hesitate handing it over to somebody else? If you’re like most people, you’ll probably agree that it’s usually just easier doing the work yourself than having someone else do it for you. And if you’ve been doing the work for a long time, that makes perfect sense. With a lot of first-hand experience, you’re probably pretty good at what you do and most people don’t measure up. But that’s the simple answer.

What about when someone has a lot of experience and they still don’t perform at a highly-skilled level? Unfortunately, that’s more common than you might think. Regardless of the work or the company, there are a lot of ‘experienced’ hacks working alongside true professionals every day. Not convinced? How many times have you been completely disappointed with one person’s work, and sincerely impressed with the work of someone else? When you compare them side-by-side, it’s amazing just how valuable some people’s contributions truly are.

So why do you think there’s such a difference in performance from one person to the next? Do you think it’s because people set different standards for themselves and their work?

If that’s the case, how would you classify your standards?

Sure, some people’s standards can be a little extreme. On one end of the spectrum, there are people who have extremely high expectations and are convinced that with a commitment to excellence and attention to detail, their high standards can be met. On the other extreme, there are people whose standards are so low that they’re willing to accept anything. And why is that? It could be because they’re too busy, tired, lazy, uninformed, or indifferent to expect something better.

So where do you and your employees fit on this ‘Scale of Standards’? Is everyone clustered somewhere in the middle? Or are you and your employees scattered from one extreme to the other?

Growing up, I learned my work ethic from my parents and neighbors. At the time, I didn’t exactly like the lessons they taught me. But when I look back at those experiences now, it turns out I was pretty fortunate to pick stones and do yard work for people with really high standards. At ten years old, I wasn’t very concerned with working efficiently or doing quality work. But of course, my parents and neighbors were. And fortunately, they taught me that I had to work to their standards, not mine.

And that’s the same dynamic that happens every day at your dairy. You see, not only are you training your employees to do their work on a technical level, you’re also teaching them how to work according to your standards and expectations. Every day, you, your managers, and your employees demonstrate your company’s standards and expectations through your performance and results.

So, when it comes to your dairy’s standards, how much do you expect from yourself and your team? Ultimately, you’ve got two choices. You can teach your team how to work to your standards, or allow everyone to work to theirs.

I’ll admit, I’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth. And once it starts warming up, I have a tendency of stopping for ice cream on a regular basis. Yesterday, when filling up the Malibu, I ran over to Arby’s for a dollar Jamocha shake. The young lady that took my order barely said five words. And the other girl that poured the shake… she just set it on the counter without saying a word or even looking up at me.

Unfortunately it seems this type of ‘customer service’ has become the norm at a lot of retail outlets. Why do you think that is? I suppose we could chalk it up to a ‘society-in-decline’ or a generation that’s indifferent. Although that might be true, people have been saying that about the ‘next generation’ for decades… hopefully we’re wrong this time too!

Sure, almost all of us entered the workforce doing entry-level ‘grunt work’. Eventually, we either moved up or moved on. Let’s face it, most of us didn’t grow up dreaming about doing entry-level jobs forever. Unfortunately, a lot of people tend to view an entry-level job as just that… ‘a job’.

Although most workers on the front line show up every day and do their work, they’re not exactly committed to their customers, co-workers, or the company for the long haul. So, leaving to do something else is relatively easy to do. And since most managers know that their entry-level employees aren’t planning to stay very long, they manage and compensate these employees ‘accordingly’.

You can see what happens next, right? It becomes a vicious cycle. Front line employees don’t plan to stick around very long, so their managers treat them as ‘easy-to-replace’. And since employees know their boss isn’t going to invest a lot in them, they don’t invest a lot into their job.

So have you ever asked yourself if that’s a truly a sound and sustainable approach to employee management?

Sure, compared to mid-level positions, these entry-level roles are easier to replace. But believe it or not, they’re just as valuable as the upper-level ones. No, their earning potential won’t be as high as their mid- and upper-level coworkers. And no, you probably won’t invest the same amount of time into their training and professional development. And that makes sense, right? Your higher-end employees make ‘big-impact’ decisions that influence a lot of outcomes. But wait a second… so do your employees that are on the front lines.

Just like the front line workers at Arby’s interact with all the customers, your front line employees interact with all your cows. And it wasn’t the shift manager that affected my experience yesterday, it was the performance of the front line employees that I remember. All too often, entry-level employees are under-trained and under-valued. And it’s precisely these people who have the biggest collective impact on your daily operations.

Without a doubt, upper-level employees make important contributions to a company’s performance every day. But as customers, we all depend on front line employees a lot more than their managers.

Every day, your cows depend on the performance of the people who work on the front lines. Take care of your people in the trenches, and they’ll take care of you.

Do you remember the ‘tree interview’ that Barbara Walters did with Katharine Hepburn back in the early 80’s? She asked her if she were a tree, what kind would she be? In all fairness to Walters, her question was a follow-up to Hepburn’s comment that she was like a tree.

But as odd as that whole conversation was, it actually might not be all that crazy. Now just wait… allow me to explain!

Have you ever noticed how a tree starts from a tiny seed and then never stops growing? Each year trees grow bigger and stronger. But it’s not that easy. In order to grow every year, they have to drop everything they did in one season and start all over the following. So when you think of “being a tree” in those terms, I don’t think that it’s a bad idea.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, a lot of us stop growing and reinventing ourselves. Why do you think that is?

Maybe you’re content with where you’re at right now and the thought of changing makes you uncomfortable. Or maybe you’ve been listening to all the negative people around you and they’ve convinced you that you’re not meant to reach a higher level. Or maybe you’ve hit a point in your life that you’ve become mentally lazy and you just don’t feel like learning any new skills or improving your current ones. Or maybe… it’s a combination of all three.

That’s kind of ironic, isn’t it? As infants, we start out at zero. Then, the adults in our lives, parents, teachers, coaches, and neighbors, invest a lot of time and effort into us so that we develop into good people and productive members of society. If allowed to, a lot of us would have probably chosen to just skip school and do whatever we wanted. But fortunately, these same adults ‘forced’ us to apply ourselves and strive to reach our potential. We studied, got involved in sports, clubs, and activities, and eventually graduated. Then once we were out on our own, it was up to us to keep growing, adapting, and changing. So now that you don’t have a whole team of adults challenging you to learn and grow, how hard are you pushing yourself?

Compared to the kids in your life today, are you making the same developmental strides as they are every year? Chances are they’re growing at a much faster pace. Now don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing! And yes, relatively speaking, kids have a lot more ground to cover since they’re just starting out. But at the same time, you’ve already ‘learned how to learn’ and you also have the advantage of having more life experiences and the opportunities to apply them.

Unfortunately, a lot of people quit developing themselves when they begin to reach the best years of their lives.

Throughout your entire journey, you’ve developed your thoughts and abilities to get to where you’re at right now. Every day you have to make a choice. You can either continue building upon what you’ve already accomplished, or you can choose to settle in and stop growing.

No, it’s not about appearing on The Tonight Show or landing on the cover of Fortune magazine. At this point in your life, your focus might have less to do with your next career move, and more to do with serving your family and community.

Regardless of what you’ve already accomplished on a personal or professional level, I have to believe that you’re not done yet. But what I believe isn’t what’s important. The important thing is what  you believe.

Here’s the thing… you’ve spent your entire life learning and growing in order to become the person you are right now. You’ve still got a lot of tomorrows ahead of you… don’t stop growing today.

It’s probably fair to say that you’re busier now than you’ve ever been, right? So, what are all these activities that keep you so busy?  Now be honest, how important are they?

Of all the things that you need to do as an owner/manager to make your business successful, what do you think are the most critical? And more importantly, does your daily ‘to-do list’ confirm that?

Here’s a quick way to find out… Make a list of the three most important things that you need to do to bring more value to your company. Then, compare that list to the three activities you actually do on a regular basis. How well do these two lists match up?

Can you honestly say that you’re focusing the majority of your time on your company’s most valuable activities? Or, are you busy filling your days with things that don’t require top-level skills and expertise? Chances are you’re like most of us and you do what’s more urgent and fun, avoiding a lot of the truly valuable work that only you can do. And of all the things that get avoided and neglected the most, what do you think the most common one is? In a word, I’d have to say it’s people.

And I’ll admit, I’m biased when it comes to the ‘people part’ of business. Personally, I think the people process is just as important as a company’s financial planning. Why? Because people make and break businesses. Regardless of what type of business it is, people are almost always involved… either helping, or hurting.

The reality is that every time you sit down for your monthly team meetings to pore over your company’s financials, what you’re really doing is discussing how well you and your people are making decisions and doing the work. Ultimately, your cows are only as good as the people who take care of them.

So how much time are you willing to invest in the source of your dairy’s performance? Sure, your cows pay the bills, but your people make that possible. And it’s your job to make your people more important.

It’s finally that time of year again… trade show season. It seems that once everyone realized how slow the month of March is, every company and organization began scheduling their meetings and conferences to fill in all the open dates. Now, it turns out that March is actually one of the busiest times of the year.

As you probably already know, you’re bound to hear a lot of experts share advice and information on how to make your cows more productive and your business more profitable. Some speakers will be engaging and fun to listen to, others… not so much. But regardless of how well the presenters deliver their message, hopefully you’ll learn something you can take home and apply to your dairy.

Chances are, after many of these session, you’ll probably be thinking… “well, that’s just common sense… I already knew that.” And you know what? You’re right. Most of what works is common sense. The kicker is… there’s a huge difference between knowing something and actually doing it.

But of all the advice and information you’ll hear at these conferences, there’s one message that works better than any scientific or technical protocol out there. The problem is that you probably won’t hear anyone talking about it. What is it? It’s simple, and it’s free.

Care. That’s it… just care. If you do just one thing…genuinely and authentically show that you care.

Now before you dismiss this as a bunch of soft, feel-good bullshit, please allow me to clarify. First, I’m not suggesting you buy into all the emotions and excuses people use to pull at your heartstrings to get you to give in to their requests. That’s not caring… that’s being weak. And besides, it’s hard to manage and lead people when they’re walking all over you.

But instead, think about this… When last time someone made you feel like a ‘number’?

You know how some salesmen drive into the yard, and right away you can tell that all they care about is selling you something so they can get a commission? Sure, that’s part of doing business.  But the sales process doesn’t have to feel cold and pushy. Have you ever liked buying from those types of salesmen? Yeah, probably not. Chances are, you probably could’ve used what they were selling. It’s just that you want to buy from people who truly care about you and your company’s success.

You see, as much as production agriculture is about animals, natural resources, and margins, it’s a people business. Sure, you need to know something about raising cattle, growing corn, and playing commodity markets. But if you’re in this business for the long-haul, you especially need to know how to build and lead a team of people who want to help you succeed. And the best way to do that is to show your people that you care about them and the work that they do.

The 2012 trade show season has just begun. Hopefully you’re able to attend a lot of valuable sessions and learn how to make your dairy more profitable and your job a little easier. And as you’re going from one vendor’s booth to another, hopefully you’ll remember one more important lesson… People like to work with people who care.