What’s Your Natural Leadership Style?
Cultivating Humility
Humility is another key ingredient that I look for in the “Good Soil" of future leaders. Over time, individuals with true humility stand out and have the potential to become servant leaders. During our interview process, we seek to identify humility in our...
Alive and Growing!
Happy Resurrection Day! Jesus is Alive! This week, I’m taking a break from “good soil” and wanted to share some thoughts on growth. I love Spring! I’m not too crazy about the pollen, but I do love Spring! The grass turns green, the flowers start to bloom, the trees...
Delayed Gratification
Harris and I went fishing here on the farm last week. Fishing, unlike most activities now days requires the second ingredient I look for in "good soil," the ability to delay/defer gratification. Delayed gratification, like work ethic, is not a natural instinct and...
Work Ethic
The first ingredient of good soil is work ethic. This trait doesn’t come naturally and is almost always developed through resistance. I will never forget moving to the farm when I was seven years old. I was so excited about exploring the 70 acres of land, fishing...
Good Soil
The more I learn about farming, the more I learn about the importance of the soil quality. Soil is the most important element of agriculture. Soil sustains life, without it, we wouldn’t have food. A farmer examines the soil to determine the potential to produce...
Free-Range Leadership
I grew up on a chicken farm that raised over 36,000 chickens every 6 weeks for Gold Kist (later Pilgrims Pride). Before I had even heard the phrase "free-range," our industrialized chicken operation was shut down due to my father's battle with cancer. We now...
Leadership starts in the heart, not when you get a title or position
I will never forget my first day in the 101st Airborne Division at Ft Campbell, Ky. I was to report to 1-327th Infantry Regiment, where I was assigned to A Company, 1st Platoon. After meeting my Company Commander I was escorted to the platoon area in the back to meet...
Handling Adversity
How I handle adversity is mostly determined by how I interpret the following passage of scripture: Gen 3:17 "...So I will put a curse on the ground, and you will have to work very hard for your food all the days of your life. The ground will produce thorns and weeds...