As alluded to in my last blog about the Agriculture Future of America Leaders Conference (AFA LC), here’s a brief glance at my biggest takeaways from the conference and my favorite moments that made it such a special experience.
Top 10 Moments
- Walking into the gorgeous hotel with a feeling of excitement for the days to come
2. Running into familiar faces that I wasn’t expecting to see (Shout-outs to Luke, Brooke, and Wes)
3. Hearing Captain Plumb change 590 people’s lives with his stories from being a Prisoner of War in Vietnam for 6 years
4. Hanging out in the lobby of the Sheraton and making new friends from around the country (K-State, Purdue, Iowa State)
5. Meeting Kendall Peterson, an agriculture internet celebrity, with Sarah Woodworth
6. Listening to a blogger who is dedicated to promoting agriculture through her life and writing, and getting advice from her
7. The Opportunity Fair and taking the whole thing into perspective as a very lucky and blessed delegate at AFA LC
8. Meeting Orion Samuelson, the voice of American agriculture (famous from RFDTV)
9. Walking onto the field at Arrowhead Stadium and touring the Chiefs’ facilities
10. Realizing how much passion was in Track 2’s room full of delegates during one of our last sessions
Most Meaningful Lessons Learned
(Beware, they’re random and sporadic)
- “Deserve” is a word that should be deleted from your dictionary. – Capt. Plumb told us he believes that you get what you make, and no one “deserves” anything. Think about it.
- Aim to be a parachute packer. – Strive to be a person who does things for others selflessly without expecting anything in return.
- Risk is a tool we use for other resources.
- Validation of another person is the real value of communication.
- Come up with a 6-word story for yourself. – It is your brand and it’s who you are. Hemingway’s was “For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.” No, mine’s not “My best friend is a cow,” but it could be. I’m still working on mine. My rough draft, if you will, is “Deep passion. Inquisitive spirit. Unending enthusiasm.” I’ll keep working on it, and I hope that you do the same.
- When considering questions about the agriculture industry or your farm in particular, all questions can be answered if you know WHY your family farms and why they’re making their choices.
- Feedback is a gift, and criticism is not constructive.
- Ignore the rules of public speaking to be a great speaker. For example, you are NOT your PowerPoint.
- Volunteers use trust as currency. If they believe in you, they’ll help you more. It makes sense.
- Humor is an indicator of how comfortable a group is together. If you can make fun of one another, you’re comfortable together. If you can’t even crack a joke, that environment is (obviously) not a comfortable one.
- Don’t undercut leadership by making excuses for poor performance.
- Live in the present. Live in the 6” in front of your face. We all too often consider the future in every choice we make, but what about right now? What about this very second? Every moment is a blessing. When was the last time you made a decision about how you were feeling at that very second and not about what you wanted to see come of it down the road?
- Build a bigger life, not a bigger lifestyle. Or build people, and not trophy cases. (Go back to my blog post “Packing My Life in a Box” https://elizabethgalbreath.com/2014/02/07/packing-my-life-in-a-box/ to read more on my experience with this)
- If you touch your face with your left hand (especially your nose), you’re probably lying. Apparently Bill Clinton did this repeatedly in his speeches as our President. That is concerning.
- Leaders aren’t always right, but they’re always clear. Be a clear communicator.
- My favorite takeaway from the weekend is the quote “We’re better when we’re together” from Bill Cordes. That’s not only true in agriculture, but in all areas of life.
I challenge you to ponder on some of these lessons I learned at AFA LC this year. They inspire me to change my life on a daily basis, and I hope they inspire you as well.
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