April 2020 - 27

AG LABOR REVIEW
Looking ahead allows for proper planning, growth
MICHAEL MARSH
President & CEO
National Council of
Agricultural Employers
Michael@ncaeonline.org
Whumpf! It happened again! The third
time in a month, no less!
I ride the Metro train every morning
when I come into work. It's convenient
and far quicker than if I tried to drive into
town. I even try to beat the rush at the
train station by making it there long before
most commuters roll out of bed. That way, I
avoid the crush of the crowd.
Recently my morning commute
requires me to navigate around folks in the
station, seemingly so captivated by what's
transpiring on their smartphone screens
they can't see me walking toward them
until they run right into me. This happens
regardless of how I try to dodge and dance
around them.
Their heads are down, glued to their
screens and they seemingly have no
peripheral vision. Thrice in a month's time
people have run right into me! Good thing
I'm not of diminutive stature, as I've not
been knocked over ... yet.
and businesses suffer from this malady.
Leadership keeps its head down focusing
solely on what lies in close proximity. Or,
they are looking backward as if something
in the past is other than in the past.
Leadership can be so targeted in their focus
they only see an individual tree, and miss
seeing the forest in which the tree thrives.
It can be challenging for organizations
and businesses, and the individuals they
represent, to get into the habit of looking
forward. It's tough to break your gaze
from what you know, but it's healthy and
important to do so. Looking ahead allows
for planning and growth. Successful
enterprises do just that.
The National Council of Agricultural
Employers (NCAE) just wrapped its 56th
Annual Meeting here in Washington, D.C.
In addition to hearing from a number of
members of Congress at the meeting as well
as the Secretary of Agriculture, members
walked the halls of Congress pressing the
need for Congress to look ahead.
The needs of agricultural employers
cannot be met with policies and practices
that are over 30 years old. That's in the past.
And, if the solutions were right in front of
our eyes, we would have seen them by now.
NCAE members implored Congress to
find a way forward to the future, without
the constraints of the past. The House has
done their part and the Senate now needs to
do theirs. You can remind the Congress the
agricultural labor crisis cannot be solved by
narrowly focusing on what has been tried
and failed. America deserves an agricultural
labor policy designed for the future.
And, if you come to Washington and
decide to take the Metro, keep your
head up because you know that others
won't. VGN
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Then, to top it off, they glimpse up from
their phone momentarily to glare as if the
incidental contact was my fault, not theirs.
What's up with that?
Perhaps it's a sad sign of our times.
And, maybe we see something akin to this
behavior in leadership these days regardless
of the entity.
What do I mean by that?
When someone's focus is so targeted
and looking down at the same time, they
have no ability to see what's coming at
them. Just like me walking toward someone
who is fixated on their device in the train
station. They can't see me because they are
consumed by what is just inches in front of
their eyes. Images on their periphery seem
more like noise, than other people hustling
to catch the train.
Leaders, like commuters, should keep
their heads up so they can see what's
coming at them. Their heads should be
on a swivel. They should be constantly
surveilling the environment to identify
threats while always keeping an eye
out for enticing opportunities. Leaders'
focus should never be down, backward
or so targeted that they are prevented
from noticing the swirl of circumstance
swimming past.
Unfortunately, many organizations
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VGN | APRIL 2020 | 27
http://www.ruppseeds.com http://www.ruppseeds.com
April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2020
