Last week, CHS held our Annual Meeting at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I always enjoy the opportunity to meet with our farmer owners and discuss the issues facing our industry. There’s something else that is very special about this event for me. It reminds me of the intrinsic values of the agricultural cooperative system. CHS is the largest cooperative, and with that position comes the responsibility to lead.

If you aren’t familiar with the cooperative business model, here are the basic concepts: (1) Cooperatives are farmer-owned, while traditional companies are investor-owned. (2) Cooperatives are farmer-controlled at the board of directors, while traditional companies have corporate boards made up of other business leaders. (3) Farmers are the primary customer of the cooperative, with all profits returned to them in proportion to their transactions. There are variations and complexities around those concepts, but those are the basics, for the purpose of this article.

Even though I work for an agricultural cooperative, I need to remind myself of these cooperative values. Whether or not you work for one, there’s something here for all leaders:

Cooperatives Are for Defense

Why do agricultural cooperatives exist in the first place? Farmers on their own are in a weak position to advocate for their interests. They can get abused by suppliers gouging them for the seed, fertilizer, and energy they need to grow their crop. They can also get manipulated into taking a lower price for their produce than what is fair. Cooperatives form to collectively bargain for supplies and collectively provide fair access to markets.

Just like cooperatives, leaders are uniquely positioned to defend those who lack power. Who in your circle of influence is being victimized? Your employees? Your customers? Your community? Use your leadership influence to speak for those that don’t have a voice. Average people see injustice and do nothing. Leaders take action and initiate change.

Cooperatives Are Diverse

Cooperatives may start-off as a unified group of farmers in the same region, same size, same age, and same interests, but over time that diverges. As cooperatives mature and expand, their memberships become increasingly diverse. Diversity isn’t a bad thing. It’s just hard to deal with.

Cooperative leaders need to be masters at vision, purpose, communication, collaboration, and consensus-building. They need to listen, respond, and adapt. This is no time for command and control. This is all about the farmers, and farmers don’t like being told what to do. Cooperative leaders respect that, and act according to what is best for the entire cooperative.

While non-cooperative leaders aren’t forced to lead that way, isn’t that a great way to lead? What if you hang up the command-and-control tactics and employ servant leadership with your team? What if you surround yourself with diversity of thought and get multiple perspectives on issues before you make a decision? It isn’t faster. But if you are in it for the long haul, this is the way to go.

Cooperatives Know Their Purpose

When you are farmer-owned, farmer-controlled, and farmer-used, it’s clearly all about the farmer. Aside from the diversity challenges noted, cooperatives lack the split loyalty that traditional corporations deal with when trying to serve the needs of the customers and the needs of the investors. In cooperatives, these are one-in-the-same.

As leaders, we often try to make everyone happy. We don’t want to disappoint, so we do our best to serve everyone with everything they need as much as possible. Inevitably, the people we serve want different things. At this point, it’s critically important to anchor to purpose. The world will distract us. As leaders, we need to focus on our singular overriding purpose and deliver on that every day.

Cooperatives Adapt to Survive

My cooperative, CHS, has been around for 90 years. The average investor-owned company only lasts 17 years. How do cooperatives stay in the game so long? It’s not by staying the same. Cooperatives adapt quickly to changing consumer habits, global markets, agricultural practices, farmer demographics, and agricultural technologies. They completely reinvent themselves at times to stay relevant to member needs and the marketplace.

When you examine your leadership style, how adaptable are you? Are you able to honestly identify what practices are no longer working? Can you observe trends in the marketplace and not only adjust yourself, but bring your team along for the journey? Can you lead change by reinventing your organization from within?

Those are my leadership lessons from agricultural cooperatives. Working for farmers is fun. There’s a social-good that comes from serving the rural community and reinvesting the proceeds back into that community. At CHS, we create connections that empower agriculture. I’m sure these lessons translate into your day job, whether you work for farmers or not.

This article was adapted from my previous post on May 19, 2017.