Recently, I was reading a book entitled Your 5 Day Weekend and discovered the following quote, which was part of an analysis that the authors Nik Halik and Garrett B. Gunderson were relating to their readers about the dangers of the historical mantra of putting in our 40-hour work week and then retiring, after which we would get to live on about 40% of the income that we had previously received each week when we were working. I’m not here to judge the merits or challenges of doing this, but it got me thinking about another “drug” that we sometimes get trapped by when we are in business.

Wow! If you watch the headlines in the dairy industry, you’ll note that there are a tremendous number of changes going on. Exports are up in some markets. Others are down. Block cheese prices are up, but barrels are down. The trade balance is changing, and our recent government shutdown is impacting some reports we receive. However, while all of this is true and likely of interest to you, there is another factor that you might just want to look at – interest rates. They represent an area that has not received a lot of attention lately, simply because they have been so low since 2008’s financial crisis.

Back in 2010, I recall writing an article that asked the very same question I listed in the title of this blog: Will You Be Ready? Ready for what, you might be asking, and my answer would be ready for the higher levels of profitability that await us in the next several years.

As you probably already know, the new Dairy Revenue Protection Program was introduced in early November. Is this the answer we’ve all been looking for? I don’t see it as the whole answer to our industry challenges. However, it does represent another tool to use in setting minimum milk prices. Like any other existing tool, it can only benefit you if you learn how to use it and then, most importantly, take appropriate action to move forward.

I recently read about an interview on leadership lessons that Head Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski completed with the Dean of Duke University’s business school, Bill Boulding. I believe it offers some great lessons for each of us, so I am passing its highlights along to you in this blog. After winning five national championships in his 40 years at Duke, Coach K probably can provide us with some excellent guidelines.