B.I.G. Conference speaker 'makes an impact' on Central Texas farmers and ranchers

By MANDY JOHN | Central Texas Edition

Dr. Rick Rigsby tells a B.l.G. audience how they, as farmers and ranchers, should strive to make an impact, not just an impression, on others. -Staff photo by John

February 6, 2003 -- The Blackland Income Growth Conference, held in Waco last week during the Mid-Tex Farm and Ranch Show, is an annual event for Central Texas that draws attention to the efforts and challenges facing the farming and ranching community. This year the B.I.G.'s featured speaker spoke to highlight that effort with a speech titled "Making an Impact."

During the B.I.G. luncheon at the Waco Convention Center, Jan. 24, Dr. Rick Rigsby, a Texas A&M University professor in the Department of Speech Communication, said, "I think agriculture is the heart of what makes America truly great. Those who work on farms and ranches have the same values that my parents taught me. We must continually pursue excellence in our lives."

He talked about Steven Covey's book Seven Habits of High Effective People. "In this book, Covey looked at the word successful. For the first 150 years in America, being a successful person applied to one's character traits. Lately, though, the word applies to a person's personality ethics. By today's standards, it's more important to impress someone and make them think you are a good person instead of being that good person.

"I am an American and I want to see our country grow. I also want to see the B.I.G. organization to be one of the organizations that continues to do things the right way."

Rigsby stated that we need to hold on to the wisdom of our parents. He said that he learned some of his most important values from a third grade dropout, his father.

"My father taught me that there is a difference between learning knowledge and acquiring wisdom. Wisdom is learning to do things by myself.

"My dad grew up in tough times. He left school in third grade, taught himself how to read and write, went back to school, and went into the military."

Some of the word's of advice Rigsby's father taught, were: Both good and bad people come in all colors, shapes, and sizes; Being an hour early is better than being a minute late; and Always put yourself in a position to help someone else.

"When I was young, customer service was part of the privilege of being an American. Today, we don't know how to help each other. Back then you were taught that you should help each other. Your role in life was to be a helpful person."

Rigsby also stressed the importance of doing something right. "We no longer stress the importance of doing something right the first time. We don't demand excellence, so we now accept mediocrity.

"Truly great people do things that other people don't do. They constantly improve themselves. There is still room for character in America. Being an important person is nice, but what's more important is being a nice person."

Rigsby concluded, "To continually make this organization grow, you must better yourself. You must make an impact, not just an impression."