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Rural Leaders 2022

CEO update on Kellogg accreditation.

Rual Leaders

A message from our CEO Chris Parsons, MNZM, DSD, CMinstD.

Chris Parsons, CEO New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust

As the year flies by all too fast, I thought it good to pause a moment to highlight a key development that we have been working on for just over a year and to acknowledge some of the achievements that Nuffield and Kellogg Scholars and the NZ Rural Leaders family have made over the last 12 months.   

Firstly, Kellogg Scholars have embraced the opportunity to obtain a Post Graduate Certificate alongside their Kellogg qualification. This is an opt-in opportunity and to date 98% of Kelloggers have.  

We would like to acknowledge Lincoln University for offering the chance for food and fibre leaders to gain this additional value. 

We’d like to acknowledge Massey University too, for recognising Kellogg for up to 60 post-graduate credits applied to further learning in both their business school and college of sciences. 

We are on track for 62 Scholars to concurrently achieve a Post Graduate Certificate by the end of the year!   

This achievement marks the two-year anniversary of The Pāhautea Initiative – a partnership between Lincoln University, Massey University, the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (AGMARDT) and Rural Leaders. 

The initiative focuses on lifting education levels across the sector and building deeper leadership benches in the regions, with the aim of creating a sustainable future for food and fibre. Accreditation of core programmes is key to delivering on the partnership’s purpose. 

If one of your neighbours or a work mate is considering becoming a Kellogg Scholar and opting in for the PG Cert, the good news is they do not need a prior degree to enrol for the PG Cert, we will work with you and Lincoln on admission requirements.  

Previous Kellogg Scholars (at this stage, from 2014 onwards) can apply for recognition of prior learning from Lincoln and Massey Universities, by contacting Lisa Rogers at lisarogers@ruralleaders.co.nz 

Finally, we’d like to acknowledge all those of you who have been selected to Boards, started businesses, led transformation, or helped your communities and environments.

Rural scholarship is all about creating impact – we get reports almost daily of alumni who are improving the sector and standing up to be counted.

Thank you for all you do! 

Back to the August 2022 Rural Leader.

Whanganui and Partners and Rural Leaders serve Strategy for Lunch.

A collaboration between Whanganui and Partners and Rural Leaders, Strategy for Lunch, has been created to meet a need among business owners, to engage more confidently in business strategy discussions and design. 

The programme consists of five neatly wrapped, bite-size, online sessions that provide the tools and knowledge to help Whanganui business owners build their strategic capability.

Some of New Zealand’s leading strategic facilitators have come together to deliver the five 90-minute, online workshops, from midday every Friday, starting 11 March.

Strategy for Lunch is designed for business owners from across all sectors and industries who are looking to advance their strategic skills, knowledge, and their businesses. 

The programme will help business owners undertake their own strategic analysis, identify opportunities, and to evaluate their strategic choices.

From sharing frameworks and tools, to recommended reading, review and reflection sessions, and group discussions, this innovative programme gives business owners a strong knowledge foundation from which to tackle their own strategic challenges.

Here’s a brief week by week outline of what participants can expect to cover and learn in this smart and highly accessible programme.

Week 1: 11 March – Orientation.

An introduction to core strategy concepts. We’ll also outline the programme’s  
5-week journey. We’ll answer questions like, what is strategy? What isn’t strategy? What are the forces influencing our world today? And tomorrow? 

Week 2: 18 March – Strategic framing. 

Aims to understand a business’s value discipline and maps its business model. Questions we’ll answer in this session are, what is your ‘value discipline’? How do you create customer value? What is your business model for delivering customer value? 

Week 3: 25 March – Strategic definition. 

Defines a customer’s “job to be done”. This session also aims to understand customer drivers of value. It will unpack what the best options are to increase value for your customers?   

Week 4: 1 April – Strategic options. 

This session aims to explore a business’s strategic innovation options. We’ll answer questions like, how might you design or adapt your strategy for a competitive advantage? How do you develop a blue ocean strategy? 

Week 5: 8 April – Strategic action. 

This final session brings it all together. We evaluate strategic choices, including key implementation considerations. WE answer questions like, how do you move from strategy prototype to market offering? How do you test and validate an MVP? What are the key considerations for scaling-up innovation? 

Find out more about Strategy for Lunch, or to register, head to
https://discoverwhanganui.nz/news/strategy-for-lunch/ 

KPMG Food and Fibre Insights Course.

KPMG New Zealand and the University of Waikato have partnered to deliver a new and unique Food and Fibre Insights Course. 

The part-time, six-week course is targeted at working professionals who are seeking to expand their knowledge of topics at the forefront of agri-food systems. 

Facilitated by Ian Proudfoot, Jack Keeys, Professor Frank Srimgeour, and Dr Jack Dorner, it will deliver leading insight collated from experts across New Zealand and the world. It will cover one topic per week. 

Course structure will include a combination of independent learning, working through readings, videos, and questions on an online learning platform, in addition to a weekly virtual discussion session. Further information about the course can be found in the attached brochure.  

An exclusive discount code has been offered to Rural Leader readers and is available here: Partner’s link 

If you have any questions or would like any further information, please feel free to contact Jack Keeys via email at jkeeys@kpmg.co.nz, or by phone on 09 363 3502. 

Two Te Puni Kōkiri Scholarships available for Kellogg Whanganui.

Te Puni Kōkiri is generously sponsoring two places on Whanganui’s Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, May start.

This is an extraordinary scholarship opportunity, covering programme fees and giving applicants the chance to develop leadership skills closer to home.  
These scholarships are open to passionate Māori as part of their leadership journey in the Food and Fibre Sector.

Those wishing to apply for a scholarship, should include a cover letter with their application indicating why they should be selected. 

In the cover letter, evidence should be shown of leadership in Māori Food and Fibre, along with discussing how the scholarship will contribute to personal leadership development.

How to apply.

To get an application underway, prospective applicants should register their interest through the link below. They’ll receive an application form to complete. When they return this form, include a cover letter indicating intention to apply for the scholarship, at the top. 

For any questions about the scholarship please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Lisa Rogers, Programme Manager, at lisarogers@ruralleaders.co.nz 

Apply now

From the Mackenzie Study: The Case for Kellogg.

Otago University

Work on the Mackenzie study continues with Professor Nathan Berg of the Otago Business School and the Department of Economics made possible with the support of the Mackenzie Charitable Foundation.

Since receiving the results on the gains attributable to participation in the Nuffield Scholarship, collation of results from the Kellogg Alumni survey has now begun.  

While more work needs to be done to present the data, we thought we would share a series of long-form responses from the Kellogg survey. These in themselves begin to paint a picture of the value of the programme to alumni, in terms of personal development, career advancement and industry influence.  

The responses have been left anonymous and any information that might reveal a respondent’s identity has been removed. 

Nearly one hundred Kellogg Alumni completed the survey. 

Searching for further motivation to complete your Kellogg Lincoln or Kellogg Whanganui application? You may find it here. 

What have been your most important accomplishments and did Kellogg play a role?

“Critical analysis of all situations. Kellogg helped solidify this process.” 

“Kellogg taught me how to deal with problem situations and be able to answer questions from media reps. Kellogg also gave me confidence to address open meetings of farmers and Iwi reps.”

“Employment positions held. Community roles held (school board, parish, sport, and service clubs). Kellogg played a role – Yes. Improved skill base particularly around communication and leadership.”

“The course helped with critical thinking and confidence.”

“My leadership career and influence. Helped me think strategically and made me match fit.” 

“Understanding myself better, how I affect others. The development of networks and doors opened by the programme. Personal brand building.” 

“Contributing to strengthening capability and capacity in the agricultural sector.”

“Start-up with two fellow Kelloggers – definitely a result of Kellogg.” 

“Leadership roles on boards of industry specific, or primary sector education boards plus NSO boards… Had creditability and capability having done a recognised course like Kellogg. Throughout the years the networks you form with either people who did it with you or had done it at other times was helpful to open doors and connections.” 

“Underway with a new company starting a new value chain. I completed my Kellogg project on this topic, so it very much helped.” 

“Since being a Kellogger I went onto become a Nuffield Scholar which I regard as a real accomplishment. Following that, I have started a new farm business and [have] become more involved with local industry. Kellogg… opened a lot of doors.” 

“Forming a people and training team and ensuring the business had a successful part to play in sector upskilling. My Kellogg project and the learnings around it were the catalyst for this.”

“Moving from hands-on farming to a corporate role. Kellogg gave me the networks and confidence to make the move.” 

“…Enjoyed widening my social and professional network and learning of other like-minded people. Having the mix across food production was great – everything from grapes to sheep to kiwifruit to Ag IT.”

“Kellogg helped with development of governance skills and gave me confidence to get involved in a large number of initiatives.”

“Confidence and experiencing others’ opinions and ideas, and great fellowship with others on the course.” 

“Kellogg helped me particularly in improving my leadership and social skillsets…”

“Networking and connecting. Having a sound understanding of the basics about how Wellington works was a highlight which I could not have done without the doors that Kellogg opened during that part of the course.” 

“I have played a significant role in building biosecurity preparedness for the primary sector and being a Kellogger has contributed to this, in part by exposing me to some inspirational people – and understanding the habits that lead to success.” 

“It helped me see that the people I viewed as leaders were not that different from me. It gave me confidence in who I am and whetted my appetite for more.” 

“I learned a great deal as a Kellogger, and that has contributed to all I have done…It made me a better person, better equipped with insights and with the ability to consider decisions. But I wasn’t completely hopeless before!” 

“Before the programme, I ran hard and fast at everything I did. This generally worked but came at a huge cost to my family life, my personal life, and my mental health. 

I still push myself every day to be better, but after hearing ways others in my cohort dealt with stress, I was able to learn to keep my mind on the rails. Mainly – I don’t need to do everything on my own. My cohort was the best – heaps of us are still in touch, helping each other along the way.”

“Respect from others for having completed Kellogg and respect between alumni.” 

Register your interest