Change can be tough.

That is why one professional facilitator believes all leaders should understand how to lead their farm organization or business.

Attainability Group Founder Jeff Couillard presented at the recent In-Service Training sessions for the Association of Alberta Agricultural Fieldmen.

He says this is an important topic that everyone should understand.

“Particularly people who are finding themselves in a situation where they have to deal with change, and right now, we are dealing with lots of change across society,” said Couillard.

Certainly governments, they are shifting mandates and priorities, and that has a ripple effect on people and how they go about doing the things and the outcomes they are after.”

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He says people can lead change if they know where they are going.

“One has to find the meaning behind the change and connect people to that meaning. Whether that is at the individual or at the organizational level, you have to know what’s the point of the change and why we are doing it this way.

He adds if you can’t answer those questions, farmers have to go back to the drawing table and say, is this change getting us closer to something people care about.

“Lots of organizations don’t have a very clear vision, mission, and values, and we spend a lot of time building strategy and how do you build a strategy if you don’t know what you care about.”

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He adds the most important thing is that people know where they want to go.

“The end result is people who aren’t sure how their individual efforts contribute meaningfully to the direction of the organization.  So, leading change is first and foremost so awareness and alignment within an organization, alignment with what is important so people can attach to it.”