IN addition to what we are seeing every day in the want of consumers to become closer to their products and understand where they come from, we are also seeing people presenting false images and perceptions of themselves.
This can lead to many problems but that is not why I have written this.
Authenticity, in every scenario, will always shine through, I believe.
I’m sure we’ve all met people or heard people speak who don’t seem to match the words or actions they are saying or doing.
You can pick it.
And although you might not have cause to act upon it at the time, sure as eggs you will remember it is something ever does erupt, you would think back to that time you had an ‘uneasy’ feeling about them or the situation.
It’s not a nice feeling to have about someone, particularly if it is someone who can have an impact (be it big or small) on your life, business or community.
In today’s day and age, thanks to social media and the internet, this feeling is not restricted to physical interaction.
At all times, individual and corporate opinions are being watched, shared and liked, we must be conscious to be truthful, genuine and keep it interesting (tell a story) to ensure you aren’t losing peoples interest.
We don’t like being deceived, and genetically, we’re quite similar to those consumers and external stakeholders who we’re often too eager to dismiss for a range of reasons.
One of my strongest memories was for a company I was working for at a particular time and there was an issue that nobody had a solution to.
The argy bargy went on for a while but then it got to a point when everyone came together to acknowledge and state that it was a bloody ordinary situation, that we all needed to band together to get through it (there was no around it, only push through and deal with the crap) to come out the other side.
The impact that acknowledgement and inclusion had was phenomenal and it taught me a lot early in my career of the importance of keeping your people with you and acknowledging that we need to deal with things together sometimes.
I have been in situations where the complete opposite has occurred and ‘we’ll just sweep that under the rug and not deal with it’ which has ripped teams apart.
Whether it is employer to employee discussions or purely ‘in the trenches’, it’s critical that a team feels comfortable enough to discuss tough topics amongst one another, and feel like they can attack tough times together.
The good, the bad and the ugly exists in every industry, every business and every life.
Whilst there are things that don’t need promoting in the sense of the word, there is nothing that shouldn’t be acknowledged, for fixing the issue, gaining insights into alternative solutions or purely for the fact of being authentic and honest to ourselves and those who rely on us, that there is a problem and here is what we are doing to fix it.
When explanation and understanding can be provided, often times a by-product is empathy and realistic expectations in a situation.
There will always be those who we cannot logically communicate with, but I think the more proactive we can be the better – at least we will be proactively fulfilling a commitment to our industry and those who support it.
- Dan Korff, Future Farmers Network chairperson
New board
NATIONAL Australia Bank Moree agribusiness analyst Megan Davies is the new Future Farmers Network chairperson.
Elected at the organisation’s annual meeting in Roma, Queensland, this month, Ms Davies said FFN would continue to empower, support and advocate for young people in Australian agriculture.
She replaced Dan Korff as chairman, who moved into a director’s position.
Ms Davies, hailing from Coonabarabran, is responsible for the financial analysis of farming and business clients across the cotton, grains, livestock and horticulture industries in the state’s north.
She previously worked for Meat and Livestock Australia, as a meat market analyst and in a communications role, managing key stakeholder relations.
Alex Ramsey was re-elected for a second term, as well as incoming directors, Christopher Young, Lachlan Sutton, Geoff Birchnell and Sarah Nolet while Rohan Dunsdon is treasurer.
