Better Business Decisions – Part 1.

What Got You Here, Won’t Get You THERE! – Marshall Goldsmith

If you have worked the land, repaired a piece of machinery in the rain, or have tried to direct a yard full of casuals who are still recovering from a bender the night before, you’ve probably earned your status as an Ag contractor. You are resourceful, reliable, and respected.

But here’s the question we’re facing in 2025:
Is being a “good and keen” enough anymore?

We live in an age where physical grit and operational skill are not the only ingredients for success. More and more, our challenges are less physical – margin compression, staffing headaches, compliance stress, and market uncertainty. These aren’t things you can fix with a spanner, welder or by simply working harder and chasing more work.

To win in this new environment, we need to ask a tough questions:

Is our identity helping us build better businesses — or quietly holding us back?

Let’s unpack what that means.

1. The Rural Identity: A National Icon 

New Zealand and Australia have always prided themselves on a certain kind of quiet DIY prowess – the stoic, silent hard worker. Practical, capable, unflashy, and allergic to anything that smells like self-importance. The ‘shouting mates a beer, fixing a fence in a southerly, would rather be caught dead than attending a flashy business seminar in the city’ type.

This Archetype didn’t just emerge randomly. It was built, brick by brick, through history, war and sport. More than that, it was needed — to bring productivity out of the land that we all live in.

So who became the icon? The strong and self sufficient farmer, shearer, builder, contractor.

This has become a kind of unspoken framework for how rural workers should act, lead, and work. The only problem?

That model is not built for today.

2. “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” – Business Reality Check

Lets make one thing clear, you’re not just driving machinery. You are running a business, getting outcomes for your farmers, creating a livelihood for your staff. This business needs a CEO — not just another guy who can operate skilfully and efficiently with a solid work ethic.

Many Ag contractors – and we say this with deep respect – are still relying on habits and decision-making styles that no longer serve them:

  • Bank-account-based accounting: “If there’s money in the account, I’m good.” (Until the GST hits.)
  • Fear of delegation: “It’s just easier if I do it myself.” (Until burnout sets in.)
  • Gut-instinct hiring: “He’s a good bloke — let’s give him a go.” (Until it costs you thousands.)
  • No clear metrics: “We’re flat out, so we must be making money.” (Not always.)

These are symptoms of a business being run on muscle memory, not management.

3. Culture Becomes a Ceiling

So where do culture and business collide?

The traits we admire most in our identity (independence, stoicism, DIY thinking) are often the exact traits that:

  • Prevent us from asking for help
  • Make us dismiss systems and process
  • Cause us to reject advice
  • Lead us to believe that working harder is always the answer

This creates a ceiling. A trap. A very rugged, hardworking, well-intentioned trap.

You see, the most dangerous phrase in any business is:
“That’s just how we do it.”

And the most common mindset in trouble is:
“I’ll just push through.”

The risk is that we get so used to surviving on grit that we don’t realise how much we’re sacrificing in vision, health, team performance — and profitability.

4. The Hidden Cost of Cognitive Bias in Business

One bias in particular that hits Ag contractors hard is the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

It goes like this:

  • We think we know what we’re doing in areas like HR, finance, or strategy…
  • However, because we have never trained in them, our confidence is based on assumptions — not reality.
  • Worse, we don’t know what we don’t know… so we don’t improve.

Add to this the culture of not talking about feelings, struggling in silence, and not asking for help — and you’ve got the perfect storm.

You might be thinking: “I’ve built this business with my hands — I’m no mug.” However, grit alone can only take you so far. After a certain point, you become the bottleneck. Not because you’re lazy. Not because you’re stupid. But because you haven’t upgraded the operating system — in your mind.

5. From Labourer to Leader: What Leadership Looks Like Now

We are at a new crossroads: reinventing what success looks like in rural business leadership.

Here’s the new version of the contractor CEO:

  • Still practical, but also reflective
  • Still decisive, but now data-informed
  • Still hands-on, but not handcuffed to every task
  • Still gritty, but no longer isolated

And this shift doesn’t mean selling your soul to the city slickers or wearing a tie to the paddock. It means becoming the kind of business owner who can lead in this century, not the last.

We suggest the following tactics:

➤ Track One Metric

Just one. Start with something real: cost per job, revenue per hour, billable labour vs non billable. It doesn’t need to be fancy — it just needs to be tracked, consistently.

➤ Delegate One Task

What’s one thing you hate doing or aren’t great at? Sending info to staff? Payroll? Scheduling? Someone else can do it — or software can. Free up your brain.

➤ One Hour of Thinking Time

Yes — thinking. Not driving. Not texting. Not fixing. Just one hour per week where you reflect, strategise, and plan. The best decisions don’t happen in chaos.

6. The Cost of Inaction

Here’s what happens if we don’t change:

  • Stress builds.
    You don’t sleep. You lose weekends. You lash out at the people trying to help.
  • Talent leaves.
    Your best guys get tired of the chaos and go work for someone else.
  • You burn out.
    You lose the spark that got you into this in the first place.
  • You get overtaken.
    By the operator down the road who invested in systems, tracked their numbers, and had time to think

7. A Final Thought:

None of this is a rejection of who you are or how you have gotten here. It’s an invitation to become a better version of it.

You don’t have to give up your boots, your ute, or your no-nonsense attitude. However, you do need to give up the story that grit alone will get you through.

In 2025, the strongest business owner is the one who can think, delegate, and lead — not just do.

Let’s build something bigger than a business. Let’s build a legacy that works — and works without burning you out.