Time is already ticking by on the New Year, have you set your
goals and plans for the remaining months of 2009 and beyond?
Of planning, Kirk Gadzia likes to use the expression: Don’t
start before you finish. He says, “That means don’t start the
year before you’ve finished planning your year. Don’t start the
day before you’ve planned it out.”
He adds, “I believe we are what we think about.” Thus, he says
by having a plan we can better direct what we want to be and
accomplish.
Gadzia hails from Bernalillo, New Mexico, and is a certified
educator in holistic management. He says a key ingredient to
success – be it in ranching, business or personal goals – is
taking the time to plan. Here, he shares how a holistic planning
approach can enhance the decision making processes that lead to
success.
Why is it important to take a holistic approach?
Gadzia explains that holistic simply means “whole.” In fact, he
suggests people add the “w” to the word holistic to get “wholistic.”
Gadzia says this helps better understand that management and
planning needs to address whole situations rather than perceived
parts.
“The whole is equal to – not greater than – the sum of its parts
and their interrelationships,” says Gadzia. To manage
holistically, he emphasizes that the interconnections between
the land, people, livestock, wildlife, water, etc. must be
recognized.
He further explains that holistic management focuses not only on
the financial aspects of an operation – which so many people
emphasize – but on the human values or social aspects as well as
the ecological values.
As an example of this Gadzia, says “Money is not the end all and
be all. When someone passes away they aren’t remembered for the
money in their bank account, but instead for the time they gave,
the lessons they taught others, and the values they had.”
Where does time management fit into all of this?
Gadzia acknowledges the fact that time is the biggest challenge
facing everyone. He jokes, “How many people do you know who find
they have more and more time?”
It doesn’t work that way. Instead, we all seem to be busier and
busier. Gadzia says, “The best way to get control of that is to
plan it out. Your day will fill up, so you need to prioritize
your list and have a plan.”
As an example, he suggests every ranch should have a grazing
plan. He says, “Don’t figure it out as you go; plan what you are
going to do.” Sure, you may need to be flexible with that plan
if there is a drought, or conditions change. But, by having a
plan to start with you at least have a road map to follow.
Similarly he says, “If you never planned it, you would never
take a vacation” – and that’s why many people don’t, they didn’t
plan it.
Put another way, this might be your “bucket list” – as the
recent movie of the same name suggested. It’s a list of things
you want to do before you die. And Gadzia says, “So many people
think they’ll wait until they retire to get to many of those
things, but if you wait, you may not get to it. So you need to
plan things.”
Gadzia advises having a family retreat annually with 2-3 days of
planning to help set goals and the direction of where you want
the operation to go. This should include everyone who is
involved in the ranch – family members and employees in
management positions. “It can be the hardest and most important
work you do all year,” says Gadzia.
What should the planning process entail?
As part of the planning process, Gadzia believes each business
(or family) should have a mission statement that highlights the
values that are important to them. Gadzia says, “The work is
done to produce those values or quality of life, but we often
lose site of that.” A mission statement that is reviewed
frequently can help keep those values at the forefront.
Gadzia adds, “Sometimes we need to ask if an action is going to
lead to the life we desire or away from it – i.e. will it make
us more or less happy?”
Also in this planning process, it is important to evaluate the
weakest link in the operation and address that. It may be a
production practice like overgrazing, or it may be a management
issue like poor communication or leadership. But Gadzia
emphasizes that things always break down at the weakest link, so
that is something that continually needs to be addressed and
corrected.
How does planning play a role in profitability?
Gadzia simply says, “Profitability can happen by accident, but
usually it takes planning.”
Unfortunately he says the farm and ranch industry has taken more
of an attitude that these industries won’t be profitable.
For instance, Gadzia asks ranchers, “How many of you wait and
let the accountant tell you if you were profitable?” That’s not
the right approach. Instead, ranchers should be monitoring
monthly and know where they are at with income and expense – and
at the end of the year visit the accountant to seek advice for
what to spend the profit on, says Gadzia.
Gadzia continues, “There’s a paradigm in ranching that we don’t
have control over price or cost of production, and thus we can’t
control our profit.” But, he challenges that way of thinking and
says, “Yes, you do have control over being profitable. You can
influence price and costs” – and essentially plan to make a
profit.
How can you control price?
Gadzia says you can add value to a product rather than just
selling a commodity; you can become a better marketer – rather
than just selling; and you can be creative. As an example he
says, if you only sell your product one day per year, you have
limited your opportunity to hit the market just right. But, if
you spread out your asset turnover at different times of the
year you increase your marketing potential and your
profitability potential.
Likewise, Gadzia says cost of production is not out of the
rancher’s control. It simply takes determination, creativity and
planning to find ways to curb costs.
He concludes, “So the responsibility for profit is our own.”
Looking at the uncertainties in the economy ahead, Gadzia
believes planning is more crucial than ever. But he believes
opportunities exist.
He says, “This is a time when we can break old cycles. By using
holistic planning processes, individuals can take a serious look
at what they are doing and why, and if it is working and meeting
their goals.
Gadzia notes that complacency is often what gets businesses into
trouble. “It’s easy to get back into old habits and not learn
the lessons from the past – but opportunities exist and with
planning you often have better perspective,” he concludes.
To aid in the time management effort, Gadzia also recommends the
Stephen Covey book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. For more
about Gadzia visit his website at
www.resourcemanagementservices.com or call 505-867-4685.
Just 5 Questions
Part Two....
By Kindra Gordon |
The National
Cowboy Museum
Chuck
Schroeder shares his enthusiasm for this special place. If you
think museums are just buildings that collect stuff, you’ll be
pleasantly surprised by the focus on people and Western stories
at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma
City. |
What makes this unique from
other museums?
Executive director Chuck Schroeder tells that the museum was
created to capture the stories of the people who came West with
their dreams and visions. As the former chief executive officer
of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Schroeder, who is
a Nebraska native, is passionate about the ranching industry. In
his role at the museum he says “We’re not stuff collectors, but
story tellers of the ranching culture…It’s the people who create
ranching traditions.”
What is the history behind establishing this national museum
and its collections?
Schroeder tells that the museum was created on the premise of
many who believed “there ought to be a place…” that would
preserve and interpret those stories of Western culture. The
National Cowboy Museum opened its doors in Oklahoma City in 1965
with 60,000 square feet of space. Today, the museum spreads
across 17 acres, has 220,000 square feet of building space and
features 10 permanent galleries.
What are some of the best known galleries in the museum?
The most popular galleries include the American Rodeo Gallery, a
Native American Gallery, a Western Performers Gallery and the
Frontier West. Traveling exhibitions are also featured
throughout the year.
“This really is a grand place that continues to swirl around the
original notions to tell the stories of the evolving West,”
concludes Schroeder. He call the tremendous art collection the
museum’s “heart and soul,” and notes that it is perhaps the
finest comprehensive collection of Western and wildlife art, as
well as the largest collection of rodeo memorabilia anywhere in
the world.
What are some upcoming events at the museum?
If you are considering a trek to Oklahoma be sure to include
this premier museum on your itinerary. In 2009, they have four
annual events:
The Western Heritage Awards Banquet on April 18, 2009.
The annual Chuck Wagon Gathering and Children’s Cowboy Festival
will be May 30-31, 2009. It features emerging young country and
western performers.
The Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition and Sale is slated
for June 12-13, 2009. This features pieces by 100 of the best
Western and wildlife artists in the world. After the sale, the
art continues to be on exhibit through Sept. 7, 2009.
Then from Sept. 26-Nov. 30, 2009, they’ll feature the
Traditional Cowboy Arts Association Exhibit and Sale, with
rawhide, saddles and silver.
So, if OKC has the National Cowboy Museum, what’s that other
museum in Colorado Springs?
The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy is
located in Colorado Springs, CO. It is the only museum in the
world devoted exclusively to the sport of rodeo and the rodeo
cowboy. The museum opened in August 1979, and it’s exhibits
allow visitors to trace the history of rodeo and relive the
glory of its greatest champions.
For more information about both museums visit
www.nationalcowboymuseum.org and www.prorodeohalloffame.com.
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