There seem to be periods when renewal becomes a focus for those of us in agriculture. As winter ends and the promise of spring is near, we can think about aspects beyond direct production. It does seem to be particularly timely to consider some of the lessons of Stephen Covey, educator, author, businessperson and speaker. But […] Read more
VIDEO: Seven habits of highly effective ranch families
Depth of Field with Kelly Sidoryk
Lessons in cow economics learned in the field
Don Guilford shares what he’s learned about everything from marketing to breeding cattle from years in the business
A career spent in the cattle industry, specifically that of purebred Herefords, led to a recent induction in the Canadian Hereford Honour Roll for Don and Diane Guilford of Clearwater, Man. The list of accolades and contributions the couple have made to the Hereford industry, the livestock industry, their local community and agriculture in general […] Read more
VIDEO: A different approach to meetings on the ranch
Depth of Field with Kelly Sidoryk
The good old 4-H motto of “learn to do by doing” will be familiar to most readers of this article. For many of us, it was a particular project that developed skills and knowledge in a hands-on way. In addition to that, we learned the ins and outs of how a meeting should be conducted […] Read more
VIDEO: Never split the difference when negotiating
Depth of Field with Kelly Sidoryk
Undoubtedly, when navigating through succession/transition planning or simply working in a family business, there will be times when we need to have tough conversations. What could be more difficult than the conversations had by a top-level FBI hostage negotiator? Chris Voss is such a person and spent over 20 years in that capacity. Now with […] Read more
VIDEO: Failing well on the farm
Depth of Field with Kelly Sidoryk
Is there such a thing as failing well? Dr. Amy Edmondson of the Harvard Business School thinks so and explores the subject in her latest book, The Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well. Consider times in the past when you have experienced failure. Were some of them done poorly and some done […] Read more
VIDEO: Entrepreneurial myths revisited
Depth of Field with Kelly Sidoryk
Close to 30 years ago, Michael Gerber wrote The E-Myth and founded a small business development support/coaching company. (E-myth stands for entrepreneurial myth). “It is self-evident that businesses, like people are supposed to grow; and with that growth, comes change,” Gerber wrote. He recognized that small businesses have significant challenges and many of them are […] Read more
VIDEO: A foreign perspective of Canada’s cattle industry
Depth of Field with Kelly Sidoryk
I have written about differing perspectives and how two people can experience the same thing and have widely different interpretations. Also, when we leave our home operations, we can shift to another way of seeing things. Recently, we had the opportunity to host visitors from other parts of the world and ask how they see […] Read more
Conscious and subconscious brain: It’s all in our heads, or is it?
Depth of Field with Kelly Sidoryk
Simon Sinek, author and inspirational speaker, has some very interesting ideas on our brain and how it works. He relates our conscious brain to being in the range of two feet. We can access all the information that is in that two-foot area to make quick decisions. This is also the logical, thinking, rational part […] Read more
VIDEO: Positive psychology
Depth of File with Kelly Sidoryk
The other day when trying to determine price insurance coverage for grass yearlings, we received a text from our buyer: “This is not for the faint of heart.” This caused me to reflect on non-ag businesses who, from my perspective, do not seem to have to deal with so many variables beyond their control. However, […] Read more
VIDEO: Feedback and the Johari window
Depth of Field with Kelly Sidoryk
How is it so simple to see what those on the other side of the fence should be doing but not always as easy in our own operations? If only they calved later. Or seeded a different crop. Ran more machinery. Ran less machinery. Ran a different breed of cattle. Some reasons for this can […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
