Commitment

I think the overlooked part of commitment is the ability to say "no".  Far too often are people overstepping their ability to lead effectively with an over extension of time, efforts, and  energy.  It is after the fact that this problem arises.

Here are some contributing factors:

- leaders have a hard time saying "no"
- we are pushed by peers, advisors and organizations
- the university promotes over involvement from day 1.
- Young people are pushed and this leads to burnout

So how do we stay committed? 

If we can limit ourselves to the amount of things that we are doing we as leaders can help focus our energy.  In order to remain effective we must concentrate on things we enjoy and believe in. This will lead to a deeper level of commitment than any other system developed. I feel by focusing our deeds and energy we will be able to make a larger impact than if we were to just spread ourselves out.  This both benefits the effort in question as well as yourself.

Philosophy

Helping feed the world in any way possible is my purpose in life. Connecting the farmers in the fields and the consumers at the dinner table is my way of hopefully succeeding at this venture. Helping both of these groups better understand the issues and concerns that are part of society is what I feel empowers me to improve myself and the pushes me towards the career I seek.  I view myself being an active advocate for agriculture in any realm that I find myself regardless of what my career is.   My mission in life is to build a set of tangible steps for an agricultural organization to help them move closer to the consumers that they have helped feed for years.  By including all of these things into one singular push to better myself as an agriculturalist I hope to leave the agricultural industry in a greater state than in which it was when I joined it.

                My purpose, mission, and vision for my future have been developed through a base of values that have been part of my upbringing and education.  The value that I hold most important is family; above all you must hold your family close to you as a leader and as an individual because of the support and love that they can provide for you in both good and bad times. After that the values that are most important to my philosophy are respect, loyalty, honesty, and the belief of furthering yourself as an individual.    All these values have helped me not only become a good leader but hopefully a moral person.  By using these values as a set of guidelines for my leadership style I hope to continue to make a positive impact in an ethical manner. 

                Finally leadership is a collaborative venture that has multiple levels of involvement.  Community wide, organizationally, and individually you must push yourself to improve each level to fully make yourself an impactful leader. By empowering others to help accomplish goals to impact the greater good is what leadership is all about. That being said, I wish to continue my leadership development in a direction that not only helps me, but one that helps develop the people around me.

Why it is so difficult to collaborate.

After having discussed the value and benefits of collaboration it is easy to see why the need for it it is vital.  However, the ease of collaborating properly is another matter entirely.  In the Greek community I feel that chapter emphasis on competition and the lack of interconnectedness has lead us to a destination that is not conducive for collaborative acts.
These two aspects of the issue have been deeply rooted(or so we think) into our history as organizations.  The drive to achieve higher than another individual is seen as human instinct, but just like any other primal act, it can be very harmful if not controlled properly.  This is where I believe we currently are as Greeks.  What was once friendly competition has lead members to become hostile and unable to embrace the Greek community that surrounds them.  While some people understand the proper use and cultivation of competition it is this same group of people that also embrace the next element.
Interconnectedness is simply the first and most basic step any individual can make in order to collaborate.  You must seek to understand prior to making judgement.  Many chapter members fail to make this effort and because of this collaboration never even makes it to the beginning stages.

"What do I do with my Hands!"

Well, since there is really no formal prompt on this weeks blog I thought I would write about taking initiative! I feel that this ties into social change and leadership fairly easily.  Initiative is taking the lead or putting in the necessary work to help in any given situation.  Surprisingly this is not the easiest thing to do especially with college aged men cultured in a tradition of sub-par achievement.  While some may argue that what FarmHouse is achieving now is great(which we are doing well, to be honest) I always find room for growth.  The old business mantra "If you aren't growing your dieing" is true in all realms of organizational operations.  That being said, initiative is the key to sustaining a drive for excellence.  

At times it seems that even the most menial tasks are passed by because people simply think that it's someone else's job or eventually someone else will do it.  Being raised on a farm where if the work didn't get done you didn't go home, this little issue drives me up the wall.  What is even worse than that is the lack of drive to do any sort of large project without being begged or drug by their hair. 

We want to renovate the house! We want more guys living in the house! Why are we volunteering for this?

Things that we all hear everyday.....and on top of that we are expected to lead the day-to-day endeavors of the chapter.  Not really conducive for the amount of time you need to actually function as a....hmmm what so they call it?? Oh, a human being! Your asked to be a chapter President not eh entire chapter. 

So, I would like to depart this post with the following questions:

How do you encourage and foster initiative?
Where is the line between fostering and doing it yourself?
How can you tell when your asking too much?
Am I asking too much now?
Can I change this trend to help ease the pain of my chapter and president to come.

CP

Citizenship

Since my early days as a boyscout, 4-Her, and FFA member the idea of citizenship has been pounded into my head as an individual.  We would find little ways to help the community of Edon about once a month.  The standard means of help were always used trash pick-up, raking the leaves of the elderly, collection of canned food, just to name a few.  While this form of citizenship is nice and indeed helpful, since my time here at OSU and as a man of FarmHouse my view of citizenship has changed.

While I completely in favor of doing these little activities that help the community. I do now see the large realm of what it means to be a good citizen.  I would define my view of citizenship in three terms: accountability, collaboration, and acknowledgement.

Accountability:
First and foremost is the idea of holding your fellow community members accountable.  This part is the idea of preventing possible problems that your community would face.  This happens at multiple levels in the Greek Community within your house, council wide, and the total community.

Collaboration:
This part is fairly self explanatory,  You cannot fully solve a community-wide issue without the help and buy-in of all involved parties.  By keeping this in mind we not only will be able to make some change, but it will be sustainable change.

Acknowledgement: 
Realism is the other term i think of when acknowledgement.  This is just the idea that we must understand that at times people do not want help nor are they willing to abide by your plans.  You must keep this in the back of your head as you go on trying to help society around you.

There they are! Its simple but I feel that citizenship is itself fairly straightforward.

CP

Ag Comm 367

Today the Honeyhole gets a bit of a different post for my friends in Ag Comm 367!

The social media movement in the agricultural industry has been a night and day within the past five years.  While agriculturalists have always tried to educate people about how they raise food for consumers, it is just recently that they have tried to actually connect with consumers.  The difference between these two methods is truly great considering the impact that it is beginning to have. The reason for this deeper impact is the addition of an emotional and personal touch on how agriculturalists communicate.

This technique appears to have appeared to come from the very groups that have taken stands against conventional agriculture. The best example of using emotion to help aid your cause is Wayne Pacelle's blog A Humane Nation, Wayne who is the President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States posts about the charitable acts that HSUS is involved in.  These stories pull on your heartstrings, and are what have lead to the large amount of money and support that HSUS has amassed in recent history. Not only do these blogs help fuel the movement, but the use of Twitter and Facebook help bring readers in and also help keep the conversation going on both sides of the issue. 

Taking a play from HSUS's play book, agriculturalists have started to use the same techniques to build more support.  Farmers, business owners, and passionate agriculturalists are now blogging, tweeting, networking on Facebook, and posting pictures all about the world of agriculture.  The blog Confessions of a Farmers Wife allows readers to follow the life of a wife of a farmer.  This insight gives people the chance to connect on a personal level with the world of agriculture.  While this seems like a menial step, it does show consumers that farmers are people as well as producers.

The social media movement is still young in the realm of agriculture.  However the movement is growing and this growth is both for agriculturalists posting and followers.  Hopefully through continued emphasis on the importance of a social movement, farmers will be able to connect with more consumers and help them understand the joys of agriculture.

CP

Fancy quote post!!!!

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
- President Barack Obama

Before I start this blog formally I would like to connect this quote with another that will tie this together perfectly.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"
-  Lao-Tzu

I believe that President Obama's quote is empowered by the implications of the second.  An individual can change the world, but in order to do so you must be able to take the first step in that long journey to change.  Individuals that have shown this level of leadership range from large to small, black to white, good to bad, and religious to atheist all of this being said there is nothing limiting a leaders potential except themselves!

Alright, I'll admit it that was a little too optimistic....in fact way too optimistic.  Lets get serious folks.  The time for change is always at hand, but whether or not a leader chooses to act is their decision.  From generation to generation we have always claimed that we are on the brink of something great, and finally the pieces are in place to make the change we have always wanted.  This has been my claim, the president before me, and the president before him.  The only thing that separates us is the means in which we choose to act.  Other factors are part of this equation for change, but one thing can override any outlying problem and that is hard work by a leader.

As a leader the opportunity for change is at your fingertips and in order to make the change happen that you want to see in the world then you must be prepared to inspire your members to feel the same way.  This inspiration of course is a second order change, and has the power to not only change your organization but change its culture as well.  A culture change in your organization brings about a sustained change that will bring results for years to come.

In closing:

- this weather is cramping my style
- Ticket Office work at 8a.m. is cruel and unusual punishment
- Leadership is fun
- I'm a little sassy right now
- Lets go fishing

CP