The Australian Farmer

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the australian farmer

as-free way. Meaningful change is now happening in various areas such as such as a parental leave policy. Let’s look at the practical elements to encour- age such change. More education and rewards are needed to harness this early momentum. For ex- ample, inclusive leadership first requires intense curiosity – an enduring need to “ask why?”. Cogni- sance of bias, or leveraging self-awareness to avoid the leaders Achilles heel, is also a fundamental building block. Commitment, or in other words hav- ing strength, resilience, and perseverance to lead through good and bad times, is another. Taking per- sonal risk , or simply courage, is the fourth. Cultural Intelligence, --- truly empathizing and understand- ing people of diverse backgrounds, is paramount. And finally – collaboration which involves fully engaging in team work to create a greater outcome, is the fifth requirement. An industry that will always know drought, floods, volatility, trade wars, and other complex challenges will prosper with more of these in- clusive leadership behaviours across the value chain. To young rural women and men who might be growing up on a farm – be confident in all you do, never stop the child-like curiosity, break social norms and whatever you decide to do, go after it with commitment and courage. Opportunities see no gender – Australian agriculture needs the best from the paddock to the Board Room. Here is to a very bright future as we unlock the full human po- tential in Australian Agriculture! “Kristina Hermanson is Head of Natural Capital, APAC & Africa at global asset managaement firm Nuveen - Nuveen is the world’s largest investor in farmland. Kristina is former Managing Director for FMC's ANZ and ASEAN business - FMC is part of a multi-national agricultural sciences company that advances farm- ing through innovative and sustainable crop protec- tion technologies.”

career some of my favourite memories are from my time in Poland – where I managed a strong bal- ance of male and female talent. And in South Asian countries too where trailblazing women were role modelling the way for more diversity, particularly in commercial roles influencing growers. Across all the elements of diversity, which ultim- ately is about bringing truly new perspectives to solving problems, I have realised gender is the low- est “hanging fruit”. Low number of women in senior management roles, in particular, suggests that some- thing isn’t working – that the talent pool to deliver innovative solutions is not being fully leveraged. A diverse team where all members stand up for what each believes in and speaking their minds creates a workplace where all individuals can truly thrive.

ALL INDUSTRIES

AGRICULTURE, FOR- ESTRY AND FISHING

50.5% women 49.5% men

32.9% women 67.1% men

Full- time gender pay gap is 20.1%

Full-time gender pay gap is 22.0%

18.3% female CEOs 32.5% female KMPs 28.1% female directors

6.3% female CEOs 18.9% female KMPs 15.0% female directors

Gender Statistics in Australia’s agricultural workforce (Source: 2019-20 Competitor Analysis Benchmark Re- ports | WGEA). CALLING ALL INCLUSIVE LEADERS TO THE CAUSE During my 15-plus years’ experience in senior management roles, I’ve become convinced that the pathway to our industry’s future success is the rise of inclusive leadership across the whole value chain of agriculture and at all levels of the manage- ment hierarchy. More and more industry leaders now recognise there is a business case for inclu- sive leadership – the capacity to manage and lead a heterogeneous group of people efficiently, while respecting their uniqueness in an empathetic and bi-

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