When you're in charge it's tempting to show off your leadership style and strengths, downplaying any failings.
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However, New England cattleman, Charlie Perry, reckons it pays to be humble and ask dumb questions.
He runs the Trent Bridge Wagyu business with a philosophy that no chief executive officer can be good at everything from finance to operations or sales.
Hiring the right capabilities and listening to others were critical to doing the role well.
So, too, was finding people who fitted with the team and made the workload enjoyable, rather than hastily employing somebody "with two legs and a heartbeat" to get the job done.
The thirty-something former Sydney management consultant turned principal of the family's Guyra district business has managed to make a good fist of his own role since moving home in 2016.
Last year the Perrys held the Wagyu breed's biggest on-property bull sale, surprising themselves at the full clearance and above budget result, in the midst of a nasty dry winter-spring season in northern NSW.
His business drive and industry involvement won him the 2022 Zanda McDonald Award, which recognises young farm sector players who make the most of their opportunities and provides mentoring to help them make a difference in agriculture.
Mr Perry, who also led the Australian Wagyu Association for three years, said salary was important to attract good people to a job, but only part of the story when it came to retaining them.
"Building a great, high functioning team of people who work towards a common goal is one of the most satisfying parts of my career," he told a Beef Australia Next Gen seminar.
Prior to taking the reins from his parents at Trent Bridge, he spent six years with financial services giant, EY, in project management roles.
The most successful people I know are those who are most open to asking the dumbest, most embarrassing questions
- Charlie Perry, Trent Bridge Wagyu.
Yet, some of his biggest learnings since stepping into management came from watching and listening to others, particularly in the cattle industry.
"Without exception, the most successful people I know are those who are most open to asking the dumbest, most embarrassing questions," he said.
He noted how pioneering Queensland Wagyu breeder and the name behind what is reputedly the world's biggest private Wagyu herd, Peter Hughes, was always up the front at the breed's annual conference listening to every speaker.
While many of the 600 conference attendees were often preoccupied elsewhere during the three-day event, Mr Hughes, who leads Georgina Pastoral, had told him he "always learnt something from every person who spoke".
"Given he owns and operates one of Australia's largest family cattle holdings, I've been struck by his humility and the lesson we can all learn from it," Mr Perry said.
"I find it quite easy to be humble about my strengths and weaknesses because my weaknesses are so glaring.
"When you're young and leading a team of older people, you tend to want to prove why you are in charge - but I've found the opposite is more effective."
Also effective had been a strategy of trying to understand others in the beef business, and their pain points, and having the humility and patience to not look at every sale transaction as a must-win game.
As AWA president, Mr Perry spent six months working with supply chain partners so the industry could develop market arrangements to iron out its gyrating boom and bust trends which had undermined the breed's prices and production reliability.
"We designed an agreement which solved problems for both farmers and the supply chain with the price points related to cost of production," he said.
"The problems of price volatility, volume and beef quality were all solvable by having good faith discussions.
"All sides were willing to take more and less money at different times across a five-year horizon, understanding it made managing our individual businesses better."
The sector now had a network of producers who had certainty about growing their supply to the market, using genomic testing on every animal to guarantee quality and ensure consistency of the final meat product.
However, Mr Perry warned that ambition, hard work and success should not be top priorities.
Being aware of, and nurturing, personal health topped the lot.
"When you lose your health, you lose your ability to execute any of those plans," he said, admitting he had spent the past few years recovering from burnout, or a mid-sized dose of chronic fatigue.
"Simple tasks like organising a few contractors or writing an email just seemed too difficult, and I've had to work hard to learn to manage the bad periods."
He had learnt to prioritise diet, exercise and sleep, recognising how a few beers after a stressful day may seem to have had a calming effect, but actually resulted in a bad night's sleep and left him working less effectively the next day.
"If you can't look after yourself, you can't really look after your family and grow the people in your business."
Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
