Leadership Series | Guest Blog Post | Heather Fryer

Post by Heather Fryer

Heather

This year, I was selected to participate in the Inaugural Stockgrowers Leadership Series, a 12 month program hosted by the Montana Stockgrowers Association, designed to help participants succeed in their careers. What I have gathered from the class in the first four months has been more than I could have imagined.

The networking has exceeded my expectations. My classmates are hilarious, friendly people, who support each other, and we’ve all made friends in this leadership series.  We’ve learned about various operations and perspectives, shared ideas and had great discussions.  We don’t have to agree but we have to listen, be respectful and practice empathy.

We’ve met and listened to guest speakers who are knowledgeable in their subject areas. The Montana Stockgrowers work with many state agencies and boards, legislatures, leaders and other agriculture affiliates and agribusinesses. It’s beneficial to know we can call our organization and other associations with questions and it’s important to be able to work together to ensure the future of Montana ranching.

Montana agriculture has a very bright future ahead and these individuals are stepping up to leadership roles in their communities. We have some common goals.  We want to continue to our way of life, improve our operations, and help our agriculture community.  Our voices are incredibly important to agriculture, to our communities, to our interests and to our country.

I applied to the class because it sounded like a terrific opportunity and I wanted to learn how to better help agriculture through advocacy and policy. I believe this class is most beneficial for individuals who want to be involved in their communities but aren’t quite sure where to begin.  For producers and business owners, who have been working on their operation for a while and are ready to take it to the next level.  For individuals, who want to have input in the future of Montana ranching.  This series has improved our listening skills, showed us our individual strengths and given us the tools to spread our positive message of what we do for a living, why it’s important and how much we love our work!

 

The Leadership Series is made possible through the support of MSGA’s Research Education and Endowment Foundation. Want to learn more about our Leadership Series? Check out the website or email [email protected].