Author of QBQ! and Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional, John G. Miller joins Dean to discuss the power of personal accountability and insights on what makes great organizations.

ABOUT OUR GUEST John G. Miller is the author of QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, Flipping the Switch: Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability, Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional and co-author of Raising Accountable Kids. He is founder of QBQ, Inc., an organizational development fi rm based in Colorado dedicated to "Helping Organizations Make Personal Accountability a Core Value." A 1980 graduate of Cornell University, John has been involved in the training and speaking industry since 1986. He lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife, Karen. They have seven children and seven grandkids.

Find out more about John and his work at QBQ.com and follow him on Twitter @QBQGuy

BOOKS (Many available for purchase at QBQ.com/books) Personal Accountability: Powerful and Practical Ideas for You and Your Organization, Denver Press 1998

QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, Penguin Randomhouse 2004

Flipping the Switch: Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability Using the QBQ!, TarcherPerigee 2005

Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional, G.P. Putnam's Sons 2010

Parenting the QBQ Way, Putnam Adult 2012

The QBQ! Workbook, TarcherPerigee 2016

Raising Accountable Kids, (w/Karen G. Miller), TarcherPerigee 2016

DEAN'S TAKEAWAYS 1. The questions we ask ourselves really matter. "When will somebody do something about what's going on?" is a far less effective and more destructive question to ask yourself than "What can I do to improve this situation?" , which leads to creative energy and action.

2. Great leaders coach moment-by-moment. They know that the best way to develop employees toward higher performance is to coach them all the time, not to rely on an annual review to tell them what's wrong and what's right.

3. I can only change me. I'm the only person who can control my decisions, emotions and actions. Just as others cannot change these things about me, I cannot change these things about anyone else. I can only change me.

We always welcome your feedback at Modern Farm Business Podcast. Do you have suggestions for future episodes, or questions on something we've already covered? Drop Dean a line at [email protected]. He'll look at each email personally and respond as quickly as possible. Thanks for listening! See you next week!

Turning the continuing conversation of people on the farm to an external focus, Dean covers the mindsets and tools the farm leader can use to improve their supplier and landlord relationships.

Working with people outside the farm can be a source of tension or potential frustration. Landlords and suppliers require a different sort of working relationship than the type you have with other people on the farm. This kind of relationship must be invested in and managed. It can be tough to navigate at times because everyone involved is trying to do business, and everyone wants to get the best deal possible. It's important for a farm leader to recognize, though, that in key areas of the operation, "value" has a lot more to it than simply price.

John Ruskin (19th Century English writer, art critic, social thinker & philanthropist): "It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."

Stephen R. Covey (Author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) Must-haves for a win-win relationship: 1. The right attitude which fosters and seeks this kind of relationship 2. A cooperative view vs. competitive 3. Recognition that not every area or decision has to be a win-win

Keys to becoming intentional about supplier relationships 1. Check my own place on the relationship mindset continuum: FULL ABUNDANCE on one end, and on the other SCARCITY

2. Evaluate where on the farm you'll get most impact from paying a premium for the right people vs. finding the best price available; and vice versa Communicate to suppliers what excellence looks like

"How do I build and manage strong landlord relationships?" Remember no two landlords are the same, so it's unfair to lump them all together and suggest a "magic formula" to improve relationships. Instead: 1. Work to understand your landlord's motivations 2. Build a plan based on what you've learned 3. Schedule and execute that plan

Additional Reading: Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon & Schuster, 1989 (Buy on Amazon)

We welcome your feedback at Modern Farm Business Podcast. Do you have suggestions for future episodes, or questions on something we've already covered? Want some ideas for building a landlord survey like Dean mentioned? Drop him a line at [email protected]. We'll look at each email personally and respond as quickly as possible. Thanks for listening!

Human resources professional Andrea Majors joins Dean to discuss some of the top questions that come up around employees on the farm.

See attached PDF for show notes, guest bio and contact information.