Reflective Blog II: Leader, Leadership and Leadership
Skills
In my blog number two I talk about a business owner I
have met during my summer seminar in Chicago. I chose Jolanta Hardej, the founder and the CEO of
FarmedHere because she inspires me to think more about my own leadership
skills.
FarmedHere is a company that produces salads, basils,
mints, argula, kale and dressings directly in the neighborhood of Chicago. It
is using an indoor farming system with a technology that is called “Aquaponics”.
So they combine different systems to strike out all the factors that could
negatively influence the production of food. The techniques they are using are
not totally new, but recent technological developments favored this kind of
food production as well as „eat healthy, buy local“. It is a new trend in urban
areas. FarmedHere is stating „Our
mission is to transform the way local produce is grown and distributed in the
world, while helping our customers and team members live healthy and
productive lives.“[1]FarmedHere’s
products are marketed directly to grocery retailers, organic and specialty
stores and restaurants e.g. Whole Foods and Mariano’s.
When
it comes to leadership I think that Jolanta Hardey is a representative of the
participative/ democratic leadership style in combination with the new
visionary leadership style.
A
democratic leader shares the decision-making and problem-solving responsibilities
with the employees, while retaining the decision in the final resolution.
Jolanta´s speech to the students really
showed that she encourages their employees to participate in the development of
her company. She experienced really hard times but found her way back into the
business in cooperation with some other people to found “FarmedHere”.
Furthermore
Jolanta also shows chracteristics of the visionary leadership style. The
business is a direction setting company when it comes to the future of local,
urban food production and she and her CO-CEO´s are engaged in finding the right
way to go. Right now they are experimenting with different types of lights as
well as new ways to plant the seeds. This is what distinguishes a real
visionary.
Besides
of the mentioned facts she shows the typical characteristics of a leader. She
is authentic, she says what she is thinking about a topic and she´s always
thinking about the next step to go. She sees her company in a whole and in it´s
competitive environment.
When
she was talking to us after she had showed us her company she made the
impression of a passionate CEO to me. She loves her products as well as she
really thinks “green” in terms of packaging or distribution. This kind of
inspires me because she showed me that you have to fight for your company. She
discovered bad and good times and was nearly bankrupt. So she shows passion,
commitment and a clear line of action. I think that especially the point of
action constantly one way is one of the characteristics of a good leader.
Meeting
her was really interesting and impressive. I think that I´ve learned that day
that particularly as a leader of a business one should always follow his own
way. It is important to risk something and to stand up if your lying on the
ground. One should never give up and always go forward. But always go step by
step. This is what I truly learned that day and I really have to consider this
in my prospective business life.
No comments:
Post a Comment