Scott Emerson (Class III) Recognized as 2021 CARES Recipient
Florida Farm Bureau’s County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship (CARES) program publicly recognizes Florida farmers and ranchers who demonstrate exemplary efforts to protect Florida’s natural resources by implementing Best Management Practices.
Scott Emerson of Emerson’s Little Dam Farm, Alachua County, was recognized as a 2021 CARES recipient. Emerson is a graduate of the University of Florida and the Wedgworth Leadership Institute, Class III.
Read MoreAAWLI Honors Award Recipients
The Alumni Association of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute (AAWLI) held their annual meeting in Clearwater last weekend, August 6-7. At the Saturday evening awards banquet, the group honored four outstanding individuals for their contributions to the Wedgworth Leadership Institute (WLI) and the agriculture and natural resource industries.
Read MoreUF/IFAS Dean for Extension Seminar & Town Hall Links
Dr. Gregg Hadley
The Dean for Extension campus visits conclude this week with Dr. Gregg Hadley interviewing on March 25th – 26th. Each candidate’s visit includes a Seminar and two Town Hall meetings with stakeholders. In order to attend one or more of these sessions with Dr. Hadley, please register by clicking the link below for each session you wish to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom meeting information as well the option to add the meeting to your calendar. If you are unable to attend, a recording of each candidate’s seminar will be made available as soon as possible after Dr. Hadley’s interview concludes.
Registration Links:
Seminar – March 25, 2021 10:30 – 11:30 am
Register for Dean, Extension Seminar – Dr. Gregg Hadley
Stakeholder Town Hall #1 – March 25, 2021 4:15 – 5:15 pm (hosted in G001 McCarty Hall D)
Register for Dean, Extension Town Hall #1 – Gregg Hadley
Stakeholder Town Hall #2 – March 26, 2021 2:30 – 3:30 pm (hosted at the Marion County Extension Office)
Register for Dean, Extension Town Hall #2 – Gregg Hadley
Dr. Gregg Hadley’s application materials and itinerary can be accessed via the search page: https://ifas.ufl.edu/searches/dean-for-extension/. A link to provide feedback will also be posted on that site at the end of the day on March 26.
Dr. Charles Stoltenow
The Dean for Extension campus visits resume next week with Dr. Charles Stoltenow interviewing on March 23rd-24th. Each candidate’s visit will include a Seminar and two Town Hall meetings with stakeholders. In order to attend one or more of these sessions with Dr. Stoltenow, please register by clicking the link below for each session you wish to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom meeting information as well the option to add the meeting to your calendar. If you are unable to attend, a recording of each candidate’s seminar will be made available at the end of March.
Registration Links:
Seminar – March 23, 2021 11:30 – 12:30 pm
Register for Dean, Extension Seminar – Dr. Charles Stoltenow
Stakeholder Town Hall #1 – March 23, 2021 4:15 – 5:15 pm (hosted in G001 McCarty Hall D)
Register for Dean, Extension Town Hall #1 – Charles Stoltenow
Stakeholder Town Hall #2 – March 24, 2021 2:30 – 3:30 pm (hosted at the Marion County Extension Office)
Register for Dean, Extension Town Hall #2 – Charles Stoltenow
Dr. Charles Stoltenow’s application materials and itinerary can be accessed via the search page: https://ifas.ufl.edu/searches/dean-for-extension/. A link to provide feedback will also be posted on that site.
Dr. Lisa Guion Jones
The Dean for Extension campus visits resume next week with Dr. Lisa Guion Jones interviewing on March 15-16th. Each candidate’s visit includes a Seminar and two Town Hall meetings with stakeholders. In order to attend one or more of these sessions with Dr. Guion Jones, please register by clicking the link below for each session you wish to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom meeting information as well the option to add the meeting to your calendar. If you are unable to attend, a recording of each candidate’s seminar will be made available at the end of March.
Registration Links:
Seminar – March 15, 2021 9:30 – 10:30 am
Register for Dean, Extension Seminar – Dr. Lisa Guion Jones
Stakeholder Town Hall #1 – March 15, 2021 5:00 – 6:00 pm (hosted in G001 McCarty Hall D)
Register for Dean, Extension Town Hall #1 – Lisa Guion Jones
Stakeholder Town Hall #2 – March 16, 2021 2:30 – 3:30 pm (hosted at the Marion County Extension Office)
Register for Dean, Extension Town Hall #2 – Lisa Guion Jones
Dr. Guion Jones’ application materials and itinerary can be accessed via the search page: https://ifas.ufl.edu/searches/dean-for-extension/. A link to provide feedback will also be posted on that site and the end of the day on March 16.
Dr. Brian Myers
We are looking forward to bringing four candidates to campus to interview for the Extension Dean position. The campus visits begin with Dr. Brian Myers interviewing on March 4-5th. Each candidate’s visit will include a Seminar and two Town Hall meetings with stakeholders. In order to attend one or more of these sessions with Dr. Myers, please register by clicking the link below for each session you wish to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom meeting information as well the option to add the meeting to your calendar. If you are unable to attend, a recording of each candidate’s seminar will be made available at the end of March.
Registration Links:
Seminar – March 4, 2021 10:00 – 11:00 am
Register for Dean, Extension Seminar – Dr. Brian Myers
Stakeholder Town Hall #1 – March 4, 2021 4:30 – 5:30 pm (hosted in G001 McCarty Hall D)
Register for Dean, Extension Town Hall #1 – Brian Myers
Stakeholder Town Hall #2 – March 5, 2021 9:30 – 10:30 am (hosted at the Marion County Extension Office)
Register for Dean, Extension Town Hall #2 – Brian Myers
Dr. Myer’s application materials and itinerary can be accessed via the search page: https://ifas.ufl.edu/searches/dean-for-extension/. A link to provide feedback will also be posted on that site.
Read MoreLeadership in Challenging Times
In normal circumstances, leaders do (and should) bear a strong weight of responsibility for their followers. In fact, this responsibility can be so great that it’s not uncommon to hear leadership described as lonely. Few other, if any, individuals in an organization can understand the unique struggles of their leader. Another function that makes leadership lonely is once you are at the top, there’s no one above you are affirming your decisions and telling you “good job.” Your followers expect you know what you are doing and don’t need affirmation from them. These are just a few struggles with “everyday leadership”. Now add the responsibility of leadership as you navigating a global health crisis and many of us are in uncharted territory. As a bit of encouragement, here are five concepts to refocus your leadership during a time of upheaval.
Give yourself and your team grace
Chances are you are accustomed to being an extremely high performer and take a lot of pride in your ability to produce results. You’ve had several years to “learn the game” and figure out how to succeed in your current environment. But now… that environment doesn’t exist as it did. Realize the environment is different. No one in our lifetime has been through a pandemic with this much daily life interruption. Flexibility is an increasingly important skill and will be an essential tool as you navigate the next few weeks. Right now, many people are disoriented and trying to create a new normal both at work and at home. Things will settle down but embracing the idea that we are in a state of extreme disruption currently is key to managing long-term success for your employees. Your leadership response in a difficult time is an important retention tool for your highest performers right now.
Revisit priorities
Depending on the nature of your work, your ability to complete your current goals may be inhibited by current social distancing constraints. Instead of coming to a production standstill, what other things can you be accomplishing during this time? Are their company documents that need updating? Are their software/equipment updates to complete? Productivity doesn’t have to stop during this time, but your priorities may need to shift. A popular tool for determining priorities includes the urgent/important matrix. Using this matrix requires you to consider all of your tasks in a space of Important and Urgent. Focus on the tasks that are both important and urgent first. These tasks should be followed by Urgent/Not Important (and/or) Important/Not Urgent. This tool should help you sift though the Not Important/Not Urgent tasks.
Consider your “optimal productivity time”
The idea of getting in a solid 8am-5pm workday may seem impossible right now. Instead begin thinking about your day in a “time blocking method” of time management. To avoid frustration when synchronous work hours don’t happen, determine your most productive work hours available and be intentional about maximizing those times by blocking them out on your calendar. Perhaps, you have two hours during your children’s’ naptimes. Or it may mean getting up a little earlier than your family for uninterrupted time. Ideally, consider finding 2-3 pockets of time. In a perfect day, you are able to work in all three segments of time, but if not – there’s a better chance you have at least one block of time if you plan for multiple options for uninterrupted work time.
Additionally, consider the “most important thing (MIT)” time management tool. What is the one thing you must get done today? In their book, “The One Thing,” Gary Keller and Jay Papasan ask, “What’s the one thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?”
Communicate daily with your team
An easy way to continue to have normalcy in your workday is to communicate daily with your team. Whether by e-mail, phone or videoconferencing, communicate with your team and keep everyone posted on your projects and progress. Consider communicating at the same time each day to create a sense of consistency. Additionally, you may want to provide some sort of recap or digest of topics and information for those that may not be able to connect.
Reflect on your progress/system daily
At the end of the day, take a deep breath and reflect on your day. We know that without critical reflection, it’s difficult for adults to learn. What went well? What did you learn? What didn’t go as planned? Why? Options to practice reflection include talking through your day with a friend or significant other. You can also reflect through journaling. Bullet journaling offers a succinct way to get your thoughts on paper. Simply make a bulleted list of wins/surprises/mishaps. Celebrate the wins and manage the failures. Tomorrow is a new day. And you’re doing a great job.
Leadership Programs Coordinator – Interviews and Information
WLI is hiring a leadership programs coordinator to assist with program development and support the Alumni Association of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute (AAWLI). We have three strong candidates interviewing in the next two weeks: Jennifer Facenda, Anne Schwartz and Rebecca Lovett. We are offering videoconferencing (via Zoom) to the seminar part of their interviews to all current class members and alumni.
- Anne Schwartz – Thursday, Feb 27 from 11:15-Noon – 120 Bryant (Zoom Link)
- Jennifer Facenda – Friday, Feb 28 from 10:15-11:00 am – 120 Bryant (Zoom Link)
- Rebecca Lovett- Monday, March 2 from 11:15- Noon – 120 Bryant (Zoom Link)
Class X Seminar XI Newsletter
Class X met for their eleventh and international seminar on June 1st-16th, 2018.
Our featured Class X authors for this newsletter are Ryan Atwood, Aaron Himrod, Adrian Jahna, Alicia Taylor, and Caroline Villanueva. Click on the image of the newsletter to read about this seminar!
Ryan Atwood
Aaron Himrod
Adrian Jahna
Alicia Taylor
Caroline Villanueya
Read More
In good company
I love the success stories. Who doesn’t, right? Well, today my heart swelled with pride after hearing the story of the Intamakuphila Farmers Association, a company focused on sustainable sugar production, and its young chairman. In the Swazi language, “Intamakuphila” literally means “earning a living.” In the USA, we would call their business model a cooperative. Farmers banded together across 253 local hectares (roughly 607 acres) to pool their efforts, resources and costs (like pumps to get river water to farm land and overhead irrigation sprinklers). They have a professionally run organization chaired by a young farmer who’s family personally farms 60 hectares. He also works full-time as a farm manager for another cooperative in the area and somehow finds time to lead cooperative meetings weekly. We arrived on a day when they were being audited by Fair Trade. They have successfully negotiated 68.9% return on net profits from the Swaziland Sugar Association per metric ton and sell Fair Trade sugar for $60 per ton on the open market. The operation had a true, committed focus on employee safety that rivaled Fortune 500 companies. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. I am thankful to have been in good company with farmers who simply wanted to provide a better life not just for their families but also the improving their community. You can cross oceans and be on a different continent but initiative and enterprise drive success. 
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Let’s Do This “Dam” Thing
Class 10 toured Maguga Dam today. We also had the chance to challenge ourselves physically by climbing way too many steps from the under belly of the Dam’s hydro-electric power plant to the top (over 100 meters)! 
Good Morning Swaziland
Today begins our first major day of programming–everyone is in good spirits and enjoying their time in Africa. Lots of good insights about their perceptions were shared last night. The beauty of this country is amazing–as are the people.
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