The Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme has been delivered nearly every year since 1979 when it was established to address a growing need for people living and working in rural New Zealand to have access to leadership training. Over 500 people have completed the programme which Academic Director Dr Patrick Aldwell says is just as vital as ever. The class of 2008 includes environmentalists, farm owners and managers, horticulturists, a rural recruiter and a journalist - all selected on the basis of their leadership potential.
“The increasing size and complexity of many farming operations means there is an increasing need for leadership skills. However the rationalisations in both the dairy and meat industries have reduced intermediate training grounds for gaining leadership experience and opportunities to progress through increasing levels of responsibility. The Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme helps fill this gap by focusing on the important dimensions that make a leader and giving participants a chance to apply their learning and to meet the country’s best leaders.”
The programme has become a benchmark and inspiration for other rural leadership programmes. Programmes for Young Farmers and secondary school head boys and girls have been established by alumni and modelled on the Lincoln University Kellogg programme.
The NZ Primary Industry Council and Lincoln University have sponsored the programme for the past 20 years. Industry leaders and CEOs of large organisations are enthusiastic supporters, making themselves available to brief participants and meet them to discuss leadership.
Dr Aldwell says perhaps the best measure of the programme’s success is where the past students have ended up.
“Not many people would choose to describe themselves in terms of a breakfast cereal, but in rural circles extensive networks of alumni are now found throughout the agribusiness sector from corporate boardrooms to small businesses as well as in local and national politics. They are proud to call themselves Kelloggers.”
About the Kellogg programme:
The programme is delivered by Lincoln University’s Professional Development Group. It is divided into three parts.
Phase 1: Residential at Lincoln University 21-30 January 2008. This involves an intensive series of briefings from industry leaders. This year they include former Ministers of the Crown Ruth Richardson and Jim Sutton, and former President of NZ Federated Farmers Tom Lambie.
Phase 2: Non-residential, February to November 2008. Each participant selects a topic, researches it, and writes it up as a small project. The projects are of vital interest to industry. For example, a Kellogg report on the attitudes of Taranaki school students to a career in dairying has been extensively cited by industry researchers. It was also used as background research for TV advertisements by Dairy InSight.
Phase 3: Residential at Lincoln University, 24-26 November; and in Wellington 26-29 November.
About the Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards:
The Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards are designed to recognise all the organisations and individuals that provide quality services and products to small-to-medium sized businesses, which make up 96 per cent of all New Zealand’s businesses.
The finalists were chosen after a rigorous and objective evaluation by the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation which manages the awards. Award finalists come from large, small, private, government sector and not-for-profit organisations – all with an interest in supporting business in New Zealand.
Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 17 April.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Elizabeth Owens
External Relations Director
Lincoln University
Phone: 027 249 1960
(Note: Photo of 2008 Kellogg scholars available electronically. Contact Ian Collins.)