14—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 1. 1972 • <!«••••••«• • From local At* Teachers? The article this week was written by Adolph Bensinger and submitted by Stephen M. Leiser, instructor of vocational agriculture at Solanco High School. Ten or 15 years ago a speech given to a rural audience on developing leadership may have seemed odd or unnecessary. I assure you, leadership today is as important as the cattle report or conservation. The farmer must be made to see the light, he must speak up, he must have laws passed in Congress that benefit him as well as the person living in the urban part of America Why should the person with no knowledge of farm life have laws passed pertaining to agriculture by which the farmer must abide? Probably the most important reason the farmer must acquire leadership is to operate his farm as a leader should. In past generations the farm was the typical family farm in which the farmer and his family ran the homestead. Today, due to larger and highly-mechanized farms, the farmer finds it necessary to hire outside help. To keep good employees, the farmer must have good leadership qualities as well as good labor management. Some farmers have the ability to supervise keep them happy, and yet accomplish a tremendous ai lour.t of work. Some do not set m t > be capable of inspiring am leading others. To be a good laoor nanaber the farmer must be a j.ood leader' With these reasons why a rural American needs leadership, let me continue on th, subject of Thoughts in Passing developing a good leader and his leadership qualities To be a good leader you must first develop self-reliance. "Trust yourself,’’ wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Every heart vibrates to that iron string! Say yes to life, be a voice, not an echo!” No one can make the best of himself without self-reliance. How can you acquire self reliance? What can you do to develop a strong self respect that makes each day of life an ad venture instead of an excursion into fear 7 I would suggest two steps: First, recognize that you are absolutely unique in this world. It is a staggering fact that of all the billions of people in this world there are no two alike. Therefore, you are unique; but because you are unique you have a con tribution, a strength and an opportunity to give the world something that no one else can give! Therefore, again you must trust yourself because it is your life and some others. You must have a unique position in life . . you have a unique destiny to achieve! The second is to discover your strong points and develop them. Certainly noone can do everything or know everything. But each of us can do one, two, or many more things well . perhaps better than anyone in the world. Therefore, you should place your talents or your gifts or skills high in your scheme of things . . - you should learn even more about them... you should develop them so thoroughly that you will permeate into them. For as to develop these strong points more completely, you grow in stature, in your mind and in the minds of others. When you can trust yourself to do or to know these things well, others will place their trust in you Enrich your life by con centrating upon your strong points: for by doing so, you develop the self-reliant character that will cause others to admire, respect, and even envy you. If you are of average in telligence, and apply the prin ciples that I have just mentioned to your own life, it will not be very long before your employers notice the stronger, more in dependent employee he has. He will want to put your self-reliance and self confidence to use. He will want to make you a leader in stead of one of the herd. Quite porpably he will advance you to a supervisory position. It is here that your leadership will be thoroughly tested, and it is here that the following virtues will serve you well. 1. Be consistent Keep the promises you make .. keep the rules you impose Do not change your opinion from day to day Do not issue orders or give SPECIAL WIRE SALE! DUE TO FLOOD 10% OFF Regular Prices BARBED WIRE 4 pt. 12V2 ga. Imported, galv. 4 pt. ISVz ga. Domestic, alum Barbless Barbed Wire Motto 15V2 ga, Barbed Wire Welded Wire, Smooth Wire, Poultry Fence, Hardware Cloth Also On Sale While Supply Lasts Stephen M. Leiser, vo-ag instructor at Solanco High - discusses a point with Adolph Bensinger, FFA member. instructions and cancel without good reasons Do not lose your temper or make a fuss over nothing. If you do you will keep others in per petual fear of putting their feet in their mouth. If you expect others to be efficient, be efficient yourself. 2. Explain anything puzzling If you have to issue an order that seems unpopular, a few SPECIAL PRICE ON ■ GOLDEN MALRIN FLY BAIT - FLY SPRAYS - JET FOGGERS - ACID CLEANERS - TEAT DIP - MAES INFLATIONS AARON S. OROFF Farm & Dairy Store RD3, Ephrata, Pa. Phone 354-0744 17572 (Hinkletown) Store Hou,rs 7 A.M. to 9 P.M. Closed Tue. & Sat. at 5:30 P.M. am SUPPLY CENTER ONLY Studded T' with clips ALL PRICES F. 0.8. LANCASTER EXTRA SPECIAL ON PRESSURE TREATED POSTS. 8 ft. -3” to 4" top- Special $l.BB per post, Regularly $2.09 6Vz ft.- 3Vz" to 4 1 /z" top- Special $2.00 per post, Regularly $2.25 6 ft. 6 inches- 2Vz" to 3Vz” top- Special $1.40, Regularly $1.55 Steel Fence POSTS 5 foot 6 foot 6V2 foot 7 foot Lugged 'U # Posts 5 foot 6 foot 6% foot 7 foot 8 foot 1027 DILLERVILLE ROAD, LANCASTER, PA. PHONE 717-397-4761 minutes of explanation will save your face. Quite often an angry person can be made cooperative by a few words of quiet ex planation. them 3. Praise good work Praise, do not flatter anyone. Flattery is not a leadership quality ... it is one of weakness. Flattery often cheapens praise (Continued On Page 15) 20 Rod Rolls Galvanized Cooled 7-26-6-11 8-32-6-11 6-35-12-11 9-39-6-11 8-45-12-11 — lO-47-6-11 10-47-12-11 in Wire Fence YEN WIRE
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