DECEMBER 2017 SEEDWORLD.COM / 31 • Craig Newman — Newman has 38 years seed experience. He is the former presi- dent and CEO of AgReliant Genetics, the third largest U.S. corn seed company. • Paul Bratney – He has 40 years seed industry facility design, engineering, construction and management experi- ence on three continents. • Jim Tobin — Tobin has 31 years global executive leadership and product man- agement experience with Monsanto, and graduated Harvard University with an MBA. Four of the seven members of FBI are former Chairmen of ASTA. Six of the seven are former executive board members of ASTA. Fly the Plane: Focus on the Strategy Jim Tobin says even when things are really tough, he remem- bers to fly the plane. “That’s my advice – inspired by now-retired U.S. Airways pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger who made an unexpected water landing in New York’s Hudson River in 2009 – to any agribusi- ness executive in today’s fast-paced, technology-based indus- try,” he says. Tobin believes that their role as ag executives should be focused on the overall business strategy that will keep their com- panies and their products viable and profitable into the future. “We must keep our eye on the customer, recognizing and responding to their needs today and projecting and creating their needs for tomorrow,” he says. “It’s not an easy job; if it were, companies wouldn’t need CEOs.” CEOs Need Teams with Unified Vision By the same token, CEOs need teams they can trust and that have a unified vision toward the customer. The best leader- ship teams – the CEO and the “lieutenants” – are collaborative, accountable, co-dependent and customer-focused. “My career as a seed-industry leader has been greatly influ- enced by my active involvement with the American Seed Trade Association,” Tobin says. “This is a group of talented and dedicated leaders who take off their company hats to share ideas about issues important to our work: public policy, regulatory matters, intellectual property rights and trade issues.” He believes in a productive and interactive atmosphere, FBI can find actionable ways to overcome challenges facing the industry, relying on their individual and shared experiences to design solutions. “The exciting thing about the seed industry is that we are able to give growers so many more choices than ever before. By delivering herbicide tolerance and insect protection through the seed, we are helping growers gain more productivity and profit.”