We are so excited here at RuralScope.  We turn 20 years old in 2020.  We are celebrating by sharing 20 stories across 20 months.  These will include highlights, lowlights and learnings.  A unique insight into our development - personal and business for you.  Our aim is to share learnings to support others who live and work across rural Australia.   

This is our tenth story in the series.  It’s all about how we got to work in the Australian cotton industry and what it’s like. 

I’m often asked how we got to work in the Cotton industry, what’s it like and is it different to other sectors?  I think these questions are super relevant for others in business as we had no prior experience with Cotton and didn’t know what a boll was (we pronounced it ball) when we first got started.  And it’s fair to say that we didn’t specifically target Cotton as an industry we wanted to work in, now 18 years on we are super glad that our work led us to this fabulous sector of Australian agriculture.

Clarity comes before confidence is a simple concept.  Try putting it into practise and you will find that it's not as easy as it first sounds.  Master the simplicity of it and you will be well on your way to building success in both your work and personal lives. Clarity is all about being coherent, understanding and planning what you want to say before you say it. Knowing what your vision is and then taking the steps to get there.  Being clear about who you are and what is important to you, your team, your business, your project etc, means that you will be able to say no to opportunities that present but don't fit with your direction.  This is a deal maker as so many people talk with me about being over loaded and not even having enough time for themselves.  If you are clear about your focus, vision or future then you will have the confidence to say no and to put in place the actions and steps that really matter. Here are 9 tips to help....

Every now and then a tool comes along in business that really hits the spot.  Before I let you in on what it is, I want to shout out to Fleur Anderson, Founder of www.ruralbusinesscollective.com.au  for introducing me to it.  And to www.businessmodelgeneration.com where you can find the format.   Not sure about you, but business planning and all associated with it can make me feel unwell, so i am pleased to share The Business Model Canvas with you in case it helps.           

When it all comes down to it, I think there are two key attributes that underpin leaders and make them great.  These are:

1. Inspire Shared Vision

2. Grow Self

It's a hard call to identify just two.