Agribusiness Leadership provides the necessary tools to unveil the fundamental principles of
Empowered Leaders that Trust themselves and the relationships they lead and leaders who are curious to discover who they are and who they lead.
Money can be hard to talk about.
I know it can be for me.
As I have looked at my own relationship with money, I have started to notice something about myself. When money gets tight, uncertain, or uncomfortable, I can become defensive.
And when I get defensive, I don’t always communicate the whole picture.
It’s not necessarily because I am trying to hide something. Sometimes I think I am trying to protect myself. I want to have the answer. I want to fix the problem. I want things to look better than they might actually look in that moment.
But that got me thinking about The Factor.
If The Factor is about how I show up in the moment, then it has to apply to money too.
What is my purpose?
When I am communicating about money with someone who needs to understand the whole picture, what is the purpose of that conversation?
Is my purpose to defend myself? Is it to prove that I am right? Or is my purpose to give them a clear and honest picture so that we can make a good decision together?
That changes the conversation.
What is my intention?
This one has really made me think.
I am learning to be intentionally intentional when I communicate about money.
That means not waiting until I am already defensive to figure out how I want to show up. It means going into the conversation knowing that I want to be clear, open and willing to talk about the uncomfortable parts too.
Because those parts matter.
And then there is trust.
Can I trust myself enough to have the conversation?
Can I trust myself enough to say, “Here is where things actually are”?
Can I trust the other person enough to give them the whole picture instead of only the pieces that feel comfortable to share?
Transparency builds trust, but transparency also requires trust.
And maybe the best way I can explain this is harvest weather.
During harvest, I can wake up to a beautiful sunny day and instantly feel energized. I want to get moving. I want to get the combines going. There is possibility in the day.
But wake up to rain and heavy clouds and it can feel completely different. My motivation drops. The weather has changed how I see the day.
I am realizing I can do the same thing with money.
When there is enough money, it’s like a sunny harvest day. I am excited about what’s possible. I want to talk about it. I want to plan. I want to make decisions.
But when money gets tight, Fear and doubt rolls in.
That’s when I am more likely to get defensive. That’s when I don’t feel like talking about it. And ironically, that’s probably when communication matters most.
I can’t control the weather during harvest.
And sometimes I can’t immediately change the financial circumstances in front of me either.
But I can choose how I show up.
What is my purpose in this conversation?
What is my intention?
And can I trust myself enough to communicate the whole picture, even when the sun isn’t shining?
That, for me, is The Factor.
How about you? Does the weather change how you communicate about money?
Firm Feedback in a Fragile World – Jeff Hancher
