Working on my own on a project at Monsanto means I need to put myself out there and organise as many meetings as I can to gleam information from my colleagues.  Being the new fellow from Scotland certainly helps, as does a friendly unassuming manner.  I'm genuinely here to learn and people can appreciate that.  So when Ruairidh told me of this great satellite system now owned by Monsanto, I had to meet the creator.  If you don't ask you don't get right?!  I looked it up and came across this fellow called Greg, I gave him a call and he was more than happy to come along to my building and give me a presentation on his business.

Greg and I talked for an hour.  As I introduced myself, the Saltire Fellow, he really appreciated what we're trying to do and wished me all the luck in th world and then he started to tell me about his business and how it came about.  I loved his sotry and wanted to share it with you.  Greg worked for an agriculture company taking photos of crops using digital cameras to help farmers determine when to harvest.  He could see it was not the most efficient way for analysis and thought, why can't we use satellites.  So he decided to call NASA and ask if they ever thought about using their satellites in such a way.  They said they had in fact been thinking about exactly that and could he come down to Houston to visit and discuss in more detail.  He spent 2 years working with NASA and created algorithms (bear with me here, I'm a technophobe!!) to allow 16 saltellites to talk to each other and monitor not only vegetation, uniquely, but also moisture levels and soil types.  Monsanto saw the enormous potential of this system, as did their main competitor Pioneer Dupont and they bid against each other to buy Greg's company.  Monsanto was the winning side (as Greg was passioante about what they were doing to help all farmers of this world, being a farmer himself).  He is now, obviously very wealthy but goes to work every day at Monsanto, selling his system to anyone willing to listen.  He has high level clearance with the US government to monitor water levels in other countries and is working closely with aid groups in Africa to help the poorest farmers monitor and increase yields to help starving people.

In my professional life, and most recently at Babson, I have had the pleasure of meeting several business leaders all with a different approach in leadership and management and I've got to say my short time with Greg was truly mesmerising.  He spoke with such conviction, humility and passion for his product and when I said to him my mind was racing with ideas on uses for this system, he didn't laugh at me, he asked me write them down, call him and we would meet up again to discuss our wild ideas.  He simply wants to further this opportunity as best he can and welcomes all thoughts and ideas, no matter where they come from.  He was never precious about 'his idea'.

My short time with Hugh Grant left me with the same impression; that he welcomed all ideas to make this vast company more effective, more innovative and more united.

My work colleague Carolyn took me out for lunch today and bought some cards for her co-workers and brought me in flowers to brighten up my desk.  She's a maven!  and made my day!!

So yes I am learning from my project work at Monsanto, but I'm learning so much more from my encounters with inspirational characters like Hugh, Greg and my now close friend Carolyn.  Leadership and people skills come in many forms.  You just need to open your eyes to see them.

Lx