The human capital research firm i4cp recently recognized Land O'Lakes, Inc. with a Next Practice Award for its cutting edge practices for recruiting and mentoring the next generation of agriculture business leaders.
CEO Chris Policinski interviewed for i4cp’s podcast Leading the Way, in which he shared his point of view on leadership, company culture, and all that makes Land O’Lakes unique.
Listen to the podcast here.
On balance:
"If you are worried about furthering the communities in the world you work in, you’re probably going to have a good business. If you have a good business, you probably have the resources to invest in furthering the community in the world that you work in. So balance your perspective, both outside and inside."
On culture:
"A big part of my job is to just communicate like mad and remind folks of what we’re trying to do. We’re all one team. Be mindful of our strategy. We will fail if we don’t work together."
On innovation
"We really stepped back and said what are we good at? We’re good at driving insights into innovation and products and services. We have a muscle around using big data and driving insights into the farm community because farmers trust us. Once you have that good idea, it’s aligning structure and the team."
On taking risks
"There really isn’t failure along the way. There‘s just learning. If you take a prudent risk and things don’t work out, that’s not failure. That’s learning. The most important thing is what did you learn and what are you going to go do next? That’s a valuable lesson for anybody."