In the first week of December, 16 young cane farmers and industry professionals descended on Brisbane to take part in the Next Gen Leadership Program. Participants came from as far north as Mossman in Far North Queensland to Wardell in the Northern Rivers region in New South Wales.

Participants of the 2013 Next Gen Leadership Program

The week kicked off with a Welcome Event sponsored by Burnett Mary Regional Group where participants took some time to network and get to know each other.

The first three days saw the group participate in the ‘Foundations of Directorship’ course delivered by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). The intense course covered three key areas involved with Directorship; Governance, Finance, Strategy & Risk.

Following the AICD course, the participants took part in a two day Leadership Workshop which involved analysing areas personal and professional strengths and weakness.

Great Land Next Gen Leadership Program Networking Dinner

The group then heard from each of the Leadership Consultants who covered a wide range of expertise including Directorship, Agronomy, Soil Health, Sugar Marketing, Research & Development, Finance & Succession Planning, Farming Systems, Environment & Sustainability and Agri-Politics.

The participants then got the chance to speak with the Leadership Consultants on a more casual level at the Great Land Networking Dinner.

The group will now keep in contact with their Leadership Consultants, continuing to work on their relationships with these key industry leaders. The Consultants will be on hand to discuss topics of interest and offer advice where possible.

Not only did the week allow participants to expand their knowledge base and form relationships with key industry figures, it allowed them to network and share their ideas with other young industry participants from all over Queensland and New South Wales.

Thank you to SRA, Case IH, Burnett Mary Regional Group, Wilmar and Great Land for supporting this important program.