Commodity leaders participate in leadership training
About 20 leaders from North Carolina commodity associations participated this past fall in a leadership training program sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The program, offered for the first time, is part of an effort by Dean Johnny Wynne to strengthen relationships between the College and commodity leaders. It included four half-day training sessions conducted by the Personal and Organizational Development (POD) group of North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
"The College is very excited about the opportunity to offer this program to North Carolina's commodity leaders," Wynne said. "We have excellent commodity leaders in this state, and this program gives them an opportunity to work together to improve their skills and effectiveness."
Workshop topics included leadership, board management, media relations and crisis management, and innovation and change. Based on the enthusiasm commodity leaders have shown for the training, Wynne hopes the program will be offered again.
Bob Ford, executive director of the N.C. Poultry Federation, served on the planning committee and participated in the training sessions. He said he was very impressed with the quality of the training POD provided.
"The value was that the information they put together was made available to us," Ford said. "Private companies can hire people to do this type of training, but it's very expensive. POD has done an outstanding job."
Dr. Sam Pardue, head of the College's Poultry Science Department, said that the training not only provided commodity leaders with the opportunity to get to know the College better, but also provided time to interact with other commodity groups.
"One of the benefits was that these groups rarely have the opportunity to talk with one another," he said. "This provided the chance for those in the green industry to talk with those in poultry or horses."
Ford said he would like to see the training repeated, especially as commodity leaders retire and new leaders come on board.
At one session, workshop participants were asked, "What can the university do for you?" One participant responded, "What can we do for the university?"
"We have more opportunities when we work together," Pardue said. "Just as the university supports commodities, commodity groups can support the university."
- Natalie Hampton
The program, offered for the first time, is part of an effort by Dean Johnny Wynne to strengthen relationships between the College and commodity leaders. It included four half-day training sessions conducted by the Personal and Organizational Development (POD) group of North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
"The College is very excited about the opportunity to offer this program to North Carolina's commodity leaders," Wynne said. "We have excellent commodity leaders in this state, and this program gives them an opportunity to work together to improve their skills and effectiveness."
Workshop topics included leadership, board management, media relations and crisis management, and innovation and change. Based on the enthusiasm commodity leaders have shown for the training, Wynne hopes the program will be offered again.
Bob Ford, executive director of the N.C. Poultry Federation, served on the planning committee and participated in the training sessions. He said he was very impressed with the quality of the training POD provided.
"The value was that the information they put together was made available to us," Ford said. "Private companies can hire people to do this type of training, but it's very expensive. POD has done an outstanding job."
Dr. Sam Pardue, head of the College's Poultry Science Department, said that the training not only provided commodity leaders with the opportunity to get to know the College better, but also provided time to interact with other commodity groups.
"One of the benefits was that these groups rarely have the opportunity to talk with one another," he said. "This provided the chance for those in the green industry to talk with those in poultry or horses."
Ford said he would like to see the training repeated, especially as commodity leaders retire and new leaders come on board.
At one session, workshop participants were asked, "What can the university do for you?" One participant responded, "What can we do for the university?"
"We have more opportunities when we work together," Pardue said. "Just as the university supports commodities, commodity groups can support the university."
- Natalie Hampton