Shane Bodiam reflects on the Australian Agribusiness Leadership Program (AALP) he undertook last year and how it was about the journey, not the outcome.
Like most participants, finding time in his diary to undertake the three-session AALP in 2016 was difficult for Shane Bodiam, Chief Operating Officer of Hassad Australia. Despite the short-term pain, he made the commitment to join the first AALP program.
âLife is chaotic at the moment, but I just jumped in,â Shane explains. âThe company was in the middle of a transition with our new CEO, John McKillop, commencing only a few months earlierâ.
âBeing in a senior leadership role, it was a pretty hectic time to go into a program that starts with four days away from your phone, but it was important to the company and to John and I that I do this, and really embrace expanding my own network.â
Shane says a little courage and pushing from John McKillop paid off, thanks to the dramatic change of pace the program enforced.
âIâm someone who believes change has to be embedded, and I was surprised how much the AALP managed to embed key principles in communication and planning in just a short time,â he says.
âThe first session, where we unplugged and really were outdoors, facing challenges and brand new group dynamics, was different for everyone.
âI remember on the third day the penny dropped for me that it wasnât about the outcome, it was about the journey we went on through each of those activities.â
Itâs an approach Shane recently deployed during Hassad Australiaâs annual management conference.
âI used some of those key concepts around embedded learning. Weâre always trying to instill âbusiness thinkingâ into our farm managers, and we all see thousands of spreadsheets a year and presentations full of financial acronyms,â Shane explains.
âI reversed that dynamic and placed people in groups that were very diverse in terms of their skills and perspectives,â he says.
âWe bused the group over to a Hassad property, and the teams had to report on steps they would take to improve the business. It was about trying to create an unfamiliar environment through an activity where you apply a little heat, but ultimately people walk away understanding what all those acronyms mean in a practical sense. It was really successful.â
Shane grew up in the small town of Trangie, in Central New South Wales and he has been involved in family and corporate agriculture since graduating from the University of New England with a Bachelor of Rural Science in 1993.
From the very beginning his passion lay in operations, so when he received an Auscott scholarship prior to his studies, he leapt at the chance to learn from a leading agribusiness.
âAuscott is a wonderful example of a successful corporate business. Their core values around engaging the industry in which they operate, supporting research and development and developing people are values that we would like to emulate at Hassad Australia,â he says.
âWhen you start to be involved in anything of scale, itâs fairly daunting because of the complexity, and you very quickly learn that you have to keep breaking down the business into its basic parts, because thereâs always so much happening. You have to have good people working each of those parts to make it all come together.â
This point was reinforced during the time Shane took to complete the AALP.
âMy time away from work reminded me that things do keep turning over without you, so itâs important to make sure youâve shared the right information with your team and have the right systems in place.â He says.
Since starting work with Hassad Australia in 2011, Shane has focused on driving a sustainable, successful path for the company. To do this, he has drawn on years of experience.
âThere are always a lot of things outside your control, but itâs about trying to create that framework so that people are aware of the right basis on which to make their decisions. People development and succession planning coming through will be very important for us.â
His own development is something Shane acknowledges sometimes took a backseat to the day-to-day responsibilities of work.
âIâm now starting to look at opportunities I havenât previously had the time for,â Shane says.
âBecause I do see myself continuing in senior leadership, I know there are still areas I need to develop my skills in, everyone has weaknesses.â
Through the close bonds quickly forged with his AALP cohort, Shane says he valued the chance to receive honest feedback.
âThe big take-home for me was communication. In the business world, weâre all extremely busy, which can stand in the way of bringing your team along. The caterpillar game is one I reflect on oftenâ.
He cites a visit to Westpacâs innovation space, the âGarageââdesigned to foster the rapid development of new ideasâas a highlight of the second session.
âIt was an excellent concept, which really resonated. Iâm sitting in my office now surrounded by whiteboards as a result of that,â he says.
âWe use them a lot in terms of really trying to understand exactly what the challenges are as we come up with solutions.
âThe AALP brought home the importance of asking âwhy are you doing somethingâ? Itâs no good creating an impressive spreadsheet if the right planning hasnât gone into it.
âSince the program I am keeping some notes under a âreflectionsâ tab. Itâs usually along the lines of âslow down, make sure people are engaged, make sure people understand whyâ.â
Shane says the program was an invaluable chance to compare notes with other senior agribusiness leaders.
âOur group engaged very closely. My network has expanded as a result of the AALP, and I know Iâm able to draw on this resource for advice. The network will only grow over the years, which is very encouraging to know.
âItâs amazing the leaders you run into who have been through an ARLF course,â he says.
On the personal front, Shane also noticed that work-life balance was a theme common to AALP leaders.
âEveryone emphasized the importance of balancing family time,â he saysâa resolution that will be applied as Shane prepares to coach his sonâs rugby team this year.
He is also stepping into more situations where he is a spokesperson for the mission and the ethics of the business he represents.
âIâm enjoying being exposed to different forums and the chance to speak to new audiences,â he says.
Hassad Australiaâs cropping and sheep production takes place on 14 property aggregations across five states, totalling around 300,000 hectares.
âSustainability is naturally a huge part of our business, it isnât enough to just look at margins,â Shane says.
âEvery business has its core aims, and we are a sovereign wealth creator for a foreign entity, we set ourselves the highest standards.â He says.
âWe live and operate in rural communities and we constantly have to ask whether we are making sure we engage our local communities and stay connected. For our company, it is not about who I am or who our CEO is, itâs about the people on the ground in each local area. They are ultimately our face. Itâs about making sure theyâre aware of that framework that we work in, and how we can and canât operate.â
Itâs with these complexities in mind that Shane says Hassad Australia will continue to invest in developing its leaders through the AALP.
âWeâve identified someone for this yearâs course, and I think the experience will bring out parts of their personality that Iâd like to see develop. Iâm looking forward to watching them evolve.â
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