Jolanta Hardej – CEO of Farmed here
FarmedHere's CEO and Co-Owner Jolanta Hardej
runs the worldwide largest indoor vertical farm located in Chicago. Founded in
2011 all of the farming is done inside a 90,000 square foot formerly abandoned warehouse.
Because the plants are stacked on top of each other, there is actually 140,000
square feet of farming space. FarmedHere currently grows various types of
basil, salad greens and arugula, but has plans to experiment with other
vegetables and fruits e.g. strawberries in the future.
Jolanta Hardej uses the Authoritarian
Leadership Style to manage her company.
Based on this management style she always acts with a
specific goal in mind.
In course of her presentation about FarmedHere she said that she often had to
hear only negative criticism
during searching for investors.
But she was still focused on her idea and has not been
influenced by other negative opinions This positive attitude constitutes this
style of leadership.
Jolanta Hardej and three co-founders formed the
management of the company.
But the majority of the employees are former prisoners who have difficulties to get integrated into the normal
economic world. As Coporate Social Corporate Responsibility is given a high priority
in her company, Jolanta Hardej wanted to accept responsibility and recruit former
criminals instead of leaving them alone in the in the job market.
In this context,it was important to adjust the
management and communication style: it was decisive delegating work to the
employees by using plain words and work processes. On the other hand, more
autocratic forms of leadership are requiredwhen ths staff is inexperienced with
the type of work and heavy oversight is necessary.
It is difficult balancing the use of authority with
the morale of the team. Too much direct control will make your subordinates feel
depressed, and being too heavy handed will treat out all group input. Being an
effective autocratic leader means being very conscious about when and how
demands are given to the team. Mrs. Hardej keeps authority with the morale of
the team in a healthy balance and this makes her a great leader. She absolutely found
her way to lead FarmedHere and how to behave in front of her employees, while
representingthe management level.
If I would like to live up of some of the ambitions of
Jolanta Hardej, I would take her unique ambition to perform and implement as an
example. She worked her entire life in the financial sector e.g. as Broker.
As she lost everything during the financial crisis
2007/08 she started with nothing and built up a multimillion
Dollar enterprise in only 4 years. Indoor farming is not a firsthand idea,
however the realization in contrast to many other competitors was implemented
successfully with lots of innovations. Her behavior really inspired me and
shows that if you have one vision and you are stronger and more determinedto
deliver on it, there is a high probability of success.
In addition, one
has to give her a creditfor being so socially responsible.
Finally, even though Jolanta Hardej has been very succesful, her motivation
seems to be on the highest level ever and does not subside. She wants to “grow”
with her business concept and she does not give the impression that she keeps
standing still.
All in all one can say she and her Co-Founders do a
great job with an innovative business concept in a highly competitive sector.
Sources:
- http://www.businessinsider.com/farmedhere-vertical-farming-2013-3?op=1
- http://www.leadership-toolbox.com/autocratic-leadership.htmlhttp://www.farmedhere.com/
- http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/jolanta-hardej/
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