Comparing Leadership Styles in Indoor Farming
In a recent column for Produce Grower magazine, Dr. Eric Stein, Executive Director of the Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture, draws on candid conversations with leaders across the controlled environment agriculture sector, including discussions sparked at the CEA Summit East hosted by Indoor Ag-Con and the CEA Innovation Center. Reflecting on both on-stage insights and off-stage exchanges with grower-operators, Stein explores what it truly takes to lead an indoor farm. His examination of transformational and transactional leadership offers timely perspective for greenhouse and vertical farm operators balancing vision, growth, and operational discipline.
From Produce Grower:
Each year, I go to two or more conferences on indoor farming, which provides an opportunity to see the latest and greatest technologies up close and interact with vendors. I also get a chance to attend plenary sessions and panel discussions with industry experts. But what I find most useful, and enlightening, are the conversations that I have with industry leaders.
For example, at the CEA Summit East 2025 conference hosted by Indoor Ag-Con and the Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center in Danville, Virginia, I had the opportunity to chat with John McMahon of Equinox Growers and Carl Gupton of Greenswell Growers, among others. I also have had the pleasure of speaking with Nona Yehia of Vertical Harvest and other leaders on various occasions.
The folks I met at the summit were remarkably candid, on the stage and off, about their work, their goals and finding work-life balance. Not only did they share insights into the challenges of finding capital, managing employees and operations and securing new markets, but I also learned who likes to surf and who just had their first child.
Although a small sample, what struck me most about each of these leaders was how down-to-earth they are, how open, how willing they are to share their knowledge about what worked and what didn’t. I also learned how passionate they are about making both greenhouses and vertical farms successful, despite setbacks in recent years.
The question is: What does it take to be an effective leader of an indoor farm?