leadership in motion : a closer look at essential skills for leaders in the pork industry

Leadership In Motion :A closer look at essential skills

for leaders in the pork industry.

• Development of human capital is a critical issue facing the pork industry

• As issues in the industry become more complex there is a growing need for wide and deep pool of well trained producer-leaders

• Working to produce leadership training experiences that do not require a large time commitment and still build a much needed pool of producer-leaders is critical to the future

Introduction

• To improve the training materials created to prepare producers for leadership roles in the pork industry

• Build an understanding regarding how individuals, in the field, experience and use leadership skills

Study Goals

1. Identify missing competencies from the list of 11 currently used by the National Pork Board Producer Services Team

2. Prioritize the leadership competencies to identify an order for leadership training-materials

3. Identify real-world tasks in which leadership skills are required for success in the pork industry

Study Objectives

• Qualitative Study– Looking for themes that emerge from a

set of qualitative data (in this case interview data)

– Answers are derived directly from participants own words about leadership skills

– Uses coding procedures and standardized analysis protocols to arrive at conclusions

Study Framework

• Purposive sample of eight participants were selected with the assistance of National Pork Board Producer Services Team– Four state leaders (MN, NC, OK, SD)– Four producer leaders (Past PLA Participants)

• Participants represented a range of experience levels and types of operations

Participants

• Interviews conducted in September of 2008 and analysis completed by October 2008

• Developed an interview guide to direct the questions used during the interviews

• Interviews were conducted individually and over the phone

• Interviews lasted approximately 30-45 minutes

• All interview notes were transcribed and used for data analysis

Data Collection Methods

• Objective #1 – Identify any missing leadership skills from the current list

• Multiple passes through the interview transcripts

• Identified skill categories and skills directly from the data

• Cross-referenced the new skills with the current list to identify what is “missing”

• Identified recommendation for integrating the new skills identified with the current list

Data Analysis – Objective #1

• 61 new skills identified through the analysis• 30 of the new skills directly overlapped with

one or more of the skills on the current list• 6 interview-generated skill categories

emerged– Commitment to Industry– Leading a Meeting– Making Difficult Decisions in a Group Setting– Influence and Authenticity– Efficiency & Effectiveness (Personal &

Professional)– Telling the Pork Industry Story

Results – Objective #1

• Commitment to Industry (New Skill Set)– Makes decisions to better the industry not just one’s personal

operation– Seeks to find common ground with all types of producers

during discussions on industry issues– Generates solutions to industry problems that are proactive,

visionary and seek to advance the entire industry – Develops an understanding of the structure and goals of the

Pork Checkoff and Pork Council organizations – Evaluates and thinks critically to provide input about the

effectiveness of programs and services from Pork Checkoff and Pork Council

– Networks with other producers to continue learning about the industry, its status and current issues

– Uses a variety of resources to stay knowledgeable about the swine industry as a system and current industry issues

– Recruits new producers to serve as leaders in the organization

– Continues service to the pork industry in multiple roles

Results Objective #1

• Leading a Formal Meeting– Runs a meeting so that it stays on topic

and on time– Develops agendas that are effectively

and efficiently use group time– Knows when action, or a decision, is

needed by the group and when it is not– Has a working knowledge of basic

Parliamentary Procedure


• Making Difficult Decisions in a Group– Invites all viewpoints to the discussion;

considers other perspectives during decision making process

– Rallies others to commit to the decision once one is made

– Supports the group’s decision after the fact, regardless of personal perspective on the issue


• Influence and Authenticity– Takes responsibility for actions and

statements– Demonstrates follow-through on decisions

and goals– Leads by example– Builds trust and credibility through actions– Generates buy-in around a shared set of

goals


• Efficiency and Effectiveness– Uses a consistent record keeping system to

stay organized– Surrounds self with experts and mentors to

maximize effectiveness– Plans ahead prior to a meeting or project to

identify the tasks to complete in order to be prepared

– Keeps a calendar– Uses technology to maximize effectiveness

and efficiency– Manages people and resources to maximize

effectiveness


• Telling the Pork Industry Story– Uses personal story as a pork producer to

share key messages about the industry– Communicates research and technical

information effectively to a variety of audiences

– Conducts research to find quality information about the industry to communicate with others

– Speaks with confidence and courage


• Objective #2 – Prioritize the leadership skills• Used the frequency respondents discussed

each leadership skill as a representation of the skill set’s “priority”

• Created a coding scheme based upon the 11 skill sets and the one new skill set proposed (Commitment to Industry)

• Transcripts were coded to determine the frequency each of the skill sets were discussed

• Statements in the transcripts were allowed to be coded into more than one skill area



Key: 1 = Communicating Information and Ideas 2 = Risk-Taking and Innovation 3 = Administrative/ Organizational Ability 4 = Managing Conflict/ Negotiation 5 = Relationships 6 = Influencing, Leadership and Power 7 = Openness to Influence, Flexibility 8 = Time Management 9 = Coping with Pressure, Adversity; Integrity 10 = Self Management, Self Insight, Self Development 11 = Industry Advocacy 12 = Commitment to Industry

• Top skill categories shared by both producers and state leaders– Commitment to Industry– Communicating Ideas and Information– Industry Advocacy– Time Management (Personal and

Professional Effectiveness/Efficiency)• Also included in the top categories

– Influencing, Leadership and Power (Producers only)

– Administrative/ Organizational Ability (State Leaders only)


• Objective #3 – Identify real-world tasks in which leadership competencies are required for success

• Completed multiple passes through the interview transcripts

• Identified situations in which respondents discussed application of leadership skills


• Identified three kinds of situations where producers apply leadership skills from the interview data– Situations in a Pork Industry

Organization– Situations Faced by Producers in General– Other Situations


• Situations in a Pork Industry Organization– Pork Leadership Academy– National, Regional and State Board of

Directors– Working on a committee to make decisions

and recommendations– Pork Act Delegate– Operation Main Street Presenter– Serving as a trainer for PQA-Plus – Working with National Pork Producers

Council for advocacy and policy issues


• Situations Faced by Producers in General– Communicating with the public, media, other producers,

businesses and congressional representatives– On own operation, as an employee of a corporation or as

a contract grower– Managing and developing employees– Dealing with diversity in the industry when making key

decisions (i.e. different types of producers, age diversity, etc.)

– Dealing with and adapting to the ever changing economics of the industry (i.e. current issue is high input costs, but new challenges will always surface in this area)

– Dealing with animal welfare issues (i.e. gestation stalls, PETA opposition, etc.)

– Adapting to changes in the industry (i.e. implementing strong bio-security measures, working through employment issues such as illegal immigrants, etc.)

– Working with a permitting board at the local level– Completing continuing education to stay on top of issues,

trends and current practice


• Other situations– Other community organizations

representing allied industry partners (i.e. co-op board, etc.)

– Various Growers Boards at the state and local level (i.e. Cloverdale Growers Alliance board)


• The current list of leadership skills provides an excellent base of skills (out of 61 new skills identified 30 overlap with skills on the current list)

• The results indicate that state leaders and producers believe leadership skills are vital to success of the pork industry organizations and to producers in general

• The interviews did point to several skills that are important for leaders in the industry

• State leader and producer responses consistently identified four priority skill areas:– Commitment to Industry– Communicating Information and Ideas– Industry Advocacy– Time Management (Efficiency and Effectiveness)

Discussion

• Alter the current list of leadership skills to include the skills identified in the analysis

• Use the situations described from the analysis to contextualize training around the leadership skills included on the list

• Begin by developing leadership training materials that focus on the following skill areas: – Commitment to Industry– Communicating Information and Ideas– Industry Advocacy– Time Management– Administrative/ Organizational Ability– Influencing, Leadership and Power

Recommendations

leadership in motion : a closer look at essential skills for leaders in the pork industry

Documents

new skills

missing leadership skills

industry issues

industry problems

entire industry

leadership skills study

pork industry study

essential skills