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Building Teams for What’s Next with Scott Kay
1 Playsin 19 hours
What if the best leaders aren’t the ones with all the answers, but the ones asking better questions?
Scott Kay, Vice President of U.S. Crop at BASF, joins The Cultivating Leaders Podcast to talk about developing people, building high-performing teams and staying ready for change in a rapidly evolving agriculture industry. Scott brings a grounded, people-first perspective on leadership, career growth and mentorship.
Scott gets real about:
- Raise your hand: volunteering can shape your leadership journey
- Lateral career moves: building the breadth and depth needed for long-term success
- Strong leadership: the power of asking thoughtful questions, accepting honest feedback and learning through failure
He reminds us that growth happens when leaders create space for others, redirect the spotlight to the right people, ask better questions and stay open to change.
Want to hear more from Scott? Check out her blog here!
Connect with Scott
- Connect on LinkedIn
- Follow BASF on LinkedIn
- Follow BASF Instagram
- Follow BASF on Facebook
- Visit their website
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- Visit our Website
About The Cultivating Leaders Series
The Cultivating Leaders Series is the go-to resource for anyone ready to take their leadership to the next level, delivering powerful insights from top voices in food, agriculture and beyond. The podcast offers immediate, actionable advice from the top leaders in food and ag, with guests who break down the skills that set them apart in the real world. Join the live webinars to bring leadership to life, with candid conversations, live Q&A and behind-the-scenes stories from C-suite executives. Together, these virtual experiences are designed to meet you where you are and help you lead with purpose, confidence and clarity.
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Transcript
00:00:02
Speaker
you're still looking for people to raise their hand, right? Say, Hey, I'm, I'm willing to to do something that I don't normally do. The other one I think we have a lot of room for is people who ask good questions and and want to know your opinions.
00:00:17
Speaker
If people are willing to give you feedback, they're willing to invest in you want to see you be successful. Think if you raised your level of participation to a, to an expert level where you, you thought you were providing everyone the right pathway of the things you wanted to learn.
00:00:35
Speaker
I said, so i think you'll be surprised at how people will give back if they see you participate at the high level. I think we should be more open to different people's opinions, no matter where you are in your career ladder or expertise on the topic.
00:00:52
Speaker
I think mid-career folks sometimes get trapped in saying, I'm not accelerating fast enough. i'm not I'm not getting to the next job. I didn't get promoted. I was of those people. Welcome to the Cultivating Leaders podcast. I'm your host and Curiosity Captain, Nicole Urcig.
00:01:09
Speaker
If you are ready to lead better, think bigger, and grow faster, you're in the right place. We bring you real conversations with top leaders across food and agriculture, focused on the practical skills and mindsets you need to lead in today's environment.
00:01:26
Speaker
Today's guest is a leader shaping how talent and teams evolve in a rapidly changing agricultural industry. Scott Kaye, Vice President of U.S. Crop at BASF, brings a unique perspective on developing people, building high-performing teams, and preparing the workforce for what's next. In an industry facing constant innovation, global challenges, and the need for collaboration, leadership isn't just about today. It requires building for what is coming next.
00:01:50
Speaker
If you're leading a team, hiring new talent, or thinking about how to stay relevant as a leader in agriculture, this conversation will challenge you on how to think about developing people and yourself.
Introduction to Scott Kaye's Role
00:02:01
Speaker
Scott, welcome to the pod.
00:02:02
Speaker
Hey, how are you doing, Nicole? I'm doing good. Well, other than that, my microphone almost just fell. Other than that, I'm doing great. It's so good to see you. Great to see you. That's ah a beautiful day here in North Carolina. so Love to hear it. Love to hear it. Well, Scott, why don't we dive in? Tell me a little bit and and our audience, Vice President of Crop at BASF, what does that mean and what does your job look like?
00:02:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think, good good question. my my My job, i often just say that it entails a lot in that I'm in charge of across the U.S. business, ah sales, marketing,
00:02:47
Speaker
technical services and business operations. And so there's, you know, right around 400 people in that and that organization. And so there's there's a lot going on every day. i think the nice thing is it it always involves customers.
00:03:05
Speaker
And so it, and to me, that's that's what we, you know, we we wake up every day wanting to make sure that we're helping them succeed in what they're trying to accomplish.
00:03:15
Speaker
we have a really strong statement that I like in that farmers have the biggest job on earth and that they do it for the love of farming. And so to me, that's that's always resonated because I grew up on a farm.
Scott's Career Path and Influences
00:03:29
Speaker
If you're thinking about how well how did he get that job? And it, you know, and what's nice is my dad thinks I'm still coming back, you know, so if he watches this, I am. So just say it one more time, but it's just taken me a ah while, right? So I've had the the ability to be with BSF for 35 years or nearly, I'll celebrate that anniversary this year.
00:03:51
Speaker
And, um, it's been a great journey because, um my family been connected to farming. I stay connected with them and, um, get to hear what they're, what they're seeing and and doing. But, uh, but I've had a chance to see it in from many different areas of our business and, and other customers as well. So, um, prior to this, I was in in Canada and manage our Canadian business. And so,
00:04:14
Speaker
that was That was also a great experience. But I've held nearly all jobs that report to me now. I haven't ever been in technical services. um I had a business operations ah before when it I spent some time in in logistics and supply chain for a little bit. and So that was very interesting.
00:04:37
Speaker
I think very foundational, too, because ah how people receive your brand once once it's been sold I think is also very important. So I think there's just a, so if you talk about my job that caused, know, lots of different aspects.
00:04:52
Speaker
Um, and, uh, so it's, it's, it's pretty fun every day. I still, I still really enjoy it. So.
Leadership Development through Volunteering
00:04:58
Speaker
Well, good. So tell me, is this what you always imagined you would be doing? Did you think you were going spend your entire career, 35 years at one place and be where you are today?
00:05:08
Speaker
No, I thought, I thought for sure when I went to college, I thought for sure I was going to graduate.
00:05:14
Speaker
go back to the farm. I was really interested in politics at the time. And so, um, and then once I got into this career, I thought maybe, you know, district manager, tried my hand at marketing and then there'd be something else. but So, um, but, uh, I think for me, it just became, really evident that, uh, um, this, this job has a lot of the same aspects that I would have had had I gone back to the farm or had I, you know, in that, um,
00:05:45
Speaker
you know, so, or had the political or the community involvement. You still have those same kind of things go on here every day. I talked to a lot of people about about that in that, you know, the different clubs and organizations that I was involved in in, in college or now, you're still looking for people to raise their hand, right? Say, hey, I'm i'm willing to to do something that I don't normally do. And so the vol volunteering part is is still really rewarding, whether that's for a project or an actual community event.
00:06:18
Speaker
And so to me, that's that's still one of the things that I think is it's pretty fun is to, as you see people through their career, that became my career probably a little less important. And I really started to focus more on how are other people doing? how do they How are they getting here? And so I understand the podcast, we need to share a little bit more about me, but my day to day, I probably think about others and how they're developing.
The Art of Asking Good Questions
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Is that something you've always done, Scott? Because in the time that I've known you, like it is it seems innate to your personality, whether you're trying to lift up a a student and make a connection or the even the team that you lead.
00:06:57
Speaker
Or is that something that you've had to develop over time? Yeah, that's a great question. I think from my side, it's it's just been something that I think what I found is that if I got people to participate,
00:07:10
Speaker
then they can have the same enjoyment as I did. And so, and while it was a little more work, I just felt like not everybody's wired to just raise their hand for new experiences.
00:07:22
Speaker
What I found myself in my career was I might even volunteer for projects that I might not be the expert in the room. And then I worked really hard to get one of my peers who was the expert to to do it with me.
00:07:35
Speaker
And so that that was something that I took a lot of, And then we both got credit, you know, so I think that was the other thing is then you would also demonstrate equal credit. And so that that part found really rewarding because people like to be recognized. People like to be successful and to offer their expertise to to change outcomes. And so to me, that was that was always something that I liked to do. So i I did that when I was from from high school to college, and then I found –
00:08:07
Speaker
um in a very good way, that's that's the same kind of experience I can have at BSF, no matter the team. And so it, and then, you know, from a, from early career people, that, that is something I for sure, I still look at resumes to see, have they ever done any volunteering? Are they, are they responsible for leading some teams?
00:08:30
Speaker
Were they involved in some clubs or anything like that that might come up in the conversation? Because you know that they've experienced having to recruit other people for them to be successful. And so when you see that, you just know, okay, they're going to really get it.
Encouraging Talent Development
00:08:46
Speaker
I would say even my my own son, who's a senior at NC State, and he he raised you know he got elected to be the Ag Club president.
00:08:55
Speaker
But when I saw him having to really dive in, he goes, it's hard to recruit people to do things. you know and But then you see you see the the reward,
00:09:05
Speaker
of the smiling pictures of people who just accomplished something. you know like I think they just won a kickball tournament. Well, here the last month of the year, I'm not sure a kickball tournament was high on anybody's list that day. So you know that there's a level of recruitment followed by a level of excitement. And so I think that's the that part to me is what what really brings that. And so you're good eye, Nicole.
00:09:28
Speaker
I probably do come by that naturally. Yeah. Well, it seems innate. And i love the way you phrased it because I often often haven't thought about that work of leadership because I'm a galvanizer myself.
00:09:40
Speaker
ah And you're right. There is a special energy required to – and this is part of sales, right, as well – like convincing people to come and be a part of something. And that's happening whether you're trying to hire someone to join a workforce that you lead – really just even getting people to get excited about something in a day-to-day business, right? Of coming along for where the business strategic goals are going or what we're working on right now. I think it's ah a labor of leadership that's often overlooked.
00:10:11
Speaker
Yeah, I totally agree. I think a couple years ago, I had a chance to bring one of our you know newer employees, but but probably ready for something else. And you know to go into do other groups or associations, but let them take the lead, um which wasn't expected by the by the audience, but i but I think was super good for development. you know To me, that was that that part was great. And I think think in ag industry, people are very gracious for development and and they're they're okay with it you know and and sharing um what they what they might have.
00:10:50
Speaker
the The other one, I think we have a lot of room for is people who ask good questions and and want to know your opinion. So I think think if there are people out there that are thinking about, well, how how do I get an audience? i I think you want to be someone who who can ask really good questions of other people.
00:11:11
Speaker
And and don't don't be too quick to to answer. I think it's that that first question plus about three or four, maybe five more before you start talking. And so I think that's that's ah that's another skill I think people should to try to to
Creating Safe Environments for Failure
00:11:26
Speaker
learn.
00:11:26
Speaker
Yeah, I really like that too because I think often, especially for younger career people, it can be really intimidating to be in the room or be at the table, and you can feel like you need to have the answers or understand the the technical conversation or discussion, but sometimes what's most valuable is if you can ask valuable questions. You don't have to know all of the answers.
00:11:48
Speaker
You really don't. I think it's a – And it depend depends on your your relationship. To me, the in a company like BSF, you you have the ability to almost role play something out before you have to do it yourself the first time, right? So I think it's, and that that was a skill that that I had learned through training very new in my career.
00:12:12
Speaker
it I would ask a lot of questions about someone's call. So maybe it was a peer in my group that was a sales peer, And i would I would ask them, how did it go?
00:12:24
Speaker
What did they say? Could you be more specific? How did they react to that conversation? And so was a lot of trying to learn about how that exactly went down compared to what I thought I was preparing for.
00:12:37
Speaker
And so so it's really an informal mentoring, if you if you will, in that they're and they're asking questions so it makes it more natural versus a role play.
00:12:49
Speaker
because I'm asking them about a ah real situation they just had experienced that morning. and But those curiosity questions, our next conversations, as I did that over and over with some of the same people, they also started just sharing.
00:13:04
Speaker
And then i think they also realized that my approach might be different than theirs, and now we're exchanging. And so to me, there's this evolution that also can take place if you'll put that asking good questions into practice.
00:13:17
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Okay, Scott, I'm curious too from a coach perspective because I think I've seen you do this and you just talked about this a little bit earlier in this conversation. When do you know when to push someone into a development opportunity of like sometimes we all need that little shove outside of our own comfort zone versus when some when that might make someone too uncomfortable or when they're not ready for it?
00:13:41
Speaker
Yeah, so I think the most of the time my strategy on that sort of is that, let's say I don't think they've had a lot of executive experience. So I'll generally set up a ah joint call, a joint presentation, and and then that way we'll have a chance maybe to to practice ahead of the presentation together, split up the conversation, and then talk about what questions we're going to get.
00:14:12
Speaker
they i think the other one is, too, is that a lot of times, you're asked to present.
00:14:20
Speaker
But I think also we we talk about what's what's our what's our opinion, what's your opinion? um And so I think that was that's also a way to to prep and to role play something before it happens.
00:14:32
Speaker
And so, but that's generally how i how I've done it. I try to think if I've ever done it any differently in other roles, but sometimes I do that both internally facing and with customer facing, just try and set up those those areas.
00:14:46
Speaker
The other way is, like I might be asked to present at a meeting. I know that the the audience, a few of the BSF folks are the expert.
00:14:58
Speaker
So I will set up before the meeting and say, hey, look, if I get these kind of questions, I'm going to yield to you because I think they should be asking you anyway. You know what I mean? And you'll be the one who answers it later.
00:15:10
Speaker
And so, um and it's also a way for me to declare them as the expert. So I think, think sometimes that helps people to get over that bridge, right? So sometimes you see in careers where they always yield to a boss, so they want to talk to somebody else.
00:15:25
Speaker
I think sometimes that's unfair. And so I would always say, Nicole, I think Nicole has the answer to that question, right? I think she's the expert. And so sometimes just me declaring who the expert is on that topic is also really important to to establish people in that in that position or role.
00:15:47
Speaker
the In an office setting, sometimes you have to to repeat that over and over so that people are calling them, it looks like we're missing this person on our invite list.
00:15:58
Speaker
It looks like, why are they here? Well, I just figured that this topic's going to come up and they'll they'll have the most detailed response and answer to the question. and so So sometimes as a leader, you just have to keep pushing people along so that they get in there What happens is they'll they'll go from being uncomfortable to being more comfortable.
00:16:17
Speaker
And now the pride comes out from my standpoint when I see them now talking to some of those senior leaders in the hallway. So now you know we really made a connection, right? So I think that's that's that's another strategy to use.
00:16:35
Speaker
I appreciate that. It's a, I think it shows that being the leader isn't always about being in the spotlight, but redirecting the spotlight to the right people as well. Yeah, that's very good. Yeah.
00:16:45
Speaker
Yeah. Okay, Scott. So I'm really curious, how do you react when someone on your team fails? Yeah. You know, the standard answer would be it depends, but I think the, to to me, I think it's just a matter of talking through it.
00:17:00
Speaker
And what's everybody learning? in this environment. No one's ever going to be perfect. so So to me, there's probably two ways to to manage that. One, I hope that they've heard us say that there's no harm in failing.
00:17:15
Speaker
right and' So at BSF, people should know that that there hasn't been any harm and in failing. And then how how do you manage through it, I think, is the is the is the next area. So are people feeling accountable?
00:17:29
Speaker
Do they have solutions to to change that outcome, would they do it different? Did they see it coming? Like maybe there was problems along the way? So I think think there's all those things, but to me, um people really should be managing on this idea that that failure is not not the outcome.
00:17:48
Speaker
I think that that's just part of it. And then what how you resolve or turn it into something else should be viewed as the outcome. think makes sense. Knowing that it's safe to fail, but that there's going to be accountability is what it sounds
Debriefing for Growth
00:18:03
Speaker
like. depend It sounds like that's a depend a dependency of like if they failed and, but it was good effort. Okay. What have we learned and how do we move forward versus like, Hey, here's some accountability if it's needed.
00:18:14
Speaker
Yeah. To me, it's a those can be some of the best situations in, in a work environment is, is that assessment. And, and so knowing from that personally,
00:18:27
Speaker
You know, sometimes it's, and it's, I might sound like a broken record on this, asking good questions, but I think seeking to understand why it didn't work is really, really important.
00:18:39
Speaker
And so, you know, I think at one time as a marketer, I added up that there was 28 different touch points to be successful. And so that's why I said sometimes it depends. If you had a ah shipping or a manufacturing topic that came up,
00:18:54
Speaker
it might involve a lot of those different people that you now need to go back to and with to to say, okay, so how do we debrief this? what What would we all change?
00:19:06
Speaker
Because it might just not be you as one person in that mix. And then I think as you move from you know as you move into that middle career and beyond, you'll see that it's probably more involved than just one person, right? So I think that's why don't be so hard on yourself.
00:19:23
Speaker
because it it likely involved more than one person. I think it's just to be part of the solution that that fixes it, that diagnoses it, I think is probably the more important part.
00:19:35
Speaker
Yeah. Scott, in your leadership career and and growth journey, ah I'm sure there's been failures and I'm sure there's been painful feedback. How do you ah deal with and recommend for others to deal with kind of the pain of that growth of whether you've heard feedback that hurts and needs to be addressed or you've had that, that project or, or something go wrong and had a failure?
00:20:01
Speaker
I think through some training we had that was the debrief after every, ah every situation. And so to me, that was the absolute best way of doing things. So as an example, you may give a presentation at a national business conference.
00:20:20
Speaker
Well, we debriefed as a team post that, and you were willing to handle feedback from your peers that weren't presenting, or that quick feedback in the moment is some of the best feedback and can be the most critical, right? Because it And so I think that to me is is probably the the best kind of feedback to get is to, is that once be open right afterwards, how did I do? No, seriously, tell me what you would correct. Tell me what did I answer the questions, you know? So I think these, so one, if you're willing to ask for that debrief, that's really good.
00:21:02
Speaker
If you're the leader know,
00:21:06
Speaker
one of the conditions could be before you before you go into a presentation or a customer call is to say, let's debrief afterwards. Let's all take notes about what we observe and how we're going to improve because it's likely not going to be our only time we do this.
00:21:23
Speaker
And we've been working so hard on the content or whatever it is, right? So it's so I think it's a chance to to, thanks for your preparation, but let's let's make it as perfect as possible by debriefing post that event or post that call.
00:21:39
Speaker
Scott, is that a habit that has been coached into you? Because as you're answering this, I'm now reflecting on the times that like we've done things together and you'll come off of a stage or we'll come out of a room and you'll pull, you do this, you'll pull people aside and be like, how did that go? What could have gone better? Like now that I'm hearing you talk about this, this is a habit that you have just ah built into your, into your day to day.
00:22:02
Speaker
Yeah, so I think it's, you know, it's we might follow it tighter after a presentation, but think Afterburners was the group that we had had train us on that. but And they were flying a plane and a route, right? They'd come back and say, no, I could have made that tighter. I could have done this, you know, those kind of things.
00:22:20
Speaker
But yes, I can remember as a very new in my career and presenting and coming off the stage and having a ah trainer say,
00:22:32
Speaker
here's your list of 20 things, right? I thought, oh my gosh, I didn't have 20 topics, you know, but, but I, but I think it's what they thought was I was just open to the feedback.
00:22:43
Speaker
So could have just been, you know part of the section could have been on mannerisms. The other could have been on clarity. The other one could have been on, did I get the word right out of, you know, some new product name or, you know, whatever it was. But I think, and then, you know, feedback is your friend.
00:22:58
Speaker
you know, that's, I think that's the other thing you've got to just remember is that if people are willing to give you feedback, they're willing to invest in you and want to see you be successful. And so I think the other thing is ah if you're a leader, to seek feedback is also really good for people to observe because you'll send the signal that you're not perfect or that you'd like to make sure that you're delivering on what their expectations were.
00:23:23
Speaker
And so I think there's all those aspects there. this So I'll probably call Nicole afterwards for a sure and say, how did that go? But anyway, it's a, yeah, for sure built, ingrained in what I do.
00:23:36
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like it's a muscle that you've probably built
AI's Role in Human Connections and Leadership
00:23:38
Speaker
over time. But as you were answering that question, sorry, I just had flashbacks of like, oh, man, Scott does this almost every time we interact or do do something.
00:23:47
Speaker
i think it's I think it's a a modeling of of a good habit to build as a leader. so I'm curious, Scott, you spent a lot of time, you've grown a large team, you've developed yourself, developing other people, and spending 35 years in the crop business, you've seen a lot of change over time in agriculture.
00:24:06
Speaker
what skills do you think are non-negotiables ah for success in today's agriculture industry? Oh boy. Well, I think, think, I think self-improvement
00:24:20
Speaker
is a non-negotiable. I think, I think to be successful in the environment, you it's probably a cliche to say things change rapidly, but, but I think,
00:24:32
Speaker
I think this idea that you're going to have to continue to and to improve yourself is for sure something people should be should be thinking about. those What I'm thinking about is that you want to do that. I think you know the first book that I got in the business world was Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
00:24:53
Speaker
If you listen to this and haven't read it, I would say you should read it. It hasn't grown old. So I think it's still there today. I think this renewing piece, everyone has to be facing it with AI. So I think AI is going to be something that you're going to want to do to become more efficient.
00:25:16
Speaker
I think it's going to allow you to be be better leader, a better, at whatever your field is, I think AI is gonna going to have an impact.
00:25:29
Speaker
And, um, And i and i I would embrace it because I think it'll allow you and your team, if you lead a team, to continue to personalize things, but at a much deeper level or much faster. And so I think think the goal is should be to embrace, not not sit back and fear or worry about it eliminating some job.
00:25:54
Speaker
i think it's it's enabling some new job, a new connection. So I would probably flip that from eliminating to enabling. And so i think I think it'll give you a much better perspective on what you can do to speed up your connections.
00:26:10
Speaker
And so I think that that to me is one of those things that that's out there. you know I can remember sitting on a plane talking to someone, and they had just I think they must have been the trainer, and I just didn't realize it at the time, but they taught a class about crossing the chasm at that time.
00:26:29
Speaker
And if you looked at it, you know, i went to Iowa State, you had this Rogers curve that talked about the 10% of adoption or adoption curve is what people have referred to it as.
00:26:40
Speaker
And I think I was always, it made me very thoughtful about there's there's things that you're going to do that are just going to be naturally curve, like the first 10% of adoption or 5%. There's going to be some trend that's natural.
00:26:55
Speaker
So to me, what AI is gonna should help us do is whatever your current baseline of things are, this should help you accelerate. And so to me, that that is where i would I would go back to saying we want to use that to for advancement and to do things differently.
00:27:14
Speaker
And it could be on the analysis side of after, or it could be as you go through how you're going to use it. So that's why I say it's an enablement. You're going to really move with AI.
00:27:26
Speaker
I'm curious now, how are you implementing AI or enabling AI at BASF? And how are you, Scott, in working it into your own executive workflow? Yeah, so Copilot certainly is ah is a way to to to do it better. I think you just need be careful to make sure you don't lose all personal touch.
00:27:45
Speaker
but i But I do think it can enable you to be better email writer, a better paper, have it check you a little bit to see what's happened that way.
00:27:57
Speaker
The other one is to to embrace technology tools, like Salesforce. it Salesforce could lead to AI. So are you going to contribute to it, are you going to stand back and and not be hurt?
00:28:09
Speaker
So I think Salesforce is another way. we We have other tools at at BSF that have same capability, algorithms that are built into tools that we have at BSF, ZARVO being one of those.
00:28:24
Speaker
to me is another way to interface differently, more uniquely, and and to help people along the way. So, it's RVO Bioenergy. We're waiting for the government to to to establish what 45Z is going to mean to ethanol farmers, as an example.
00:28:43
Speaker
And so, if we can accelerate that so that farmers can take advantage of the of the incentives that are there in a simpler, faster way, to do their jobs and to help them to excel by gaining sense on the bushel, or maybe it's more than that, but I think that is something that we we should be wanting to do. And so that's how I look at those things. I gave you specific examples, but I'd be looking at things that maybe you haven't adopted that have the background of AI that are huge enablers.
00:29:20
Speaker
And just because of your own change curve, that you really need to reflect on that change curve for adoption. And then that's where you come back to with questions. So I would be looking out and saying, who's really adopting this?
00:29:35
Speaker
And then I would go back to the questions I asked about a sales call before and say, where do you how do you see value in it? What are you saying? Would you mind if I followed you?
00:29:46
Speaker
could we Could I call you about the things that I'm writing in that? So I think it's think there's a huge... human connection that's going to take shape because of AI and because your own adoption, whether you are the quick adopter or not so fast,
Mentorship and Team Dynamics
00:30:03
Speaker
you know. So to me, these early career folks, I mean, I'm so happy that we have them in our organization because they tend to be early adopters of this. They've they've grown up with it. And so, and I'm not too proud to say that I need help
00:30:20
Speaker
with my own adoption some days, you know, to, because I might not be as quick a study as them, but I think that's, those are the great conversations to have in an organization or in a community, is to, to get back to those things about everybody's learning something different. We all have different skills.
00:30:38
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. really love that bold take that AI can enable deeper human connection because I think so often people see the disconnect that we have, um oh which is robots talking to each other versus, no, this can enable the way that you connect with your coworkers or you're able to connect with more people.
00:30:58
Speaker
or create some type of deeper human connection. So i really i really ah enjoy that. And I think that's a a bold but positive outlook for how to use some of these tools, especially in ah in a leadership mindset.
00:31:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's a, I had a discussion with with someone who has the ability, but just thought it was busy work. AI must be new busy work. And I said, you know, have you ever reflected on that your peers would would really like to know what you're doing?
00:31:28
Speaker
and how well you do it, and that you can shape the way we go about doing our work by participating. But I said, right but rather than look at it as administrative or another chore, I said, think if you raised your level of participation to a to an expert level where you you thought you were providing everyone the right pathway of the things you wanted to learn.
00:31:58
Speaker
I said, so I think you'll be surprised at how people will give back if they see you participate at a high level. Yeah, I love that encouragement. So, Scott, you were also talking about kind of reaching across generations and and different types of leaders in the workplace. where you Were you, from an executive standpoint, maybe learning from a younger person?
00:32:19
Speaker
I'm curious, BASF seems to be so intentional about bringing leaders young people into the workforce and young people into your your talent development program.
00:32:31
Speaker
Tell me why that is such a, ah whether it's a core value or strategic ah pillar at BASF of making sure you find some of the best in the best young up andcomers and comers and making sure you're bringing them into BASF and nurturing them.
00:32:47
Speaker
Yeah, I think i think it's it's always been that that I think that you know early in career, late in career, doesn't doesn't really matter.
00:32:59
Speaker
I think we have real opportunity to put different people at the table and give people a real seat at the table. And so to me, the the core value has been that if you're part of our professional development team, you're you're part of the team.
00:33:13
Speaker
it's You're not part of the development team that's somehow secondary. you're You're really part of the team. And it it could be... you know someone just right out of college and we're going to an AFA event, I have no problem saying, so what do you think students want to hear about?
00:33:34
Speaker
It likely isn't my 35-year career from point A to point Z, right? so but it it So I think those kind of insights. The other one is that to me, I think we also often think that you have to have 35 years of experience to to have an opinion about
00:33:58
Speaker
45Z or about renewable fuel. or you know And you know I think it's, you know, someone I met about AFA that was on the leadership and and she had internship with ah with a ethanol company and had brilliant ideas about what what to do, you know, and and different ways to approach it.
00:34:23
Speaker
and And so I think think we shouldn't be so think we should be more open to different people's opinions, no matter where you are in your career ladder or expertise on the topic.
00:34:37
Speaker
And so I, a lot of times, would debrief in those meetings and say, what did you hear them say? And when you do that, if you if everybody knew going in you wanted to listen to what people said, it's amazing what you miss.
00:34:54
Speaker
And so to me, that's that was just fascinating because it you get someone new to the team, or you wanted to know what they saw, what they heard. you know Those first few months, what they saw and heard were priceless.
00:35:08
Speaker
And so I view the same thing it was when you have early in career, whether that's an internship or whether they are they're coming on and being – to your team for the first time as a full-time employee, you want to know what they're seeing and hearing.
00:35:24
Speaker
And so I think that's, because their perspective is is likely different. And I think, he you know, if you've ever gone and taken notes, if you were the presenter, you think you heard everything, but you likely didn't take as good of notes as if you just had a note taker in the room, right?
00:35:42
Speaker
And so to me, this this collaboration part is is really, really part of it. The thing that it did for BSF early early on is that, you know, we have a lot of innovation to launch.
00:35:57
Speaker
And so how people learn, how adults learn is amazing. And so it really pushed us to to try different ways to to teach, to launch products.
00:36:09
Speaker
And so whether that was podcasts or whether it was videos or bars and charts or interview people to see how they would it. But it it really opened us up to having the ability to to teach ourselves, let alone customers, and and to do it annually.
00:36:28
Speaker
And so to me, that's the other that was a habit we just really needed to get into, and and it really has worked. the the area The other area that I think has been really cool is that most organizations, least ours, was thriving for mentorships.
00:36:46
Speaker
without ever saying it. And so if you've had a career for five years and you you think, oh my gosh, I can help you onboard you because here's all the things I experienced when I first started.
00:36:59
Speaker
And then imagine what the people have been here for 20 years and 30 years would like to teach you to to help you be successful in in your career. And so when you have both those dynamics going at the same time, and it time it's really special.
Value of Lateral Career Moves
00:37:15
Speaker
And so And I think that's what we see going on here at BSF is that we have both camps wanting to be mentors or buddies at the same time.
00:37:27
Speaker
And so it it's it's really a ah cool dynamic. And I would love to go back and be a PDP. I would do that tomorrow if if given the chance. i would I would be happy to go back and be part of the professional development program because of what you could learn and in an accelerated way.
00:37:46
Speaker
Um, and so to me, that's, those are just some of the things that I really like. Yeah, absolutely. I, I think that is so cool that at this point in your career, you're like, man, I wish I could go back to the beginning and start again with what we're doing today.
00:37:57
Speaker
I'm curious, Scott, as you talk about mentorship, uh, as you look back on your career, was there someone who was the right mentor at the right time for you?
00:38:07
Speaker
Yeah, I, I, I think it's always one of those things where, I had a mentor. You want me say his name? or if you If you feel comfortable with it, yeah. Yeah, his name was Bob Birch. I'll leave out my father, right? Of course, he was he's probably responsible for my all the ideas I have because he was entrepreneurial. But this that's mentor was a teammate. he was He certainly had lots of experience.
00:38:39
Speaker
And it it opened me up to say, I need help on do I have the right presentation? i I would like to go see what happens when we present these slides. Do you do you mind doing that?
00:38:56
Speaker
And so but i think what he liked is i had ah I had a different view of how it goes, and he had done it the same way forever. and And then and we're talking about just putting customer presentations together.
00:39:08
Speaker
So then we decided, let's just take a week and put together the presentation together. And that evolved to, think we need to chart out this year from the beginning of the season to the end, what we need.
00:39:20
Speaker
And then we're going to capture all those things in between. So it was, it was, it was really great because could, you could talk about what went good, what went bad that day. And there was never really, when we found out there we weren't any bad days, we just had to think about new ways to do it.
00:39:35
Speaker
And so I think that was always kind of the hurdle i think people go through is that if it's just an experience and it's not the out again it's not the outcome, because we werere we were we're determined to change the outcome to be a positive and not it not accept as, well, I didn't do so good ah as a failure.
00:39:58
Speaker
I think if people would take that that mindset that let me debrief, let me figure this out, that it's just a problem they haven't solved for yet, I think people be a lot happier.
00:40:10
Speaker
And then that way that you know they would really see that you're just going to try and show up show up differently, ask your questions better, those kind of things. And so that's kind of what I learned.
00:40:21
Speaker
And then the other thing I learned in that setting is that there's there's a lot of good approaches. And so and the more I practiced, the better. so the Like my team today, i would say the only difference between today, what you saw, and and what is that you didn't see what happened three weeks ago when I first started practicing.
00:40:46
Speaker
You didn't realize i started practicing while ago. And so that's what I learned over my career is that I need to start somewhere with the practicing. and i But I just learned each incrementally each time.
00:41:00
Speaker
And then I go again either the next day or the next week And so I think that was that's what I think is what I learned from some of the mentoring as well.
00:41:12
Speaker
The other one is that I think mid-career folks sometimes get trapped in saying, I'm not not accelerating fast enough. I'm not um'm not getting to the next job. I didn't get promoted.
00:41:24
Speaker
um I was one of those people who thought that i I should already be at middle management and managing people and products and all those sorts of things very early in my career.
00:41:35
Speaker
And i it was really important to have a mentor that says, here's all the type of things you should want to be learning and becoming more of an expert at before that jump. and And the idea of having a lateral move to progress your career was something. I think half of my moves have been lateral.
00:41:54
Speaker
And so that I don't see that. I like to tell people about that. But i I think that that is something that really can allow you to have both breadth and depth and I think probably accelerates you more than you think.
00:42:11
Speaker
And so it's because you can describe what failure looks like. you can describe how you turned it around. You can normally describe what you might consider next, right, to to group to go go deeper further for the next person.
00:42:26
Speaker
And then I think the other thing, as you get to that middle career, hopefully you're working for a manager that says, I'd like to advance you. before I a advance me.
00:42:37
Speaker
And so I think this idea that their career is really important is the other way to look at that. Yeah. I really appreciate you saying that about the lateral moves because I think that ties back to where we started our conversation around when you talked about your role today at BASF and how you've done a lot of the jobs on the team that you lead
Recommended Reads for Leaders
00:42:59
Speaker
today. And I think being able to be a good leader at that level, like if you've been a marketer, if you've been in the field as a salesperson, if you have done some of this operations work, It makes it, makes it so much, I'm not going to say easier, but maybe easier actually. Yes. Like you, you can talk the talk because you've walked the walk of a lot of the people that you, you lead today.
00:43:20
Speaker
Yeah. You know, I think, I think what it's probably helped me over time with is that there's a lot of times I, I, I'm not offering my expertise or help because the person is doing so well.
00:43:34
Speaker
Right. So I think it's, I don't, I also don't want it to be their burden, other people's burden. But sometimes it it has worked out really well when you have a new person that comes in, then you can say, hey, you can lean on me. Or, you know, if you're, those sorts of things. So I think it it's helped with dialogue. Like, where where do you need me? Right? If we're just going to work on a team, then I think I'm also willing to to help.
00:44:02
Speaker
I think that's the other part that's It makes it really fun. you know that That team environment, you just can't you can't beat it. If that's how everybody feels, boy, then the sharing has really gone up.
00:44:15
Speaker
So I think this this idea of doing it from a team perspective, I think that that really helps lot. Absolutely. Okay, Scott, we are going to switch gears a little bit and go into the rapid fire segment where ah you are I'm going to ask you questions and you try to answer in one sentence or less and I try to not ask follow-up questions. Okay.
00:44:38
Speaker
So, Scott, what is something you had to unlearn to become a better leader?
00:44:44
Speaker
To unlearn to be a better leader? Not be so critical of when I didn't perform as well. think that's relatable. What is one leadership habit that has made the biggest difference in your career?
00:44:56
Speaker
Be open to change. One word that you would use to describe the future of the ag workforce? Highly needed. What is a leadership skill every manager should be working on right now?
00:45:08
Speaker
How to make AI accelerate their team. What is a daily habit that makes you a better leader? Easily renewal by saying, what can I do to be better?
00:45:19
Speaker
And what is one belief about leadership that you've changed your mind on? That really all the success comes from the team. You had to, do so question, going to ask follow-up question on this one. Did you have to change your mindset on like success coming from you to success coming from the team?
00:45:35
Speaker
Yes. I very specifically had it happen from, went from a so single contributor out to leading a team back into that same team from, from, from sales back into marketing.
00:45:50
Speaker
and realize how strong, if we could have a really strong team, we could move a lot faster. We could be a lot more prepared.
00:46:01
Speaker
There's so many strengths that derive from it. And so probably had was witnessing it, but not the didn't do it consciously. But that next turn did it very consciously.
00:46:15
Speaker
Yeah, makes sense. I think it's a journey. At least I had to go through it myself too. And in transitioning from individual contributor to, to team leader, it's a, it's a mindset shift for sure. ah Okay. So Scott at AFA, we love hot takes.
00:46:29
Speaker
So this is unconventional or bold opinions that our guests have. So I am curious, what is a hot take that you have um on leadership or the future of agriculture?
00:46:40
Speaker
Yeah. So I mentioned Seven Habits of Highly Effective People earlier. The other book that we have a book club going on is Who Moved My Cheese?
00:46:52
Speaker
Oldie but a goodie as well? An oldie but a goodie. And I think i think that we should reread it and and describe it in today's terms.
00:47:05
Speaker
And so no matter where you were in your career, I i even wonder if if you won't change what you thought you appreciated about the book if that won't change when you read it again.
00:47:17
Speaker
Yep. So is that the must read, you think, Scott, for any any leader? So long as you're going to read it with your team, i think it's ah i think it's a think it's a must read.
00:47:29
Speaker
And i'm I'm assuming because you're you're already going to have read every AI book, you're going to have a speaker come, you're going to do a lot of things around I'd I just think I would reflect on who you are and yourself from that move my cheese.
00:47:44
Speaker
So I think it'll just make it more personal. It'll be less about the ai and more about, am I in a position to adopt or not? Am am I going to keep readopting?
00:47:57
Speaker
mean, how fast is it going to change? Right? So I think, think if we all listen, we're going to say, oh my gosh, it might change daily, yearly, but it's going to keep changing.
Connecting with Scott Kaye
00:48:07
Speaker
And so,
00:48:09
Speaker
I think it'll help people just adjust. Yeah. How are you going to deal with the change that is inevitable? Yeah. Well, Scott, thank you so much. This has been so wonderful. I always enjoy any time get the opportunity to chat with you. And you know at AFA we are all about building bridges. So where can listeners connect more with you and learn more about the work happening at BASF?
00:48:32
Speaker
Yeah. so I think, you know, to me, the one cool thing is that when I books, mostly agriculture articles. If I'm inspired by that or I think it'd be worth for somebody else, I post it on LinkedIn.
00:48:47
Speaker
And so to me, that's that's probably where you would find me the most. and and And don't worry, you won't have to look at me like maybe you are with this camera focused on me.
00:48:58
Speaker
um My marketing director and I have both subscribed the idea that the camera's better focused out, capturing what others are doing. So so That's where you'll find me.
00:49:10
Speaker
Well, thank you so much, Scott. I have enjoyed learning about your leadership journey, your lessons in how to coach and develop people, and the work that you guys are doing at BASF. So thank you so much for joining us today.
00:49:22
Speaker
And thanks to all our listeners for joining us for another episode of the Cultivating Leaders podcast, where leaders grow. Thanks for listening to the Cultivating Leaders podcast, where leaders grow.
00:49:33
Speaker
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