Foremost Farms is proud to announce the cooperative’s Director of Planning & Dairy Analytics, Sammi Fleckner, has been selected to participate in Cohort 8 of the International Dairy Foods Associations (IDFA) NextGen Leadership program. The Program prepares mid- to senior-level dairy professionals to take the next step in their leadership journey and help shape the future of the industry. Through a year-long curriculum focused on advocacy, leadership development and networking, participants build skills, knowledge and relationships to become effective leaders and advocates for dairy.
Sammi reflected on what participating in the program means to her.
WHAT DOES THIS OPPORTUNITY MEAN TO YOU?
A lot of what I know about leadership I picked up by doing, by watching good and bad examples up close, and by figuring things out under pressure rather than through any kind of formal leadership curriculum. So having a real, dedicated investment in my growth as a leader, not just as a subject matter expert or a manager who keeps the trains running, feels like a genuine milestone in my career. It’s the first time someone has said, “we want to develop you as a leader”, and I don’t take that lightly.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THE PROGRAM?
What I’m most looking forward to is peer connection. I’m currently leading my team through a real transition, including a new manager stepping into a role that required real trust-building, some legacy dynamics still working themselves out, and a team that’s being asked to operate at a higher level than it has before. It’s the kind of stretch that tests every leadership instinct I have, and honestly, some days it’s lonely work. I don’t have a lot of people inside Foremost Farms who are navigating exactly this kind of team transition in real time, so being in a cohort with other leaders wrestling with similar things like building trust with teams they didn’t choose, learning when to step in versus when to let people struggle productively, holding people accountable while still building psychological safety feels like exactly what I need right now. I’m hoping those relationships won’t just be program-length friendships, but a real network I can call on when I hit a wall, long after NextGen wraps up.
HOW DO YOU PLAN ON APPLYING WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED TO YOUR ROLE?
I don’t want this to just make me a better leader in the abstract. I want it to directly shape how I lead my team through the next several months, raise the bar for what leadership looks like on my team and, ideally, in the broader organization. If I can come out of this with sharper instincts, a stronger peer network, and a handful of practical tools I can put into action immediately, I think that shows up not just in how I lead, but in how my team performs and how they in turn lead the people who work for them. That ripple effect — elevated leadership moving through the organization — is honestly the outcome I care about most.