Snow and Cold

This past week I was in Boise, ID, speaking to the United Dairymen of Idaho; then on to –4º and 7" of snow in Billings, MT; and then to nice weather in California.

I listened to a CEO of a $4.5 billion organization speak on leadership versus management. His main points were:

Businesses fail because they don’t recognize the external drivers of change.

You must leverage your assets and get the most out of them. Don’t fall in love with your assets. If it’s unproductive land, livestock or machinery, you must let them go.

Do enterprise analysis and determine the earning engines that drive your business profits and focus.

If you are in an expansion mode, allow your business to stabilize before moving to the next level.

Manager versus leader: A manager manages for today while a leader will implement action today but judge the results two to three years from now.

A successful business knows how to stretch the good times.

Perspective

Producers are being blamed for air pollution in California. You can have only so many trips on a dirt road per day.

A major lender indicated that his margin in cost of funds to price of loan had dropped by one-third over the decade.

College football is wild:

That Boston College team is the best 5-3 team in the country.

Oklahoma and Miami look tough!

My e-mail address is:sullylab@vt.edu

Editors' note: Dave Kohl, Soybean Digest Trends Editor, is an ag economist at Virginia Tech. He recently completed a sabbatical working with the Royal Bank of Canada. He is now back at Virginia Tech with his academic appointment, which is teaching, extension, and applied research.

To see Dave Kohl's previous road warrior adventures type Dave Kohl in the Search blank at the top of the page.

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