Entries by amindaxer

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100 Ways to Motivate Youself – Useful Lessons on a Dairy Farm

Author Steve Chandler, in his book, 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself, says, “Whatever type of problem you are facing, the most self-motivated exercise I know of is to immediately say to yourself, ‘I am the problem.’ Because once you see yourself as the problem, you can see yourself as the solution. When we see ourselves as victims of our problems, we lose the power to solve them. We shut down creativity when we declare the source of the trouble to be outside of us. However, once we say, ‘I am the problem,’ there is great power that shifts from the outside to the inside. Now we can become the solution.” This is equally true on your dairy farm and throughout the dairy industry.

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Take a Lesson from Jeb Bush

Dairy farmers have a solid business lesson to learn from a recent article in the Wall Street Journal written by Jeb Bush, governor of Florida, in which he discussed his state’s efforts to reform education and how difficult the process really has been. He stated, “The reality of reform is vastly different from the theory, and change is a lot harder than it looks. But there are a few rules for real reform that makes it possible.” I realized many of the same rules apply to making certain we have our dairy operations “reformed,” especially after prosperous years like 2007 and 2008.

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A Reality Check

It’s time for a reality check. Maybe I’ve missed something. I’ve been in the dairy industry for almost 40 years. I got my first job in it when I was in my early teens. Now, I think I’ve seen it all. A program for banks called TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) now being in need of a new name: TRAP! Let me tell you why I’m so ticked off.

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Good Times Require Discipline, Too!

I recently finished reading a book on leadership entitled Team Secrets of the Navy Seals written by an anonymous author who actually continues to serve as one of our U.S. Navy Seals and hence wishes not to reveal his identity. One of the most significant lessons expressed in the book revolves around our need for constant evaluation of “… whether you can afford to work with a ‘leadership challenge’ or whether it makes more sense to find a replacement” for that employee. The author goes on to say that “If the weak Team member is truly a good person, try to find another job for them. Do not keep them on for fear of hurting their feelings. It will hurt both them and your Team.”