November 19, 2025 • 9 mins
Tony Groves of Halo Training talks about farming and mindset.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome back to the Master. Tony Groves of Halo Training
joins us this afternoon. Tony, good afternoon, and welcome to
the Master.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank good Andy, Thanks a lot, mate, It's awesome to
be here.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Halo Training Training as such, what is.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
It as a leadership development program. We've been around for
almost nine years now and we're teaching leadership to organizations
based on well, originally based on my experience from when
I was in the military and the intelligence community, and
I learned a lot of salty lessons while I was
(00:44):
overseas on operations deployed in each team or Iraq in
Afghanistan in leadership roles, and yeah, we've had some really
we learned some really salty lessons over there. And when
I came home and we started, my wife and I
were talking and she could see how it along with business.
And then we started talking to this other friends who
are in business and they said, this is really useful stuff,
(01:06):
and we ended up creating Halo Training from that.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
And hence you're able to translate these into agriculture as
such for leadership.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, that actually was unexpected and unexpected path for us.
We didn't set out to serve the egg industry. Initially
we were teaching to business, and over the years we
saw more and more people from agriculture attending our programs,
and it was just consistent a pard trend of egg participants.
(01:36):
And they started asking us, you know, why are you
doing something like this just for the egg industry, And
they said it's really useful, especially your background in the military.
And I said, well, how is that helpful for you guys?
And they're saying, well, if anyone gets it that, you guys,
you don't work nine till five. There's work that needs
to be done, and that's what you start when you
(01:57):
need to start, and you finish when you need to finish.
You're out in all conditions of the environment, doesn't matter
if it's cold, wet and miserable, hot and dry. The
work's got to be done and we're outside doing it.
And you're away from your families a lot, just like us.
And that was a really interesting one because when I
dug down into that part of the conversation, they were
talking about we might not be deployed, but if we're
(02:20):
you know, these guys are on pretty big stations, and
they're saying, we don't see our families much either. Even
though we're on our own land, we were away all
day way up in the walks. We don't see our
families often either. And I've had a bit of a
challenge coming home myself around PTSD, and I was formerly
an alcoholic and had got diagnosed with anxiety and depression.
(02:44):
It was a pretty challenging time personally, and the farmers
they really resonated with that. They said, it's actually the
same things that we're going through, and I'm very fortunate
to come out of out the other end in a
better position from my own exit experience. But it was
something that just made it more genuine and authentic when
we're talking to the farmers that they really understand what
(03:07):
that's like. And I learned a lot of lessons that
I can pass on to others so they don't have
to take that same path.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
That's what I was going to ask you, Tony. It
sounds as though you've had quite a journey, but actually
getting to the bottom, reinventing yourself and coming back out,
you think you can correlate that with a lot of
farmers as well, based on the business structures.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, so much for me personally at the time. You
think you know, if I look at the lowest points
on bare bottom, I can't see a way out of this.
And maybe I need to look at an exit strategy.
And you think that's as bad as it gets. And
what I learned in retrospect, although I'd never want to
get it through it again, what I learned from that
was actually the best thing that happened to me because
(03:48):
it really made me sort out my priorities and make
real progress. You know, I had to, like you said,
I had to reinvent myself. And after that, now that
I know what bad lie, I never want to be
there again. And I'm at a completely different place. I
see life differently, I see myself differently, even see work differently.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So tell us about the course then as far as
what farmers can expeak to they enroll.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah. So we call it the Certified Halo Leader Agriculture
Program and it's a twelvemonth program. This year. This year,
we just had our graduation of this year's cohort yesterday.
It was run out of Fairlights Station. The next one
will be run out of moss Bern at Farmlands in
the boardroom there. And it's a twelve month program and
(04:36):
it was built around the demand from what the farmers wanted.
They said, it's really like fruit seller for us. If
we want to learn certain leadership tools, we've got to
go to different places. There's not really anywhere where you
can go to get the full suite of leadership skills.
And we're so okay, so well, we've definitely got an
answer to that, And they said. The other thing is
(04:58):
I'm just generalizing, summarizing what a number of conversations ended
up with. We'd often hear something like this, Yeah, you know, look,
we're farmers. We're busy, we're time poor, and we're never happy.
How can you give us training? How can you develop
a training program that will suit people like us? And
it's easy. We just do one session a month. It's
(05:21):
from nine to twelve, and each session focuses on just
one tool, and each tool from each session builds on
the previous So by the end of the year they've
got the full leadership operating system. Not only that's going
to help them regardless of their level of leadership in
the business, but with that operating system, it's teachable and transferable,
(05:43):
so they can create organic succession within their own farm
teams themselves.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
So as far as numbers on the course, Tony, what's available.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
We typically want. The magic number for us is ten
to twelve. That's a really good number for us, and
it keeps it really personal and make sure that we
can give everybody the time that they deserve. So yeah,
ten to twelve people and it's four.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
This year was just a really great program. We had
interns from the Fairlight Foundation that's run out of Fairlight Station.
So they're all about advancing women in agriculture and they
come out of university and they do their one year
internship at Fairlight Station to develop develop their skills right
(06:28):
across all sides of agriculture, deer, beef, dairy, sheep, the
whole thing. It's a great program. So we have the
three interns of this year and we had a couple
of lead shepherds. We had three farm managers and the
general manager all on the program and they're all from
different businesses, right, so that's the core part as well.
(06:52):
What I really loved with this year is when you've
got a general manager and interns on the program, it
was so helpful for both sides. Now, the general measure
was Ala Maxwell from Grasslands here in bos Men and
he was talking about how it helped him really connect
with what it's like to be on the ground, because
(07:13):
you know, with the experience, it's a double edged sword.
We learn a lot over the years, but sometimes we
can forget what it's like to be on the ground again.
And he found it really really valuable and helpful for
him having people like the interns and the lead shepherds
on the program so you could just stay in touch
with what it's like in the ground. But on the
(07:34):
flip side to that, the future leaders and the first
line leaders. They got a lot out of having the
farm managers and the general manager on the program because
they got to see what it's like and the pressures
that the leadership face, and they started thinking bigger picture,
not just what would you like me to do, but
what is it that the boss from a boss's perspective,
(07:55):
that they need me to do, so that they could
take informed initiatives. So there was a lot of value
not just in what we teach, but just in the
connection and the conversations in the room over the course
of that year.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, and just finally, Tony Halo training dot CO, dot
MZ for people to get in touch. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, that's right. That's right. You can just go on
to the programs and you'll see the Certified Halo Leader
Agriculture program and you can just follow the bouncing ball
from there. There's just one last thing I'd like to
say about that this program, Certified Halo Leader Agriculture. The
whole point of that name and what it is that
we do is that if anyone is hiring somebody that's
done that program, you know exactly what you're getting. You
(08:32):
know that that not only just sat in it. It's
not just theory. They've actually got to put these tools
to practice in the workplace. So you'll see that when
you get somebody from that program, you'll know exactly what
they've done. And it's not just a to conflict qualification
by attendance program. You really know what you're getting.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Good on your Toney, enjoyed the chat this afternoon, and
enjoy the OVO awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Hey thanks a lot, mate, take care, really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Tony grows of Haloid Training once again Halo Training dot
co dot MZ for next year's intake. This is the muster.
Courtney Nimo from Beef and Land, New Zealand's up next.
Welcome back to the Master. Tony Groves of Halo Training
joins us this afternoon. Tony, good afternoon, and welcome to
the Master.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank good Andy, Thanks a lot, mate, It's awesome to
be here.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Halo Training Training as such, what is.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
It as a leadership development program. We've been around for
almost nine years now and we're teaching leadership to organizations
based on well, originally based on my experience from when
I was in the military and the intelligence community, and
I learned a lot of salty lessons while I was
(00:44):
overseas on operations deployed in each team or Iraq in
Afghanistan in leadership roles, and yeah, we've had some really
we learned some really salty lessons over there. And when
I came home and we started, my wife and I
were talking and she could see how it along with business.
And then we started talking to this other friends who
are in business and they said, this is really useful stuff,
(01:06):
and we ended up creating Halo Training from that.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
And hence you're able to translate these into agriculture as
such for leadership.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, that actually was unexpected and unexpected path for us.
We didn't set out to serve the egg industry. Initially
we were teaching to business, and over the years we
saw more and more people from agriculture attending our programs,
and it was just consistent a pard trend of egg participants.
(01:36):
And they started asking us, you know, why are you
doing something like this just for the egg industry, And
they said it's really useful, especially your background in the military.
And I said, well, how is that helpful for you guys?
And they're saying, well, if anyone gets it that, you guys,
you don't work nine till five. There's work that needs
to be done, and that's what you start when you
(01:57):
need to start, and you finish when you need to finish.
You're out in all conditions of the environment, doesn't matter
if it's cold, wet and miserable, hot and dry. The
work's got to be done and we're outside doing it.
And you're away from your families a lot, just like us.
And that was a really interesting one because when I
dug down into that part of the conversation, they were
talking about we might not be deployed, but if we're
(02:20):
you know, these guys are on pretty big stations, and
they're saying, we don't see our families much either. Even
though we're on our own land, we were away all
day way up in the walks. We don't see our
families often either. And I've had a bit of a
challenge coming home myself around PTSD, and I was formerly
an alcoholic and had got diagnosed with anxiety and depression.
(02:44):
It was a pretty challenging time personally, and the farmers
they really resonated with that. They said, it's actually the
same things that we're going through, and I'm very fortunate
to come out of out the other end in a
better position from my own exit experience. But it was
something that just made it more genuine and authentic when
we're talking to the farmers that they really understand what
(03:07):
that's like. And I learned a lot of lessons that
I can pass on to others so they don't have
to take that same path.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
That's what I was going to ask you, Tony. It
sounds as though you've had quite a journey, but actually
getting to the bottom, reinventing yourself and coming back out,
you think you can correlate that with a lot of
farmers as well, based on the business structures.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, so much for me personally at the time. You
think you know, if I look at the lowest points
on bare bottom, I can't see a way out of this.
And maybe I need to look at an exit strategy.
And you think that's as bad as it gets. And
what I learned in retrospect, although I'd never want to
get it through it again, what I learned from that
was actually the best thing that happened to me because
(03:48):
it really made me sort out my priorities and make
real progress. You know, I had to, like you said,
I had to reinvent myself. And after that, now that
I know what bad lie, I never want to be
there again. And I'm at a completely different place. I
see life differently, I see myself differently, even see work differently.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So tell us about the course then as far as
what farmers can expeak to they enroll.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah. So we call it the Certified Halo Leader Agriculture
Program and it's a twelvemonth program. This year. This year,
we just had our graduation of this year's cohort yesterday.
It was run out of Fairlights Station. The next one
will be run out of moss Bern at Farmlands in
the boardroom there. And it's a twelve month program and
(04:36):
it was built around the demand from what the farmers wanted.
They said, it's really like fruit seller for us. If
we want to learn certain leadership tools, we've got to
go to different places. There's not really anywhere where you
can go to get the full suite of leadership skills.
And we're so okay, so well, we've definitely got an
answer to that, And they said. The other thing is
(04:58):
I'm just generalizing, summarizing what a number of conversations ended
up with. We'd often hear something like this, Yeah, you know, look,
we're farmers. We're busy, we're time poor, and we're never happy.
How can you give us training? How can you develop
a training program that will suit people like us? And
it's easy. We just do one session a month. It's
(05:21):
from nine to twelve, and each session focuses on just
one tool, and each tool from each session builds on
the previous So by the end of the year they've
got the full leadership operating system. Not only that's going
to help them regardless of their level of leadership in
the business, but with that operating system, it's teachable and transferable,
(05:43):
so they can create organic succession within their own farm
teams themselves.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
So as far as numbers on the course, Tony, what's available.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
We typically want. The magic number for us is ten
to twelve. That's a really good number for us, and
it keeps it really personal and make sure that we
can give everybody the time that they deserve. So yeah,
ten to twelve people and it's four.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
This year was just a really great program. We had
interns from the Fairlight Foundation that's run out of Fairlight Station.
So they're all about advancing women in agriculture and they
come out of university and they do their one year
internship at Fairlight Station to develop develop their skills right
(06:28):
across all sides of agriculture, deer, beef, dairy, sheep, the
whole thing. It's a great program. So we have the
three interns of this year and we had a couple
of lead shepherds. We had three farm managers and the
general manager all on the program and they're all from
different businesses, right, so that's the core part as well.
(06:52):
What I really loved with this year is when you've
got a general manager and interns on the program, it
was so helpful for both sides. Now, the general measure
was Ala Maxwell from Grasslands here in bos Men and
he was talking about how it helped him really connect
with what it's like to be on the ground, because
(07:13):
you know, with the experience, it's a double edged sword.
We learn a lot over the years, but sometimes we
can forget what it's like to be on the ground again.
And he found it really really valuable and helpful for
him having people like the interns and the lead shepherds
on the program so you could just stay in touch
with what it's like in the ground. But on the
(07:34):
flip side to that, the future leaders and the first
line leaders. They got a lot out of having the
farm managers and the general manager on the program because
they got to see what it's like and the pressures
that the leadership face, and they started thinking bigger picture,
not just what would you like me to do, but
what is it that the boss from a boss's perspective,
(07:55):
that they need me to do, so that they could
take informed initiatives. So there was a lot of value
not just in what we teach, but just in the
connection and the conversations in the room over the course
of that year.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, and just finally, Tony Halo training dot CO, dot
MZ for people to get in touch. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, that's right. That's right. You can just go on
to the programs and you'll see the Certified Halo Leader
Agriculture program and you can just follow the bouncing ball
from there. There's just one last thing I'd like to
say about that this program, Certified Halo Leader Agriculture. The
whole point of that name and what it is that
we do is that if anyone is hiring somebody that's
done that program, you know exactly what you're getting. You
(08:32):
know that that not only just sat in it. It's
not just theory. They've actually got to put these tools
to practice in the workplace. So you'll see that when
you get somebody from that program, you'll know exactly what
they've done. And it's not just a to conflict qualification
by attendance program. You really know what you're getting.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Good on your Toney, enjoyed the chat this afternoon, and
enjoy the OVO awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Hey thanks a lot, mate, take care, really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Tony grows of Haloid Training once again Halo Training dot
co dot MZ for next year's intake. This is the muster.
Courtney Nimo from Beef and Land, New Zealand's up next.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com