Julie Krivanek is a strategic plan and process advisor to Boards, CEOs, and Executives in the fresh food and produce industries. She also serves on advisory boards and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Leadership is an art, and management is a science. I love this line spoken by Julie Krivanek as it crosses from her desk to mine over the collapsed distance of an early morning Zoom meeting. She speaks by the light of the cool October sun, guiding me through the elements that make for a holistic and balanced leader. Julie talks to me about a vision, as well, now in its 26th year, and how it continues to bring a diverse and rich group of 12 individuals together for a year-long journey in personal and professional development.
Now called the International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA) Produce Industry Leadership Program, this prestigious legacy program from United Fresh is one of the only ongoing leadership programs for the fresh produce and floral industries. As the Founder and President of Krivanek Consulting, with over 30 years of consulting in strategic planning, leadership coaching, and mergers and acquisitions consulting for the fresh produce industry, Julie has experienced leadership from every angle and intimately understands the genesis of such a valuable program.
“I would like to take you back to 1995 for a moment. This program, and the founding vision between the United Fresh Produce Association and DuPont, came from a deep desire to simply develop leaders that can guide us into the future,” Julie tells me. “In order to achieve this goal, the organizations asked themselves what people needed to know and what they needed to do to become the sort of holistic leader that could accomplish such a feat. I was asked to join the program for Class 1, hour 1, and I have been a part of the strategy, planning, and leadership training of what we now call, post-merger, the IFPA Leadership Program.”
As Julie shared with me, this planning also included the decision to keep the group small, intimately small. Only 12 individuals—the magic number, in Julie’s words—are selected each year from the trials of several gauntlets, including personal essay submissions and rounds of interviews with program alumni who take great pride in the program and seek to bring a diverse range of backgrounds and roles to the program.
“The Founders’ desire to cultivate such dynamic and well-rounded leadership is where our four main platforms of competency were developed from, which drive and ground our program. These fundamental goals are leadership development, business relationships, government and public affairs, and media and public communications,” Julie describes. “Leaders must learn how to lead and support; grow and evolve; communicate and listen; drive policy and change; and translate their goals, vision, and mission to groups from 1 to 100.”
While these pillars have remained the same, Julie and the organizers customize each class syllabus to address current-day concerns and challenges in order to build a relevant program packed with trips, events, face-to-face meetings, hands-on training with top industry experts and educators, and interactive experiences with influential leaders.
“Leaders must learn how to lead and support, grow and evolve, communicate and listen, drive policy and change, and translate their goals, vision, and mission.”
Julie Krivanek, Founder and President, Krivanek Consulting
So much has changed in recent years, and so much continues to change, especially as beliefs and research emerge about leadership. Julie takes me back again for a moment, sharing her experience of the days when a majority of people thought you couldn’t develop leaders because they were just born that way.
“There are so many debates around this idea of the origin and development of leadership. Are leaders made? Are they born? Now, after 26 years, we have created what we believe to be the perfect evolving formula to build a global cross-functional produce dream team: our class of 12,” Julie shares with me. “You end up with people from very different parts of the entire supply chain. That’s unusual and that’s on purpose. And the other thing that’s evolved, which I love, is the majority of people are mid-managers. They have a heavy dose of the leadership structure from being managed and directed by those above them while also wielding the experience of working with those that fall within their care. These are people who have been doing this for a while. And so, it’s a perfect time.”
Having been in this space for so long, Julie has observed how many organizations debate whether or not to send people to any development training whatsoever, because of the price tag (FYI, this program is free), but also because of the time away. So, Julie reveals some remarkable stats for me.
“There is a management company called DDI whose research showed that organizations with the highest quality of leaders are 13 times more likely to outperform competitors. They’ve started to do research on retention and engagement,” she says. “People are three times more likely to stay in a company with strong leaders. The latest research also shows that 30 percent of leaders are born, but 70 percent are developed. I say those are pretty strong factors that can contribute to investing in your future leaders.”
Those numbers deserve a considerable pause. Another stat to reveal is that, of 312 graduates, the leadership program reported an 80 percent retention for leaders in the industry.
“...organizations with the highest quality of leaders are 13 times more likely to outperform competitors.”
“When you read the lists of people who have graduated from the program, it is basically a ‘who’s who’ of people in the industry,” Julie signals.
With my ears perked, Julie pulls me deeper into the conversation, describing how the people that make up each class contribute to the tangible and intangible benefits of the program. Not only do colleagues learn from the events and activities on the syllabus, but they learn so much from each other. Each brings a different walk of life, a different journey, and unique expertise to the table. The relationships built in these classes not only last a lifetime and create business opportunities, but they cross graduating classes. The alumni become a network of possibilities, friends, advocates, and sources of inspiration and motivation.
Here are the industry members of class 26 that will be graduating from the IFPA Produce Industry Leadership Program on Thursday, October 27:
The program shapes, stretches, builds, and enriches both soft skills and hard skills, culture, and communication—the tangible and intangible, Julie says, laying it all out before me.
This dual dynamic of leadership is a place that Julie thrives and loves to invite others into. Learning new ways while unlearning old, breaking the mold and simultaneously building a new one—this is where leadership gets done. This is where leadership thrives. 
