Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 251: Ranch Training Is Expensive: Here’s How to Do It Without Wasting a Year with Dan Leahy

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251: Ranch Training Is Expensive: Here’s How to Do It Without Wasting a Year with Dan Leahy · CattleUSA Daily

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In today's episode, we are once again welcoming back Dan Leahy
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with the Foundation for Ranch Management.
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And Dan is on here today to talk about apprenticeships within
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ranching and ranch management and the specific details of what
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his foundation and nonprofit truly offers for people.
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And walks us through a practical step by step guide of a ranch
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ranch apprenticeship over a four year period and what that could
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look like for you and your operation.
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Dan's resource today is absolutely phenomenal to go
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through and to just sit back and watch.
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I will say, if you were listening on any of our other
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podcasting platforms other than YouTube, I do encourage you.
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This is an episode that the visual aspect, the screen share
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that I'm putting the resource that I put on the screen for
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this. It will really help you
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visualize this. So if you have the time and
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ability, head on over to our YouTube channel and maybe watch
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this over there. But otherwise, you're still
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going to get a lot out of it if you're listening to it in an
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audio format as well. Before we hop into today's
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episode, if you are watching on YouTube, make sure you hit that
1:04
subscribe button and like this episode.
1:06
And if you're watching on any of our other podcast platforms,
1:08
take a second to rate and review the show and make sure you're
1:11
following along as well. Without further ado, let's go
1:14
ahead and hear from Dan. Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily
1:21
Podcast, your go to source for the latest livestock markets,
1:24
industry insights and the update shaping agriculture today.
1:28
I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a passionate advocate for
1:31
agriculture, here to keep you informed and connected.
1:34
Now let's dive into today's episode.
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Diana, welcome back to the podcast.
1:45
We are so excited to have you on again.
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Our first episode that we recorded was a few weeks ago and
1:51
we really were able to take a 20,000 foot view on kind of
1:54
ranch management and your views and what your organization does
1:57
and what you do in your experience and all these things.
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And our audience members absolutely love the episode.
2:02
And so I'm excited today to get a little bit more detailed on
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ranch apprenticeships and the actual like nitty gritty program
2:11
that we can get into and walk through all of that with you
2:15
today and all of the things. But if someone is listening to
2:19
this and they didn't listen to our previous episode, can you
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kind of give us the rundown on who you are and about your
2:25
guys's apprentice program and everything like that?
2:28
Sure. Thanks again, Lauren.
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And I'm appreciate having like Round 2 here because there was a
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lot of material to cover. And we actually have our
2:37
apprenticeship guide, the actual document workbook available to
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us today. So we can walk through a lot of
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the detail. And for those who are
2:46
interested, who want to know more, they'll have a chance to
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learn that today. But again, about myself, my wife
2:52
and I, we work full time on the road both as ranch consultants
2:57
on a on a word, word of mouth basis.
3:00
We, you know, most of our consulting engagements and
3:03
opportunities to serve ranch families or investor ranchers
3:06
are referred directly from one client to another.
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So we kind of just maintain our schedule on it on a maybe a
3:12
quarterly basis roughly. And so that's our lifestyle.
3:16
And then seven years ago, almost eight years ago, we started
3:20
myself and a couple other people started foundation for Ranch
3:22
Management. And the foundation, which is a
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nonprofit, exists solely to study the issues of management
3:31
succession in ranching and to also provide support for all
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types of organizations, whether it's two year or four year
3:40
college courses and management or other types of programs,
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whether they're internship programs or apprenticeship
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programs, simply to magnify everybody's work.
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Because what we're really searching for in this endeavor
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is scale. We have decreasing numbers of
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people in agriculture. We have decreasing acres in
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agriculture and it really is going to take a reset of some
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kind, the exact nature of which we don't know yet.
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But we're still working in cooperating, collaborating with
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as many people as we can to to look for the leverage points so
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that we can build agriculture back up again with with really
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the best and the brightest that are available to the industry.
4:26
Yeah, absolutely. And I think there's such a need
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for it. And I like your guys's unique
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approach to it because after we got off of our last episode, you
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sent me the apprenticeship, like kind of layout and the document
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that we're going to go through today.
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And it was really fun to go through it and see how much
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detail you guys put into everything of like, it really is
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very customizable to every operation because every
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operation is so different and what they're doing and
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everything like that. And it was really cool.
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I especially liked the section you guys had where it was kind
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of like, write yourself, like be honest.
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Where are you at in all of these things?
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What is your competency level and what should you expect as an
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apprentice, as someone coming in and learning all of these
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things? And then it gives these
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mentorship ranches an opportunity to really sit down
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and be like, OK, here's a list of everything we really need to
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go through to train someone to be able to take this over,
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manage this ranch or assistant manage this ranch in a way
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that's actually going to be beneficial to our operation.
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Because I think it's like, yeah, we think about succession and
5:26
planning and handing down management practices and all of
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these things. And it's like, well, you just
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got to come work with me. Come work with me for six months
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and you'll figure it out, right? Well, what if in those six
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months you don't have XYZ thing happen?
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Well, then what about that? Like it really gets detailed,
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which I think is so nice for people and for ranches, no
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matter what side you're on. Well, it could be as detailed or
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you know, more or less detailed as you as you wish it to be.
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I think the, the key is the driver is that look, nobody's
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looking over your shoulder. You know, if this, this was the
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only self help item available in our industry, it's truly a self
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help because nobody's going to show up to rescue you.
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And that really is the message. And maybe I'll start there,
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Lauren, because I like to make this distinction for people.
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It's not always something that that individuals aware of, but
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we have, which is the standard in our in our society today.
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In Western society, we have what I call the job culture.
6:29
You know, opportunity is more often than not defined by a job.
6:34
And now if you inherited a ranch and you're on the ranch and you
6:39
may or may not have gone to school, but you're back on the
6:41
ranch and that is your life, then this doesn't apply to you,
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OK? You have your goals, your
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pathway is set. And you know, bless your heart
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because wouldn't we wish that for everybody?
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But for those people who are are looking for opportunity, looking
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for their place in agriculture, they have a choice.
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They can either be stuck in the job culture or they can take a
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hard look at the ownership culture, right?
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And we do this through self-awareness.
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So reflection, good imaging, seeing the world as it ought to
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be rather than just as it is. And everybody fights negativity
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in in life at some level. But when you go looking for an
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opportunity in the form of a job, you're really limiting
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yourself. And I try, I try to make this
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clear to young people that if you go looking for a job, you're
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going to find a job. Eventually somebody's going to
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give you a job. And who's in control?
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They are, because that's the way the job culture works.
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They post a job, they describe it, they interview you, and they
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are in the driver's seat the entire time.
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And the candidate is in the position of hoping that they get
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something of value out of this. Now, it might be that it's
8:02
entirely revenue driven. They need a job, and so they're
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going to take a job for a paycheck no matter what.
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I'm really talking about people who want to arrive who have that
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some level. They have a real desire for a
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responsible position in agriculture.
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And that's what they're really asking for is give me
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responsibility, give me a chance to prove myself, give me a
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chance to learn along the way. So you really have to be aware
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of that posture and whether or not you're just looking for a
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job or why you're really looking for an ownership opportunity.
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And I use the term ownership loosely, but the the best
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employers will tell you they're looking for candidates with an
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owner's mentality that observe that see things that an owner
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would see that care about things at the level owner would care
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about. That is the most valuable worker
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they can have. And they will take 10 of them if
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they they can find them. So as a candidate, keep that in
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mind. How you present yourself is
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everything. Yeah, that's such a good piece
9:08
of advice there of. I think you need to do some self
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reflection a of what do you want your role in your position in
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this community and in agriculture and what do you want
9:19
your career to really look like? A and then Are you ready for
9:23
that? Like if you are just looking for
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a place that you can show up to 8 to 5, clock out, go home,
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that's fine. But this like you need to be
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honest with yourself about that. Of are you looking for a
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position where you can really step into an ownership role?
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Or are you looking for a position where you can clock in
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and then you can clock out about and that's it type of situation.
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And I yeah, that's such a great mentality to start with.
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Furthermore, I tell young people, once you're aware that
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you are in an apprenticeship and everybody is, whether you
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acknowledge it or not, your, your high school years are part
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of your apprenticeship, your college years are part of it.
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Your life on the farm with the family was part of it.
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It's a continuum on the on the road to mastery.
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That's what apprenticeship is. The only difference I think in
10:12
terms of posture is 1 is either in charge of their
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apprenticeship or they're just letting it happen by
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happenstance. So that that's really when we,
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when we reflect, that's the point that we should be
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reflecting on. Am I doing this deliberately
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with purpose or am I just looking for a job and I'm just
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going to let life happen to me? So think I think I'd beat that
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one sufficiently, but I'd like to just say again that, well, at
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the at the end of our little demo here, I'll make some
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comments about the value of apprenticeship to the ranch,
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which I think is a big part of this whole process.
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But if you wouldn't mind, let's just put the document up and
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we'll just go through it page by page.
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And I'm just going to, I'm just going to click them off so that
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people can get their mind around the whole thing, even if they
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might have questions as we go along.
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They can write those down and they can e-mail to me.
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Absolutely, Absolutely. So, so there might be people out
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there who've seen this circulated on the Internet.
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Our review copy of the workbook has a watermark across it says
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do not print. And that's because we don't want
11:22
multiple versions of this out there without some way of, you
11:27
know, maintain some quality of the document as a, you know,
11:31
develops over time. So that's why we've done it that
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way. But here's a clean copy and
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right inside the cover, Lauren is our four year apprenticeship.
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And again, I'll repeat what from our last conversation is the
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foundation utilizes the Western base ranch model utilizing
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public grazing. So perhaps a smaller deeded a
12:00
piece of property attached to a much larger least grazing
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opportunity. And that's what we're most
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familiar with here in the West. I, I think it's one of the most
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complicated models. And so I think it serves a lot
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of different interests in using this model.
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So that's why the the the particular items of skills and
12:20
abilities that are listed on this four year apprenticeship,
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they reflect that ranching environment doesn't have to be
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that way. And we'll see a couple pages
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from now how that how that can be customized to your
12:36
circumstances. So this is this is a typical
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four year Western apprenticeship program and it has as the goal
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is to prepare you for your first true position of responsibility,
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full charge responsibility on a ranch or nobody else is looking
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over your shoulder and you are in charge.
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And the reason why we went to the this degree to illustrate
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this is because we want to acknowledge it in young people,
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bright young people who are earnest and sincere and
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motivated that there is a path out there.
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Your path may will look different than other people's
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path, but the path is there and you can take, you can put your
13:20
confidence in the fact that if you take the time to write it
13:25
down, that's you're well along the pathway already.
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Most people never take the time to do that.
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They're just not aware that they're on a pathway.
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And so they don't make progress in a really satisfactory way, a
13:42
way that really feeds that ambition that they that they
13:45
carry with them. So this is the typical path.
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And then people can use this a reference document as they fill
13:52
out their own for your apprenticeship.
13:55
OK. Next page there, there's an
13:59
introduction, which is mostly just a welcome to the program
14:05
and a little bit of instruction on how we're going to proceed.
14:08
The next page, it gets really into how the program works.
14:15
It's built largely on writing things down so that the mentor
14:22
and The Apprentice aren't operating from different sets of
14:25
assumptions that there aren't literally on the same page.
14:29
And then once those, once the ranch is defined in form of the
14:34
ranch plan, then they can be accountable to one another in
14:39
terms of the timeliness of goal setting and goal achievement.
14:45
We're the entire program is built around the Friday meeting
14:50
between the mentor and The Apprentice.
14:53
And the importance of that Friday meeting is so that they
14:57
can review the week that has just transpired and they can
15:01
plan the work for the next week and they can also provide
15:04
coverage for the weekend. So it's very strategic in that
15:07
regard. People can adjust it for their
15:11
own circumstances if they wish to, but if they don't have any
15:14
structure, then you know, then they should expect to have
15:17
limited results. The next page is some glossary
15:24
terms and how do you how each component of the program intends
15:28
is intended to work and how it interfaces with the other
15:31
components of the program. So try to be as clear as we
15:34
could there next two pages are mentor guidance and apprentice
15:41
guidance. They're in the the main theme of
15:45
guidance to the individuals involved in the program is that
15:49
of respect. Respect is one of those
15:53
watershed issues that if you hold that first and foremost as
15:57
your goal, so many other issues are addressed as a result of
16:03
maintaining respect and regard amongst the individuals in the
16:07
program. One of the items that I like to
16:12
point out on, on the last right there on that page, Lauren, is
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it's, I don't know if you can zoom in at all on that screen or
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not. But the second to the last item
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on that page reads the living quarters and other spaces.
16:30
And you know, one of the reasons we put this in is because there
16:38
should be a higher level of expectation from The Apprentice
16:43
than just a typical employee. And then what I mean by that is
16:50
you're entering into a real contract of learning in exchange
16:56
for instruction and work in exchange for commitment, a
17:01
longer term commitment, say of typically four years.
17:06
See, that transcends the industry standard, which is
17:10
barely a year and a half of employee tenure.
17:13
So right away you're saying this situation is different.
17:17
We have higher expectations for on all levels for whoever is
17:21
going to be participating in this program.
17:24
And it boils down to the little things always.
17:28
It boils down to the little things.
17:30
You know, respect given is respect expected is, is also the
17:36
same as respect given. And so if you're given private
17:42
living quarters, the way you take care of those quarters is a
17:46
reflection of your gratitude and your understanding of your
17:49
station on the ranch. It doesn't require that you go
17:53
around boasting about your apprenticeship status because at
17:57
the end of the day, behavior is the only thing that really
18:00
matters. And so in our guidance, you will
18:02
see these references to respect and how they play themselves out
18:06
in everyday, everyday life. So this is one of my favorite
18:12
sheets, the ranch site, annual ranch cycle.
18:15
This is, we call this the capture sheet.
18:18
So the the mentor and The Apprentice when they sit down to
18:23
fill out their annual ranch cycle.
18:26
What we find is interesting is there are a lot of ranches out
18:30
there that they run. They run by the seat of
18:34
somebody's Levi's or wranglers. They'd they'd plan as they go.
18:39
They draw mostly upon the history and the culture of the
18:45
ranch to direct their daily activities more than anything
18:50
else. And if they have a more formal
18:54
plan, then hopefully they're benefiting from that as well.
19:00
But this would be the bare minimum.
19:02
So this is where the mentor explains to the new apprentice,
19:09
the new employee on the ranch. This is how the ranch works.
19:13
And starting in January, this is what happens in January.
19:17
And so we list all of the ranch enterprises down the left hand
19:21
side and then we make notes across the calendar as to what
19:25
they should expect to see happen in a given month or week for
19:29
that enterprise. Then with that information, we
19:33
go to the next page and this is where we develop our There we
19:40
go. There we go.
19:43
Right. So if this seems overly simple,
19:46
it's it is because the the objective is to employ it is to
19:51
utilize it. And if it gets too complicated,
19:53
it's just not going to happen. Also, a lot of the culture and
19:59
the habits and the style points that come with each individual
20:04
ranch are part of their heritage.
20:06
We don't want to lose them. We don't want a plan that's
20:09
going to replace all of that heritage.
20:11
That's not the intent. We're not trying to plan things
20:16
to the extent that you know that all, all animals need to be
20:21
ridden in a, in a snaffle bit for four years.
20:24
I mean that level of of detail is not what we're referring to
20:29
here. What we're referring to are
20:32
objectives that we can work together on and which if they're
20:38
not written down, a whole month can go by or a whole season can
20:43
go by and it just didn't get done.
20:46
So that's the level of of of identification of important
20:50
things that we're trying to capture here.
20:53
And then everybody who's working on those objectives together,
20:58
they don't have to get up every morning and wonder what we're
21:00
going to do today. The overall plan has been agreed
21:04
to. Then the next page is the
21:09
apprenticeships pathway. So those items from the model
21:14
apprenticeship on the inside cover of the book may or may not
21:18
apply to to a given individual and a given location.
21:23
But they do need to break it down into fairly detailed skill
21:28
sets and knowledge base that they know they're going to have
21:31
to have by the time they get to the end of year one, year 2,
21:34
year 3 and so forth. Life isn't linear like this, but
21:40
it is necessary that we make an attempt, otherwise we're not
21:43
going to be able to hold ourselves accountable to it.
21:45
The other important part about this sheet, you, you brought it
21:49
up earlier, Lauren, maybe you'd like to talk about it a little
21:52
bit, but we have a rate and a date next to each of these
21:57
skills or knowledge base items. And this document really started
22:03
to get useful for people when we put this self rating on there,
22:06
because there's no future in being dishonest about you, you
22:10
know where you're at. So the three levels of rating
22:14
are #1 I get my get a #1 score if I realize that I just need to
22:20
get started on this, right? I get a #2 score if I can do
22:24
this, if I have some help. So maybe it's going to take a
22:28
YouTube video or I need somebody to show me once or twice.
22:31
But I know I can do it. I've done it with other people
22:34
and I know I can do it again. And #3 is your highest score and
22:39
#3 is your is your ultimate goal.
22:41
And that is, yes, I can do this and I can even teach this to
22:45
other people. So that might be where you
22:47
really start to see value add to the ranch is that's this
22:52
individual's got this and he can even mentor somebody else on
22:58
this subject matter and bring them along quickly and
23:01
successfully. So I always might the students
23:06
that are married, I always like to encourage them to fill this
23:09
out with your spouse because they won't lie, right?
23:14
And you know, sometimes when you're looking at ranch world
23:19
ads and, and they have you rate yourself for all of your skills
23:22
and abilities up on the upper right hand corner.
23:27
You know, if you show up on a ranch, you misrepresented your
23:31
skills and abilities. It's not going to take long
23:34
before somebody's going to be embarrassed, right?
23:37
Oh, if that isn't the truth, oh boy.
23:40
There's nothing worse than like not being honest with yourself
23:43
and being like, like, just think of the worst possible scenario.
23:47
Yes, I am fully confident in being able to pull a breach calf
23:51
and pull him out backwards and do it myself in the middle of
23:54
the passion in the middle of a snowstorm.
23:56
Well, guess what? You get by yourself in the
23:58
middle of a snowstorm and you got to breach calf and you don't
24:01
pull that sucker out and you don't do it well.
24:03
But that's not a fun conversation.
24:05
No one wants to step in too. So I think it's important, self
24:09
reflection is important. And whether you're walking
24:11
through an apprenticeship in this structure or even if you
24:14
are taking over the family operation.
24:16
I think of myself of I help with our family operation a ton as an
24:21
adult, but I am not there 24/7 doing everything with my dad.
24:25
And so even just sitting down and doing something like this
24:28
with the two of us of just a succession planning scenario of
24:32
like, hey, God forbid something happened today, what do we need
24:36
to be doing in every single season?
24:37
What do you do behind the scenes that I don't do?
24:40
And I maybe need to sit down and rate myself of, I know that
24:44
you're still going to be the one doing this and handling these
24:46
things, but it's probably important for me to still at
24:49
least be at a number 2 of I can do it with some help.
24:53
And God forbid something happened to you, you break a
24:55
leg, fall off a horse, something like that.
24:58
We are still in a position where we're able to be honest with
25:01
ourselves of where we are and what we need help with.
25:03
Right. And and, and again, going back
25:06
to communication, it's it's this isn't a gotcha.
25:10
This isn't trying to document all the things that you're no
25:13
good at. It really is an opportunity to
25:17
reveal like the onion skin. It's to reveal potential and
25:23
say, you know, yeah, we can check these things off.
25:26
But, but having done that, that sheds light on this over here,
25:30
you know, and I'm talking about the, the most basic things
25:34
because I, you know, I don't want to send young people out
25:36
into the field and see them fail.
25:40
You know, I'll tell you some of some things that it, that I deal
25:45
with on a pretty regular basis are things like, you know,
25:49
female workers who just don't have the upper body strength to
25:53
pull certain things off. And, and that is not something
25:58
to be embarrassed by. It's something to plan for, you
26:03
know, because yeah, I, I, some of the best tractor operators I
26:07
know are females. But if they have a stuck
26:09
hydraulic line, they are going to need help.
26:12
They just cannot, without the right technique or, or shared,
26:17
you know, muscle power, they're going to be things that they
26:21
need help with. It's, it's those little things
26:25
that you want to make note of because once you've acknowledged
26:28
them, you make progress so much quicker, so much quicker.
26:34
You know, there's a half a dozen different types of, of, of
26:38
towing hitches on a ranch, right?
26:41
It's, it's another example. You might have used three of
26:44
them, but three of them you never used before.
26:46
So making a note of that creates a learning opportunity that you
26:49
can plan for just one thing after another after another.
26:53
And, and can't tell you how many old timers have said to me, you
26:57
know, if if I had just learned as much as I could about as many
27:01
things as I could as soon as I could have learned them, I would
27:05
have been so much further along and in my career and probably
27:09
would have saved me a lot of heartache as a result.
27:12
So communication in detail are there to facilitate success.
27:17
That's it. It's not a judgment based
27:19
system. The annual apprenticeship plan
27:22
is simply taking this year's plan and giving you more room to
27:26
work with it. So you're going to transfer the
27:29
current year from the previous sheet to this one, and it gives
27:32
you a lot more room to make notes and flesh out that annual
27:36
plan. And then Lauren, this is the
27:39
heart of the program. There are 52 pages in the book
27:43
that are blank and the first one says work plan.
27:47
And the second page, which is on the opposite side of the same
27:52
open page is the weekly work log.
27:57
So on the left we say what we're we plan to do this week, how we
28:02
expect it to go. And then on the right we record
28:06
what actually did happen that week.
28:08
That's the work log. And as we have this set up, this
28:14
is all around the Friday meeting.
28:16
So approaching Friday, meeting the mentor, the manager, the
28:21
forum in the mentor, whoever the leader is in this relationship,
28:26
is formulating the plan for next week.
28:30
And when they get to the meeting, The Apprentice takes
28:36
the mentor's book and he transcribes, she transcribes
28:40
next week's plan into her book. At the same time, the mentor is
28:47
looking at the work log because it's the it's the apprentice's
28:50
job to keep track of what happened that week.
28:52
We're not trying to add more work for the mentor.
28:54
So The Apprentice has the work log for the current week and and
28:59
the manager records all of those items into his book.
29:04
We find this is really instructional and functional
29:07
because yeah, it takes time. It might take 20 to 30 minutes
29:11
for this to happen. But again, what is accomplished?
29:16
They're both parties on the same page.
29:19
They have a chance to observe what one person thought happened
29:22
that week, and they can compare their perceptions of what
29:28
happened. They can talk about what should
29:30
have happened and why it didn't happen, how it can happen better
29:35
the next time, that kind of thing.
29:37
And then it also gives a chance for both of those parties to see
29:43
how many hours were spent by The Apprentice.
29:46
Well, the mentor and The Apprentice doing each kind of
29:49
work. So you you have you can blow
29:52
that up just a little bit there and show that left hand column.
29:57
You see that we have training items, we have work items and we
30:02
have learning items. So making a quick note of what
30:07
those items were and the number of hours that day really helps
30:13
to give a much more realistic picture of what's being
30:16
accomplished in spite of what everybody said, what they wanted
30:19
to happen, what actually got accomplished.
30:22
There's a, there's this thing in the human mind, and I don't know
30:25
what it's called, but you go to the dentist and they'll say, oh,
30:29
when's the last time you were here?
30:30
And you go 06 months ago. And they look at the chart and
30:33
it was a year and a half. See, there are certain things we
30:37
can't or will not remember and so to think that we're going to
30:41
go back and and, and be able to you know to accurately remember
30:48
how many hours we spent training and how many we spent
30:50
independent study isn't going to happen.
30:54
So that's why this opportunity for record keeping exists.
31:00
One more comment on training and all of this detail is in the
31:05
glossary in the in the front of the program.
31:07
But training is the most expensive thing for the ranch
31:13
because for the most part, when there's one-on-one training
31:16
going on, that mentor manager is not doing anything else.
31:23
He has to stop what he's doing and he has to explain something
31:26
or demonstrate something. So it's the most valuable
31:29
learning opportunity for the for The Apprentice, and it's the
31:32
most costly for the ranch. So by keeping track of these
31:37
individual activities, you're also giving proper credit where
31:43
credit is due. And it could come to a point
31:47
where the mentor is saying, I don't mind giving you the
31:51
training, but I've had to explain things too many times or
31:56
I've already given you, you know, 30 hours of training this
32:04
month or in the last six weeks. And so I want you to focus over
32:08
the next few weeks on independent work, you know,
32:12
whether it's just hammering out fencing or, you know, cleaning,
32:17
cleaning feedbunks or whatever it is the ranch needs I need you
32:20
need you to pay up a little bit here with your direct labor.
32:24
And I really want you to focus after hours in the evenings.
32:28
I want you to focus on these two items because I know they're
32:32
coming up next quarter and I want you to do your background
32:36
research on these items before we get there.
32:39
So I want you to to demonstrate to me that you have done that
32:43
evening work in anticipation of the ranch schedule.
32:48
So those are just a few off the fly examples of how things might
32:54
go in real life and how they do go in real life.
32:57
And there is nothing about this program that requires you to use
33:02
the documents in any specific rigid way.
33:08
Yeah, absolutely. I, I love looking at this
33:11
because I mean, you just go to psychology and even just as a
33:14
business owner myself, I have heard it multiple times from
33:18
leaders, from other people who have built really successful
33:21
businesses is track your time. What are you doing?
33:24
How were you spending your time? What does that look like?
33:27
And I really like how on this weekly log you have the totals
33:29
at the bottom too. I'm like, how much total time
33:32
did you spend training, working and learning and what did that
33:35
actually look like? What was your plan and then what
33:37
was the execution on that? And where are we kind of falling
33:40
short? Where do we need to pick up
33:41
slack? Where do you need to maybe be
33:43
spending, like you said, some more time doing that independent
33:45
training? Because I think that that's an
33:47
important concept to look at too, and a important distinction
33:50
to make that, hey, these ranches and these mentors do not have 40
33:54
hours every single week that they can be pouring into these
33:56
mentees. Because if you're doing that
33:58
one-on-one work, there's also a lot of other work that isn't
34:01
getting done during that time. And so I really liked that you
34:04
made that distinction too of, hey, you do need to go spend
34:08
some time doing some of this independent work and getting
34:10
done what the ranch needs done and your capabilities as well.
34:14
We're we're hoping that that that each of these little
34:18
measures that the program addresses will systematically
34:24
remove some of the real frustrations that that most
34:29
people encounter at some point or other when they attempt an
34:32
apprenticeship or an internship. You know, the frustration that
34:36
I, that I hear from managers is real.
34:41
They just didn't consider the amount of time it would take it.
34:46
But it can help alleviate the frustration when when you do
34:52
have some structure and you can account for your time and then
34:55
you don't feel so bad about saying, I don't have time to
34:58
explain it again right now. We can make time for it at the
35:01
end of the month and there's a record keeping process, a
35:05
journaling process to facilitate that kind of of interaction.
35:11
And then at the end, thanks for pulling.
35:13
So we've gone through for 52 weeks of the program just that
35:17
fast. But at the end we have a, we
35:20
have some reference documents maintenance schedule.
35:24
This is a place for the manager to capture the important
35:28
maintenance issues that he knows cannot be ignored, and to put
35:34
them in a place where The Apprentice is now what made
35:37
aware of it. This isn't really an empowering
35:40
tool because there's nothing to keep an apprentice from going
35:46
out after dinner and changing oil into their truck, right?
35:49
And if they know it's on the schedule, they don't need
35:51
permission to do it. Shows initiative and it it keeps
35:59
from developing Dead Space in in both their their calendar and in
36:03
their in their relationship. What's the last item we have
36:08
there? There's just another copy of the
36:10
model Francis pathway there. So what what other questions
36:17
that I breeze over to quickly, Lauren that you might have?
36:22
I think like I would just love to hear more about like the
36:26
mindset behind this, like if a ranch is going to implement
36:29
this, what are you saying to the mentors and what are you saying
36:33
to the mentees on how to really make this successful?
36:38
Well, first of all, from the beginning, be honest with
36:40
yourself. Are you, are you happy with the
36:42
job culture and are you, are you happy with the way you run your
36:45
ads? Are you happy with your
36:46
turnover? And if you are, then no change
36:49
is needed. What we're trying to do is
36:50
increase the level of success in the individual situations who've
36:54
already said we need to do something differently and to
36:58
bring that ownership culture for employers who really would
37:03
prefer to deal with that rather than than just not knowing every
37:06
time how's it going to work out. The value to the ranch is that
37:13
you're going to get a higher level, a higher caliber of
37:17
candidate as a matter of course because this you're they're
37:21
going through a pre screening, a pre qualification process and
37:26
they're being told the big picture very early in the
37:31
conversation. And only a certain type of
37:34
individual is going to respond positively to that 9998% of the
37:40
people out there are helpers. They're not doers.
37:44
OK, so it's only those people who said this is what I want.
37:48
I see the big picture and I know how quickly I can learn in this
37:52
environment and I'm prepared to bring it.
37:55
That's that's what the ranch can look forward to.
37:58
It's not that you're not going to go through a lot of people in
38:01
the qualifying process. You will.
38:04
But this is your chance to tell them this is what we're offering
38:08
and we will accept no less than than a commensurate effort on
38:13
your part from day one. They already have that
38:16
understanding. And if things after a week and a
38:18
half, things aren't going well, they can sit down and they go
38:21
remember our agreement. See, it's not not left up to
38:25
mystery. It's just a very defining, a
38:28
very liberating environment to work in because everybody has a
38:31
clear understanding, a better agreement.
38:34
They can just go to work. And hopefully that's that's the
38:36
goal. What happens in a case where
38:43
they're giving a lot of value to The Apprentice and then The
38:45
Apprentice leaves after two years?
38:48
You know, the question might be, well, we agreed it on a four
38:52
year apprenticeship program or three or whatever.
38:55
We had an agreement. You didn't live up to your part
38:56
of the agreement. OK.
38:58
I think that the mentor really has to be at at peace with the
39:05
fact that there's only you can categorize workers into two
39:09
groups. Number one, they were never
39:11
going to arrive the 1st place. They just needed a little time
39:13
to demonstrate that. Number 2, this person really is
39:18
progressing at a remarkable rate.
39:21
They're a high value contributor and now they're leaving.
39:26
You'd better have decided in advance as a mentor that you're
39:30
working for the benefit of ranching first, not for the
39:33
benefit of your ranch, because without the benefit of benefit
39:37
to ranching, you won't have a ranch.
39:40
OK. We have obligations on multiple
39:42
levels in our industry. And that young person could
39:45
leave for any number of reasons and take their education with
39:49
them, right? But because we entered into this
39:52
in good faith, we have to believe that that individual is
39:55
going to be a contributor wherever they go.
39:59
And we want them to speak kindly of the ranch when they're gone.
40:03
And I think if we can keep that front and center, then I, I'm
40:07
not the first to said that. OK, I'm not going to name drop
40:10
right now, but there's some really remarkable individuals
40:14
who maybe started out in in their career resentful of the
40:18
turnover that they had in employees.
40:21
Later in their career. They found a much more graceful
40:24
place and said my only responsibility here is doing the
40:30
best I can for these individuals and for the industry.
40:34
Where they take that and where they apply it, I may not be able
40:38
to influence in the future, but I'm OK with that.
40:41
Yeah, absolutely. I love that mindset.
40:44
Like it really takes it out of, hey, like this is for us and for
40:50
our ranching operation and into the bigger picture of this is
40:53
for the entirety of our ranching culture of our entire country
40:59
and community and world to just kind of bring people in in the
41:03
best way possible and train an amazing next generation of
41:07
ranchers. And I think it all comes back
41:08
down to communication. That is what this is.
41:11
This is 1 big communication guide for you and your ranching
41:14
operation on and how to set this up and how to communicate it and
41:19
how to go about those conversations and like just
41:22
structure and everything like that.
41:24
But I mean at its heart and its core, it all goes back to
41:27
communication. One other point, Lauren.
41:30
And, you know, young people often have a pretty steep curve
41:35
in front of them that is made more difficult by, you know,
41:41
insecurity. Just the type of insecurities as
41:44
I haven't done it before and I don't want to fail.
41:46
Nobody. Nobody likes that feeling.
41:50
Yet they should look at this communication tool and
41:54
opportunity for accountability as a real benefit to their
42:00
beginning in the endeavor, especially something as complex
42:03
as ranching. Keep in mind that responsibility
42:06
is that which is expected of us. Accountability is that which we
42:12
freely offer from us to give an account, to be accountable.
42:18
It's it's the mirror image. It's the other side of the coin
42:21
from responsibility. I would liken responsibility to
42:25
be part of the job culture if I had to generalize.
42:29
OK, OK, you know, you have a job, you're responsible.
42:33
OK. It's a pretty blunt instrument
42:37
with the ownership culture, we have the ability and willingness
42:42
by all parties to communicate freely about our wants, needs
42:46
and desires, our hopes, our fears and our concerns, all of
42:51
it, right? And so it's a graceful
42:54
environment where we get to say I blew it.
42:58
I really blew it. And I'm, I hesitate to ask for a
43:01
second chance. It's a graceful environment
43:04
where nobody's trying to pin somebody down and mete out harsh
43:09
consequences for failures. Everybody knows there's either a
43:14
general trend of improvement or there isn't.
43:18
So in that context, if, if everybody is still committed to
43:25
working together, then the communication aspect of it
43:29
really puts progress in the hyperdrive because there's that
43:32
freedom to talk openly about, about subject matters and, and
43:37
actions and whatnot with the, with the goal of improvement.
43:41
Absolutely. I love that.
43:43
I love this program. I love your commitment to the
43:46
industry and to selflessly try and just continue to improve
43:52
that next generation of ranch managers and say, hey, what
43:55
we're doing isn't working. Let's do something different and
43:58
let's make this sustainable. Let's make this commutative.
44:02
Let's make this something that both parties are going to enjoy,
44:05
and let's take the stigmas of ranch management out of this.
44:09
And let's truly make this something that is what we can do
44:12
for the future and that we can do for generations to come.
44:16
Whether that be, hey, we're going to have hard conversations
44:18
about housing, We're going to have hard conversations about
44:22
pay. We're going to have all of these
44:24
things that 4 generations and four years have been like the
44:28
ranch house down the road. I mean, guys, it might have a
44:31
rat infestation, but it's OK because it's got a roof over
44:35
your head. Like you're having those
44:37
conversations and you're taking those norms that we've seen in
44:41
ranching for years and saying, let's snap it in the butt, guys,
44:44
and let's make this something that is real and that let's
44:47
treat this like a next level position in a job because it is.
44:51
It really is. And it's an opportunity of a
44:54
lifetime for a lot of these individuals to improve this
44:57
industry. So thank you for what you're
44:58
doing. Thank you.
44:59
Is there anything else that you would like to leave with our
45:01
audience today as we kind of wrap it up, Dan?
45:03
Sure. I'll tell you a little bit about
45:06
the program materials. We, we print on demand.
45:12
The, the books are printed on waterproof paper card stock so
45:16
that they actually last a year in the cab of your truck.
45:19
And, and they're, they're fashioned in such a way you can
45:22
put a slip cover on them so that they, they really do hold up and
45:25
they're serviceable for, for the entire year.
45:28
Those people who are interested in acquiring 2 of those books,
45:32
you know, one for The Apprentice and one for the manager, they
45:35
can e-mail us directly at Ranch Resource at gmailcom and we'll
45:41
make arrangements to get them the book.
45:42
There is a nominal charge, but like I said, it's a, it's a
45:45
durable notebook and I think anybody who, who sees the value
45:50
here, we'll be OK with the with the charge for the printing.
45:54
We want to have a conversation with people and make sure that
45:56
we are able to answer any remaining questions they have
45:59
before we send out the materials.
46:01
But they're available for those ranches who really wants to, to
46:04
take the step. I'll also say that it's
46:07
available to apprentices without a mentor ranch too.
46:10
I wished I'd had something like this when I was 18 because it
46:14
just would have helped encourage me that there is a big picture
46:19
out there, you know, cleaning irrigation ditches 8 hours a day
46:26
is, is not going to give me that big picture that young people
46:29
are looking for, you know, and you have to really empathize
46:32
with them. They're willing to do that.
46:34
They are. But we want, we want to treat
46:37
them as the adults that we want wish them to be.
46:41
So, you know, mentors really keep that in mind and go the
46:45
extra mile so you can identify those high value candidates that
46:49
are out there just waiting for leadership.
46:51
Thanks, Lauren. Absolutely.
46:53
Thank you, Dan, and to all of our listeners out there.
46:55
If you are interested in learning more about this,
46:58
talking to Dan and just figuring out what works for you in your
47:01
operation or getting a hold of this yourself.
47:04
I have Dan's e-mail down below and all of his contact info in
47:07
the show notes where you can just reach out to him and he'll
47:10
be able to let you know kind of what the he thinks will work for
47:13
you in your operation, how to apply this, whether you're a
47:17
looking for an apprenticeship, whether you're looking to be a
47:20
mentor, all of those things. I've got all that down below.
47:23
Dan, thank you for your time today.
47:24
Thank you for you just your heart behind this and for
47:27
providing this for the industry. It's such a need of resource and
47:31
I hope that so many people reach out to you and utilize this
47:35
because it is just an amazing resource that I hope continues
47:38
to be utilized throughout the industry.
47:40
To all of our listeners, thanks for being here and we will see
47:43
you all on another episode of the Cattle USA Daily Podcast
47:46
next time. Have a good one y'all.