b'PROTECTING INNOVATIONLeaders Needed for theU.S. Seed IndustryLEADERSHIP COMES INmany different fla- needs and thinking.vors, packages, and abilities. Our $22.4 B U.S. seed4. Trust: ability to trust others to gain ones trust.industry is facing many challenges, but also many5.Critical thinking: deeply understand underlying opportunities that require different talents today. Weproblems and paths for solving.expect to have ~8-9 B mouths to feed in the next 206. Vision: ability to provide a long-term vision of suc-years globally shaped by different demographics bycess for employees to buy-in to.country. Lets look at how leadership may need to7. Action orientation: motivation to act when others adjust. hesitate.ELOY CORONA Leaders (vs managers) should be focused on driv- 8.Negotiation: ability to see beyond what one hears to is the executiveing the value creation phase of a commercial or publicunderstand the underlying motivations and manage director of the Seedentity innovation with particular emphasis on the mainconflict resolutions.Innovation andcontributor to productivity People. This is why econo- 9.Decision-making: involving as many in decisions but Protection Alliancemists focus on productivity per person as an indicationhaving the courage to make tough decisions when (SIPA). of doing more with less. Sound familiar? all are wavering.From an economic standpoint, economics is theThe speed of todays learning and knowledge base allocation of scare resources. People with great ideasin the seed industry is very similar to the computer allow companies to create a proportionately largersector. In fact, re-investment in new seed innovations is increase in value compared to adding a marginal head- higher at 15-30% of revenue. New plant breeding tech-count to do low valued work. niques, deeper knowledge of the plant genomes, pre-Our seed industry is being challenged to do moredictive analytics, harnessing robotics and sensor data with less to the point it has been labelled a nationalcollection, ROI decision making tools are all speeding security matter recently by former Secretary ofup the commercialization of seed and ag innovations.Defense Leon Panetta at the Salinas Biological SummitI follow a couple of simple guidelines in my every-in June. U.S. agricultures rate of innovation and specifi- day interactions with people:cally seed innovations are speeding up due to many1.Create a trusting environment beginning with factors such as brighter minds, economic incentives toyourself.create value due to a strong U.S. intellectual property2.Involve all team members, even the reserved system and, quite frankly, just the need to solve on themembers.farm problems that reduce yield, increase costs, lim- 3.Dont listen to what people say watch whatited resources and an aging farming population. Peoplethey do.need to eat, and they have finicky tastes. 4. Take calculated risks for large potential gains.Leadership development is happening at all levels5.Make mistakes, admit fault and learn from them from large companies, mid and small size seed compa- so you dont do it again.nies, industry and commodity groups as well as family6.Lead with your actions co-workers will see what farms (many of which have complex legal structures).you do.Continuity and succession planning are on everyones7. Develop the companys silent leaders who minds to ensure the ag innovation engine keeps hum- people trust when things get tough.ming. 8. Promote those who create value.Todays and future leaders will require more soft9. Celebrate others successes while staying humble.skills in order to deal with the future. 10. Always do the right thingeven when it might be 1. Desire to never stop learning. unpopular.2.Listening: clearly hearing and understanding ofPeople buy into the leader before they buy into the employee, team, customer and management needs. vision. John C. Maxwell SW3.Empathy: understanding multi-generational team 14/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2023'