Many of you run family farm businesses filled with the opportunities, challenges and satisfaction that comes with it. As businesses transition from one generation to the next, the incoming generation is faced with many internal and external expectations to be like or even better than the last generation. This is true on the farm and in the corporate boardroom.
This week I had the chance to meet Dr. Mark Lyons, the CEO of of Alltech, as he was my guest on RealAg Radio at the Alltech ONE Calgary event.
I was not sure the direction that the interview would take, but so many of his points on taking over from his famous company-founding father five years ago are very applicable at the farm gate as well.
After getting through an update on product development and some info on the Alltech ONE Calgary conference, I asked Dr. Lyons, “What do you want your stamp to be on the business? When people talk about Mark, what do you what do you want them to say?
His reply:
“I heard a thing the other day that legacies are to be lived not to be left and I thought that was a pretty cool line. This business has an opportunity to do something really unique, we’re connected with the industry, we’re trusted, we have a strong reputation, we’re open, and we don’t put that working together line out there for nothing, we were happy to have conversations with people, it’s not a zero sum game, we see the opportunity to collaborate is the opportunity to create a lot more. So I think it’s really about that company culture.
“I don’t think anybody achieves very much on their own. My father always said, leaders create more leaders, and great leaders create a leadership culture. And so I think continuing that is a big, big part of what I want to achieve. And hopefully, we can actually measure and say, Hey, we were there. And now we’re here. Hopefully we’ve improved the image of the industry and that people see the positives that exist, I think this is the best industry in the world. And I think it’s a story that needs to get out and be told.”
I encourage you to listen to my entire discussion with Dr. Lyons to hear his thoughts on governments around the world creating environmental policies that impact agriculture, and why smaller countries like Canada will not be forgotten in product commercialization.
Hear Shaun’s interview with Mark Lyons, CEO of Alltech:
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