b'PROTECTING INNOVATIONLeaders Needed for theU.S. Seed IndustryLEADERSHIP COMES IN MANYdifferent flavors,3. Empathy: understanding multi-generational team packages, and abilities. Our $22.4 B U.S. seed indus- needs and thinking.try is facing many challenges, but also many opportuni- 4. Trust: ability to trust others to gain ones trust.ties that require different talents today. We expect to5.Critical thinking: deeply understand underlying have ~8-9 B mouths to feed in the next 20 years globallyproblems and paths for solving.shaped by different demographics by country. Lets6. Vision: ability to provide a long-term vision of suc-look at how leadership may need to adjust. cess for employees to buy-in to.Leaders (vs managers) should be focused on driv- 7. Action orientation: motivation to act when others ELOY CORONA is theing the value creation phase of a commercial or publichesitate.executive director ofentity innovation with particular emphasis on the main8. Negotiation: ability to see beyond what one hears the Seed Innovationcontributor to productivity People. This is why econo- to understand the underlying motivations and and Protection Alliancemists focus on productivity per person as an indicationmanage conflict resolutions.(SIPA). of doing more with less. Sound familiar? 9. Decision-making: involving as many in decisions From an economic standpoint, economics is thebut having the courage to make tough decisions allocation of scare resources. People with great ideaswhen all are wavering.allow companies to create a proportionately largerThe speed of todays learning and knowledge base increase in value compared to adding a marginal head- in the seed industry is very similar to the computer count to do low valued work. sector. In fact, re-investment in new seed innovations is Our seed industry is being challenged to do morehigher at 15-30% of revenue. New plant breeding tech-with less to the point it has been labelled a nationalniques, deeper knowledge of the plant genomes, pre-security matter recently by former Secretary ofdictive analytics, harnessing robotics and sensor data Defense Leon Panetta at the Salinas Biological Summitcollection, ROI decision making tools are all speeding in June. U.S. Agricultures rate of innovation and specifi- up the commercialization of seed and ag innovations.cally seed innovations are speeding up due to manyI follow a couple of simple guidelines in my everyday factors such as brighter minds, economic incentives tointeractions with people:create value due to a strong U.S. intellectual property1.Create a trusting environment beginning with system and, quite frankly, just the need to solve on theyourself.farm problems that reduce yield, increase costs, lim- 2.Involve all team members, even the reserved ited resources and an aging farming population. Peoplemembers.need to eat, and they have finicky tastes. 3.Dont listen to what people say watch what they do.Leadership development is happening at all4. Take calculated risks for large potential gains.levels from large companies, mid and small size seed5.Make mistakes, admit fault and learn from them companies, industry and commodity groups as wellso you dont do it again.as family farms (many of which have complex legal6. Lead with your actions co-workers will see what structures). Continuity and succession planning are onyou do.everyones minds to ensure the ag innovation engine7.Develop the companys silent leaders who keeps humming. people trust when things get tough.Todays and future leaders will require more soft8. Promote those who create value.skills in order to deal with the future. 9. Celebrate others successes while staying humble.1. Desire to never stop learning. 10. Always do the right thingeven when it might be 2.Listening: clearly hearing and understanding ofunpopular.employee, team, customer and managementPeople buy into the leader before they buy into the needs. vision. John C. Maxwell SWLATAMSEEDWORLD.COM /21'