Like most industries in the country, dairy has been in a phase of rapid and continual change for the first quarter of the 21st century. It’s clear to see the consequences of this changing dairy landscape when one evaluates the consolidation of farms in the U.S. since 2004.

In that time, United States Department of Agriculture scientists at the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) tracked the exodus of dairy farms in the country and the rapid growth of remaining farms. Since 2004, the number of dairies in the country fell from 66,830 to nearly a third of that number at 24,810 farms in 2024 and average herd size grew from 135 cows to 377 cows per farm.

That evolution has changed what many farms look like in terms of leadership. Instead of a single farmer or even family unit running an operation, dairies now feature employees, specialists, and vendors. Leadership remains ever necessary, whether you run a small farm or a multinational dairy foods business.

A human-centric approach

At the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) Dairy Forum 2025, Ramesh Srinivasan highlighted some of the traits that the global consulting firm McKinsey and Company has identified as critical to leadership in evolving businesses and industries.

“In this environment, a lot of people that you are leading often have big questions. They’re walking around with confusion caused by the geopolitics and all the changes happening in the world,” explained Srinivasan, who serves as the senior partner of McKinsey and Company’s New York office.

“Companies and institutions that invest in leadership are able to unleash much greater performance for their employees, investors, and customers,” he continued.

In Srinivasan’s opinion, there are two phases to good leadership. The first is how one leads themselves, and the second is how that causes them to lead others.

“This idea that a leader has all the answers to the problems that an institution is facing, we think is no longer relevant,” he shared. “It’s actually useful to have a new paradigm of leadership, and we put a label on that, which we are calling a more human-centric approach.”

Srinivasan’s presentation also featured a panel of dairy industry leaders including the CEO of Hudson Will Ice Cream, Tina Floyd.

She described the shift in leadership this way, “Early in my career, I received some really direct feedback that my leadership style was not working. Once I finally realized that it wasn’t working, and I became true to who I am, things changed. If I were to put it into a couple of words, I think I’m just unapologetically human-centric,” she shared.

“What I mean is, it’s basic fundamental respect for each other — a willingness to listen and meet people where they are,” she detailed. “Empathy is good, but you can also have really difficult supporting conversations along the way.”

Talent unleashed

Once leadership entails the humility to recognize one’s need for help, then begins the process of defining spaces for employees to be empowered to lead within the framework of the company’s mission and goals.

“I understand, especially in your industry, that attracting talent is critical, so unleashing the potential of people will also be critical to get the most from the businesses that you lead,” Srinivasan said.

This practice of unleashing talent often goes deeper than face value. It requires understanding what each of your employees brings to the table and understanding how to empower them to answer the questions and solve the problems that day-to-day leadership doesn’t have the ability or time to address.

Srinivasan said that it’s important to first understand what qualities you have as a leader and be able to understand how you can use those characteristics and skills to empower those you work with.

“A very critical corollary is this idea that you don’t control everything,” he explained. “A lot of the leaders I work with feel that they can control every single outcome.”

In truly successful businesses, Srinivasan said leaders can’t control everything, but they can drive the mission and define the concepts with which their employees operate.

Fearless learning

The final characteristic of leadership that Srinivasan imparted on the audience at Dairy Forum 2025 was the story of Admiral Eric Olson, retired Navy Seal. He shared Olson’s and the Navy Seals’ commitment to fearless learning that features three main characteristics. The first is doing all the research and reconnaissance possible. Next, make decisions based on what you’re learning from the front line. Finally, ask for and receive feedback on decisions so the next choice can be even better.

“Eric talks about how the Navy Seals don’t have a culture of teaching people how to kill other people. They have a culture of supporting each other, learning from each other, and executing with an idea of fearless learning where they’re able to learn from mistakes,” Srinivasan explained.

“If there’s one practice I’d like all of you to take away as you empower your teams, it’s to really embrace this point of both asking for and receiving feedback,” he concluded.

Putting it to practice

In addition to Floyd, Leprino Foods Company’s Mike Durkin, and Dairy Farmers of America’s (DFA) Dennis Rodenbaugh shared insights on how they apply human-centric leadership in their organizations and offered advice to young industry leaders.

“Everything that happened from childhood to today led to the seat that you’re sitting in and the role you’re sitting in,” said Rodenbaugh. “Every one of those experiences of saying yes created a skill set, it created an experience, and it created something to lean back on.

“And then you finally reached this point where all of those things collectively come together, and it’s this magic sauce that happens to work for exactly what you needed in a moment in time,” he concluded.

For Durkin, putting leadership to practice required trusting his gut. Specifically as a young leader, Durkin shared that the answers might not be clear and leaders might not have enough information to make an informed decision. That’s when he acknowledges that having confidence, trusting intuition, and being decisive will serve young leaders well.

Floyd’s final thoughts on leadership echoed her earlier advice on building relationships and empowering people.

“It’s those relationships that circle around and will be there to help support you whenever you trip and fall or need some extra guidance or support,” she shared. “Then, don’t forget to laugh along the way because we all manage a lot of stress and should be having some fun as well.”