I like people. In general I feel friendly (my first word) towards anyone I meet, and I like to know about them and what they do. I want to understand them. I like to break the ice with people I meet and ask questions. I noticed this myself talking to farmers during my first season on our company’s stand at Cereals and Groundswell. I want to show farmers what we are finding out.
And I am interested (my second word)! I want to know what farmers are up to and what problems they have. I want to listen to the positive as well as the negative farmers… some need to vent, some just need to be listened to. And if I can suggest something to encourage or help them, sometimes outside the box, or support them in taking another risk on top of all the other risks they daily take, then I can feel perhaps my career is going in a worthwhile direction. And as for the positive farmers, there is everything to learn from them.
I like to be questioning (my third word). I want to validate and find out more – let’s get to the bottom of this! If this or that is the conventional standard, why is it? Is it risk avoidance, or has it been proved not to work before? Can these characteristics make a good industry specialist? I hope the next few years will tell!