The Importance of Being a Leader

1
The Importance of Being a Leader

• Dr. Hannah Carter
• August 23, 2006
• FNGLA Chapter Training

2
Your Industry is THE Leader!

• In 2003, Floridas Leading Farm Crops (FDACS)
• Greenhouse/nursery 1,601,040
• Oranges 989,692
• Sugarcane 559,600
• In 2005, the United States Env. Horticulture
  Industry
• 147.8 Billion in Output or Sales
• 1.9 Million Jobs
• 64.3 Billion in Labor Income
• 95.1 Billion in Value-Added Inputs

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Your Industry is THE Leader!

• In comparison
• U.S. Horticulture 147.8 Billion in Output or
  Sales
• Wal-Mart Corporation 22.37 Billion in Sales
• Bottom line-
• The horticulture industry is a powerful economic
  force!

4
FNGLA Truly a Grassroots Organization

• The success of a grassroots group is
  attributable, in part, to the coordination and
  motivation of group members. The extent to which
  a grassroots organization encourages members to
  identify with the group may be important for
  sustained success. (Bettencourt, p. 170.)

5
Leaders Face the Challenges.

• Agricultural Labor Reform
• Agricultural Economic Development
• Best Management Practices
• Estate or Death Tax
• Farm Equipment Sales Tax
• Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative
• Incentives for Agriculture
• Integrated Pest Management
• Initiatives Changing Florida's Constitution

• Invasive Plants
• Landscape Irrigation Standards
• Landscape Ordinances
• Land Use, Growth, Private Property
• Pesticide Use and Worker Safety
• Quarantine-37
• Water Conservation Irrigation Efficiency
• Water Supply Storage Development
• Workers Compensation Reform

6
The Responsibility of Leadership

• Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from
  people who have a habit of making excuses
• George Washington Carver
• Success on any major scale requires you to
  accept responsibility.In the final analysis, the
  one quality that all successful people have is
  the ability to take on responsibility.
• Michael Korda
• Editor-in-Chief, Simon Schuster

7
The Responsibility of Your Leadership

• It is worth noting that a dominant portion of
  this industrys activity is conducted by
  thousands and thousands of privately held, small
  businesses.
• Robert Dolibois
• Executive Vice President
• American Nursery Landscape Association

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A Leadership EdgeConfidence

• People look for leaders who demonstrate an
  enthusiastic and genuine belief in the capacity
  of others, who strengthen peoples will, who
  supply the means to achieve, and who express
  optimism in the future.
• In uncertain times, leaders with a positive,
  confident, can-do approach to life and business
  are critically needed.
• Even when everything goes wrong, leaders display
  constancy and unwavering commitment to their
  cause.
• Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to
  look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a
  sustained look of control and confidence can give
  you a mental edge that results in victory.
• -Arthur Ashe

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The Power of a Network

• Human networks get things donethe leaders who
  make things happen are right in the middle of
  them.
• Invest time and effort in building relationships
  as without them, you will be unable to do your
  job or achieve success.
• It's not what you know but who you know that
  makes the difference.

10
You Cannot be a Leader if Your View Does Not
Change.
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You Cannot be a Leader if Your View Does Not
Change.

• A leader encounters the world outside the
  boundaries of an organization, the more you know
  about the world, the easier it is to approach it
  with assurance.
• Take every opportunity to expand your view.

12
Leaders Make Mistakesand its O.K.!

• Fear and apprehension are the greatest barriers
  to success.
• True leaders foster risk taking, encouraging
  others to step out into the unknown, rather than
  play it safe (Kouzes Posner, 2002.)
• Learning necessarily involves making some
  mistakes.
• Everyone whos running something goes home at
  night and wrestles with the same fear Am I
  gonna be the one who blows this place up?
• -Jack Welch
• Former CEO of General Electric

13
Give Credit Where Credit is Due!

• Create a climate where people are involved and
  important.
• Increase other peoples ability to feel as though
  they are making a difference.
• Always give credit for the contributions of
  othersno matter what the size of the
  contribution.
• We become more powerful when we give our power
  away.
• You can accomplish anything in life, provided
  that you do not mind who gets the credit.
• -Harry S. Truman

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Final Thought.

• Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else
  tries to light that fire under you, chances are
  it will burn very briefly. -Stephen R. Covey
• Thank You!
• hscarter_at_ufl.edu