Enhancing agriculture productivity and food systems in general requires appropriate and affordable technology and innovations.
Enhancing agriculture productivity and food systems in general requires appropriate and affordable technology and innovations supported by sound policies and functioning institutions. Use of modern irrigation systems, mechanization of farming and reduction of post-harvest losses are high priorities for the continent.
Description: Policy formulation to integrate clean energy technology in agricultural development should be a key priority for a sound food system, and resilience development in Africa. In this context, the following streams are worth considering.
- Strengthen policies and institutions
- Enhance agricultural skills, education, and R&D
- Dissemination and adoption of technologies and innovations, including indigenous knowledge
- Promote investment in cost-effective and quality agricultural inputs
- Application of post-harvest loss management technologies
- Promote natural resource management and practices appropriate for African agricultural
- Disaster risk mitigation
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Antlers Holst’s dedication to getting The Best Possible shot at the expense of his own life and potentially Angel’s and the Haywood’s (I don’t believe he wanted to endanger them on purpose but his lack of consideration toward their safety is very telling), seems to be driven by dedication to the Art of it. He didn’t want to do it for money or fame, he knew he would die, he seems to resent his place in the spotlight, and it’s likely the footage he shot won’t see the light of day either. He just wanted to get the best possible film of the best possible predator because that was his artistic fascination, as we can see from the scene where he is just watching videos of predators making kills.
And like, okay, on the surface that’s more sympathetic than say, the TMZ guy, or the Hollywood folks at the start of the film, or depending on how you slice it, even Jupe, who wanted to remain relevant. Because True Art is meaningful, right? It’s worth more than people.
Talented painters and directors can abuse their partners and subjects and actors, and well, the art is still good though, sometimes the abuse makes the art “better”. Artists can work themselves into an early grave and that’s valorized, the artist should say thank you for having the privilege to destroy their body in that fashion. The suffering made the art better.
(There’s been pushback on these ideas recently, but only recently, and they’re hard to unlearn. As an artist myself, the impulse to destroy my body and health in the name of my own work is one I still fight.)
Antlers just wanted to create the best form of his art, but that was not a good thing. He died horribly. Angel nearly died horribly. OJ might have died horribly. Emerald could have lost everything, and the Haywoods are left with a photo that is ENOUGH to get them through,but have most likely completely lost a much more impressive video, one that fully demonstrated OJ’s skill as an animal handler, too. In the quest for The Best Possible Thing he not only endangered others, he lost something that was perfectly good.
(I think the power dynamic alluded to here, too, with Antlers being a white male director, is very intentional as well. Who do we allow to hurt others in the name of Art? Who is allowed to be hurt? Did he learn the rules for that during film school, during his career?)
His Art ate him and hurt the people around him, just the same as Jupe’s spectacle did, as spectacle does throughout the whole film. When you put your Art before human lives, before others, and before yourself, it can be just as destructive and exploitative a force. No product is worth human blood. It’s pain all the way down.
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What We Want Our Future Leaders To Know
What will make a future leader successful? I explored this in my piece, *Portrait of a Future Leader, published as part of Upwork’s Work: Reimagined series on Medium. Really getting down to the nitty-gritty of how major workforce trends will affect leaders was exciting. But I don’t know everything.
What will make a future leader successful? I explored this in my piece, *Portrait of a Future Leader, published as part of Upwork’s Work: Reimagined series on Medium. Really getting down to the nitty-gritty of how major workforce trends will affect leaders was exciting. But I don’t know everything.
I would love for you to weigh in— what’s one quality a future leader absolutely must have?
It turns out we have some of the same ideas. Here are five qualities that I believe are imperative for future leaders, and the valuable perspectives of my peers.
1. High Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
What does a leader with a high EQ look like? They’re curious about people they don’t know, aware of their strengths and weaknesses, skilled in active listening, and aware of their own emotional states, enabling them to respond rather than react.
The qualities that indicate a high EQ are also valued by my peers.
The qualities that indicate a high EQ are also valued by my peers.
I appreciate Susan bringing up compassion, a quality that in the past may have been viewed as a weakness in leaders. A teenager recently asked me how to improve his EQ. I told him to practice kindness and compassion.
You may be asking, isn’t a high EQ important for our current leaders? Yes, it is very important. But in the future, organizations will not be as centralized, and hierarchy will diminish in importance. Leaders will be constantly creating and dismantling teams to complete projects, which requires a strong understanding of building and maintaining relationships.
Another important part of relationship building and maintenance is being a proponent of a purpose-driven strategy and culture.
2. Proponent of a Purpose-Driven Strategy and Culture
The purpose at work is a major driver for the future of work. Leaders will measure success on more than profit and loss.
Last year, Aaron Hurst, author of The Purpose Economy, wrote in The Guardian that we’re “experiencing the rise of the fourth economy in our history, in which a sense of purpose is recognized as a critical human need and driver of innovation.”
He explained that this critical human need was sacrificed in the industrial and technological economies in order to maximize efficiency and scale.
So how does a future leader create a purpose-driven strategy and culture? It starts with valuing more than just profit. He or she must also prioritize the personal development of employees, along with the sense of purpose that each employee embodies, all while continuing to focus on tangible deliverables like targeted goals and bottom-line commitments.
Personal development is also a key to being a successful future leader. The desire to learn is a must.
3. Lifelong Learning
We’ve all witnessed how quickly technology has changed the fabric of our world. The increasing global pace of growth only adds to that rapid-fire change. In order to keep pace, a leader must be constantly learning. Whether this happens in the form of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) or peer-to-peer information exchange is irrelevant. What matters is that the leader of the future wants to learn on a continual basis and prioritizes this need for education.
I agree with Kathleen. Yet many leaders say they don’t have time to learn new skills. So how can organizations instill a sense of constant learning in the cultural DNA? This is an important question to answer as we move into the future of work.
Learning goes beyond mastering the latest technology trends. The demographic makeup of the future workforce is going to be different, requiring leaders to learn to be more culturally aware and able to eliminate bias and discrimination.
4. Diverse to the Core
Future leaders are not straight, white, and male by default. So say goodbye to ‘pale, male, and stale’ and hello to diversity.
Today, only 3.8% of the CEOs at Fortune 500 companies are minorities. This, is despite minorities making up a full 36% of the American workforce. In the future, what we consider minorities will be the majority of consumers, clients, employees, and leaders. This requires that the leaders of the future understand their diverse employees and consumers.
5. Entrepreneurial Mindset
Our new workforce will function as more of an ecosystem than a pyramid, so leaders of the future need to have an entrepreneurial mindset; they need to be agile and innovative. Their ability to pivot, pull teams together quickly, and exhibit out-of-the-box thinking will influence their success in a decentralized structure that is constantly evolving.
Jennifer and Paul make a good point. Part of being entrepreneurial is pulling together people who will fill the gaps in your abilities, inspire you, and take you to the next level. There is no room for feeling threatened in the future of work. Entrepreneurs need to be too good to ignore.
Outside of the five qualities I believe exemplify our future leaders, Mike brings a valid quality to the table.
Leaders of the future will be facing an exciting and ever-evolving workplace and economic landscape. If they do not believe in themselves, they will become daunted by all of the change happening around them. A leader needs to create a vision that people believe in and want to contribute to. That takes confidence.
There’s a tsunami of change ahead but the changes will deeply enrich the culture of organizations. With a high EQ, purpose-driven motivation, a love of learning, a deep interest in diversity, and an entrepreneurial mindset, the leaders of the future will surely thrive.
Now it’s your turn. What’s one quality a future leader absolutely must have? I can’t wait to continue the discussion.
Let us share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.
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Leadership And The Lost Art Of Listening
I heard Richard Branson on the Diane Rehm show, and he spoke about something extremely important for successful leadership: listening. I find Branson’s comments on listening to be spot-on:
“I think not enough business leaders know the art of listening. They love to hear their own voices. And I was fortunate to learn from a young age that other people — by listening to other people, you learn an awful lot more than by listening to yourself.” — Richard Branson
From my experience, listening is a lost art. This holds true particularly for leaders and entrepreneurs.
Why don’t leaders listen? Though Branson jokes that they love to hear their own voices, there are two main reasons. For one, we are never taught how to carefully listen. And secondly, society sets leaders and entrepreneurs up to be expected to have all the answers.
In this clip from my interview with Cornell University, I talk about the three levels of listening, and how leaders can develop relationships and trust if they are able to use all three. I also talk about how important it is for leaders to ask questions. Asking and listening go hand in hand.
Do you find that you are good at fully listening to others? Is listening to a challenge for you? I’d love to hear your ideas about why listening may be difficult for leaders. Also, if you have experience working on your listening skills, let us know what steps you have taken.
Read the full transcript of Richard Branson’s interview on the Diane Rehm here.
Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.
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