Getting to Know Your Subordinates

Leadership Parallels in the Army and Agricultural Education

As a leader, going beyond learning the names of a subordinate is critical.  In the Army, officers are expected to know their soldiers in order to maintain their well-being.  Similarly, agricultural educators are expected  to know their students well enough to support and encourage them to grow and develop to their fullest potential.  

"The mission of agricultural education is to prepare and support individuals for careers, build aware-ness and develop leadership for the food, fiber and natural resources systems."

If we take a quick look at examples of leadership expectations, we can see how alike officers and agricultural educators are.  Which, both are positions I aspire to fulfill. 

ARMY: FM 6-22  ARMY LEADERSHIP; Competent, Confident, and Agile

"Army leaders are responsible for being personally and professionally competent, they are also charged with the responsibility of developing their subordinates."

AGRICULTURE TEACHER'S MANUAL; A guide to local program success for preservice, new and experienced agriculture instructors (ffa.org)

"The mission of agricultural education is to prepare and support individuals for careers, build aware-ness and develop leadership for the food, fiber and natural resources systems."

Both professions have the same end goal; to grow and develop individuals who will be able to improve the organization. An opportunity for Army officers to learn more about subordinates is through counselings, where direct feedback on performance is given. One method Agricultural Educators use is the SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) visit.  Here, instructors can learn more about each individual outside the classroom and provide direct feedback on individual performance.    

I had the opportunity to conduct an SAE visit to one of my student's farms.  On June 25, 2014 I drove to Clymer, PA to accompany Mr. Hughes (Penns Manor HS Agricultural Educator) to visit Garrett.

Garrett is a senior at Penns Manor HS and will be the FFA Chapter President during this school year.  The visit with Garrett was not what I was expecting.  He has two projects that he is currently working on.  Raising, showing, and breeding beef and swine.  The love of beef came from his father who had started the beef breeding program with Angus.  Garret has chosen to keep it going!! And boy, he doesn't mess around.  The steer you see in the picture on the right, is very pampered, with his very own air conditioned room in the bar, special feeding diets, two baths a day and three brush overs a day, he can't have it any better!

When the National Champion steer comes back after national shows and relaxes, the swine are in full swing preparation for the Cooksport fair.

Additionally , Derek is starting a business selling livestock feed.  It turned out to be a really good conversation between Mr. Hughes and Garret.  I was impressed that Mr. Hughes had no shame in asking one of his student for advice in feeding.

Mr. Hughes was clearly invested in Garret's projects as demonstrated by his level of commitment to the project. 

As a future agricultural educator, I want to be able to understand and know my students this well.  The students greatly benefit from having a coach mentor.