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The Dairy Farming Capability Framework has been created to partner with the Dairy Leadership Strategy. The strategy provides a matrix for development of personal skills (vertical) and leadership expertise (horizontal) capabilities. These are described across the levels of leading self, leading others and leading business/industry/community. The matrix provided in the Dairy Leadership Strategy is to be used for self-reflection on leadership capability. The personal values of valuing diversity and inclusion, respecting individual differences, is core to the following leadership capabilities.

  Farm Operations Personnel Farm Managers / Owners
  Follow Apply Ensure & Advise Initiate & Influence Set Strategy
Take responsibility and lead by example

Displays personal drive and integrity in work tasks, completing tasks to the level instructed.

Shows judgement and
common sense with guidance from supervisor in completing work tasks, referring problems to supervisor and proposing ways to improve.

Acts with integrity, shows judgement, intelligence and common sense in allocated tasks on-farm.

Aware of self and the impact they have on others.
Takes responsibility for what gets done, how it is done, and the outcomes of the actions taken.

Implements self-reflection processes to identify strengths, areas for improvement. Identifies ways to address areas for improvement and develops self through learning.

Ability to understand personal moods, emotions and motivators and how they shape thinking and decision making.
Acknowledges mistakes and learns from them.

Embraces a leadership role for teams on-farm.

Hold self and others accountable for their actions and behaviours, meeting expectations of the workplace.

Role models taking responsibility for what gets done, how it is done, and the outcomes of the actions taken.

Supports team members to self-reflect and identify strengths, areas for improvement.

Communicates expectations clearly to team members and ensures clarity in leading others.

Provides feedback on whether expectations of performance and behaviours are being met by team members.

Embraces our collective leadership role for the business and industry.

Role models personal drive and integrity in all aspects of work, fostering a culture of accountability on-farm.

Communicates expectations of performance and behaviours for team members across aspects of farming practice that are areas of responsibility.

Provides feedback on whether expectations of performance and behaviours are being met by teams overall.

Exemplifies personal drive and integrity in all aspects of work, embedding our shared business and industry vision and positive culture. Role modelling to team members and setting a culture of accountability on-farm.
Build resilience and manage uncertainty

With guidance from others, establishes a small network of people to support own development and resilience in times of uncertainty.

With encouragement, shows personal courage in developing self for the future.

Build an appropriately broad network of people to support own development and resilience in times of uncertainty.

Shows personal courage in developing self for the future.

Seeks out and gives constructive feedback for successful change in practice on-farm, providing a stable environment for the team in times of uncertainty.

Prioritises the wellbeing of self and others, to ensure that all team members are physically and emotionally safe in the work they do.

Reports opportunities for different possibilities and scenarios to minimise risk in operations and support business resilience.

Develops and communicates options for different scenarios, including describing the risk for individuals and the business in each option.

Makes recommendations for decisions in unclear or ambiguous circumstances, requiring support from colleagues to confirm plan and future directions.

Collects insights to monitor, report and evaluate business and organisational outcomes for business resilience.

Considers different possibilities and scenarios, comparing and contrasting them for considered risk taking of self, the business and to encourage in others.

Can make decisions in unclear or ambiguous circumstances.

Effectively monitors, reports and evaluates business and organisational outcomes using a structured process for business resilience.

Application of best-practice corporate governance for the business and industry more broadly.

Actively collaborate

Seeks the input of a small number of team members in completing tasks, with the support of supervisor.

Develops trusted relationships and seeks to resolve issues early, with guidance.

Actively collaborate with others to share diverse perspectives and solve problems as a team.

Develops trusted relationships and proactively seeks to resolve issues early.

Makes clear and transparent decisions that guide team members for success.

Knowledge of differing personality types and application of the principles for working to each team members strengths, bringing the diverse team members together for success.

Promptly addresses conflict with appropriate conflict resolution processes.

Recognises and acknowledges others for their achievements and successes.

Actively seeks input and contribution from others, to include the broad diverse perspectives of others in my decision making.

Understanding of the structure and conduction of committees and Boards (Terms of Reference), in collaborating decision making.

Clearly distinguishes between responsibilities and accountabilities, differentiating between management and governance.

Creates a culture of team recognition of achievement and success.

Cultivates productive working relationships within the business and externally for success of the business and dairy industry overall.

Create, communicate and evaluate the structure and conduction of governing committees and Boards (Terms of Reference).

Establish, analyse, and review policies and procedures of an organisation.

Open-minded empowerment

With encouragement, actively listens to others’ perspectives to broaden mind on ideas.

I remain open to a variety of ideas, views, and information.

I seek to understand other perspectives.

Actively listens to others’ perspectives to broaden mind on ideas.

Create, communicate, and self-evaluate specific, measurable goals for developing self as a person.

Role models active listening

Creates, communicates and self- evaluates specific, measurable goals for developing self as a person and a leader on-farm.

Engages, supports, and empowers team members to set goals for themselves that help them achieve their future directions, with trust and no prejudice.

Fosters a culture of valuing diversity and actively listening to differing perspectives.

Sets an expectation and actively encourages team members to create, communicate and self- evaluate specific, measurable goals for developing self as a person and/or a leader.

Champions of culture of valuing diversity and actively seeks differing opinions and perspectives.
Advocate and Communicate with Influence With direction, speaks of the dairy industry in a positive way. Speak positively of dairy in interactions with people, and advocates for opportunities for people in dairy when able. Encourage team members to speak positively of dairy in interactions both on-farm and in the broader community. Role models positive communication and advocacy.

Positively represents the dairy industry within the farm business, community, and networks.

Application of the principles and practices of advocacy for positive outcomes for the business, industry and community.

Engages and communicates with transparency and build trust in the dairy industry at all opportunities.
Holistic and strategic thinking Supports strategic direction of the farm business by understanding the work environment and working towards achieving business goals with guidance

Supports strategic direction of the farm business.

Understands the work environment and participates in team goal setting. Demonstrates an awareness of issues that may impact on designated work tasks.

Understands the work environment and contributes to the development of work plans and team goals.

Demonstrates an awareness of the implications of issues that may impact on own work objectives.

Ensures team supporting strategic direction

Shapes strategic thinking.

In-depth business knowledge and astute judgment are used as key inputs into decision making and ultimately achieving outcomes.

Development and implementation of systems of continuous improvement are developed and implemented and learnings used as input into any proposed changes.

Create, communicate, implement and evaluate strategic plans that ensure visionary thinking and targeted measurable outcomes.

Models strategic thinking and alignment in decision making.

I hold a systemic view and seek to understand the interconnections across the industry.

I seek to understand the emerging issues that impact the industry.

I make decisions consistent with industry objectives and priorities.

I help others to focus on the bigger picture and impact of our work.

Application of economic and political trend data sets in decision making for directions taken by the business/ industry/community.

Innovate and adapt Maintains an open mind to trialling new ideas with instruction and support. With an open mind, tries out new ideas on-farm and report the success of the new approach to dairy farming. Implements innovative ideas with team members, encouraging open-minded approaches to new ideas on-farm.
Makes recommendations on new opportunities for farming practice innovation.
Evaluates the implementation of new ideas and reports the successes and barriers.
Seeks out innovative ideas and puts them into action by creating, communicating, and evaluating new plans for the farm business.
Supports team members in adapting practice for innovative new farm solutions.
Focusses on continuous improvement and fosters a culture of sharing lessons learnt, both on-farm and beyond the farm-gate.
Adapts to changing needs and responds to critical industry challenges with an open mind and positive approach.
Embrace and lead change With guidance, embraces change with a positive mindset to lead self through a change process Embraces change with a positive mindset to lead self through a change process Knowledge on the principles of feedback, with ability to identify areas for improvement across a team and provide direction to team members based on feedback.
Coaching of team members to support capability development for transformation of practice
Identifies opportunities and supports the need for change in different areas of dairy farm practice. Embraces and encourages new ways of thinking and practices across all aspects of the dairy farm business.
I engage others in change and constructively work through barriers
Governance of change and documentation of communications including meetings, reports and evaluation of change data.