“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” – Masanobu Fukuoka
I grew up in farm country, where most kids learned to drive a truck before they had a license. My parents grew up on farms, tended the lands of their youth, and were schooled in the ways of the field. Even after they moved into town, the farm was never far behind. Farming was in our blood. By the time I was in junior high, my summers were given over to the farms in our area.
I worked those farms from the day school got out through the harvests of early fall, returning to classes bronzed from a summer working under the hot sun rather than lounging on the beach. I rose each morning before 5:00 a.m. and was in the field and ready to go when the sun crested the horizon. We only took breaks when stopping to empty harvested crops from our hoppers into waiting trucks, or when we had to repair something to continue working. Lunch was typically short – a quick sandwich and a cold drink while leaning against a tire in the shade of a combine. Our days typically ended when dusk gave way to night.
THE LESSONS OF THE FARM
“Farming,” Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.” Farming is more than a profession: it’s a calling, a way of life. Daniel Webster noted that farmers “are the founders of human civilization.” When tending the land took root some 12,000 years ago – a period now called the Neolithic Revolution – the world changed, giving rise to permanent settlements and more reliable food supplies. Who we are today as a civilization is owed to countless generations of farmers.
Farming is life’s great teacher. When you tend the land, the land offers lessons in return. The first of those lessons is the value of a work ethic: if you hope to reap what you sow, the only path is one of hard work and commitment. The second lesson is patience; a good harvest is months away and there’s nothing you can do to hurry that process along. The third lesson is humility. Nature has a way of humbling us all, and no one understands that better than the farmer. And the fourth lesson is gratitude. A farmer learns early on to be thankful for everything nature provides; a bountiful harvest carries you into the next season, where everything begins anew.
Farming gives you a lot of time for reflection, something I learned firsthand in the summers of my youth. You learn the lessons, then you spend hours in the sun reflecting on them. And over the course of all those summers, I learned a lot.
FARMING AND LEADERSHIP
Farming is a metaphor for leadership. Successful farmers share the same fundamental traits we use to define leaders: purpose, direction, and motivation. They are visionary, seeing the potential in the freshly tilled soil. They are mission oriented, forging the path that leads them to fulfill their vision. And they are deeply passionate, inspired to pursue their goals.
Farming is also about team building. You can’t raise crops and not learn a thing or two about growing effective teams. The realization strikes you when you stop thinking about crops as plants and start to see them as your team. The same attributes that a farmer draws on to bring a good crop to harvest are pivotal to building a successful team.
1. Get up before the sun.
A good farmer is out the door and at work before sunrise, preparing for the coming day in advance of first light. Time is a precious resource. Use it to your advantage.
2. Choose the best seeds for the soil.
Just like with teambuilding, farming is an exercise in talent management. Find the best seeds (people) that will thrive in the soil (organization) and…
3. Irrigate and fertilize.
Rich, fertile soil is the organizational culture of a farm. You want soil that provides for the growth needs of the crops, so you have to tend and nurture it. A good leader will irrigate and fertilize so people can be all they can be.
4. Eradicate the weeds.
If a farmer doesn’t tend to the weeds, they will stifle the growth of the crops. The same proves true with toxic team members; if you want your team to grow, you have to tend the weeds.
5. Time the harvest.
A successful farmer doesn’t rush harvest. They give the plants every opportunity to reach their full potential before harvesting. In the same vein, a successful leader doesn’t assign a role to someone who isn’t ready for the responsibilities.
A good farmer won’t yell at their crops. A good farmer won’t blame the crops because they’re not growing fast enough. And a good farmer won’t plow under the crops out of frustration. Finally, a good farmer understands that there are good seasons and bad seasons; they remember that they can’t control the weather, only be prepared for it.
