Scotland's rural economy won't grow unless its leaders do, guest blog by Elevator CEO Rachel Ross

When people talk about economic growth in rural Scotland, the conversation traditionally centres on planning policy, infrastructure or skills shortages. The rise in green energy opportunities has filtered closer to the top of the agenda. Those things matter. But after twenty years of working with rural businesses across Scotland, I've become convinced that the biggest constraint on rural growth isn't a lack of opportunity. It's that too few of us step outside the way we've always thought.

That isn't a criticism. It's human nature and it’s lack of access to networks or just being part of the bigger conversation. 

If you've spent decades building a successful farming business, managing an estate, running a hotel or leading a rural enterprise, why would you suddenly question the business model that has brought you this far? There’s comfort in familiarity; achieving a sustainable business that balances the books is often more than an achievement in its self, without pushing boundaries. 

But for Scotland we need our rural business owners and leaders to collectively be challenging themselves and pushing themselves out of this comfort zone. The world around us is changing faster than at any point in our lifetime and the rural opportunities in Scotland are at a peak like never before. Artificial intelligence, satellite technology, natural capital markets, renewable energy, digital communications, robotics, biotechnology and new models of tourism are transforming what is possible for rural Scotland. Creating a thriving Scottish economy over the next twenty years is not necessarily about being the biggest or even the best resourced local businesses.  It will come from a Scotland which creates leaders that are curious enough to ask different questions.

One of the biggest lessons I have seen running the Scottish Rural Leadership Programme is that entrepreneurial leadership isn't about teaching someone how to run a better farm or estate. It's about helping people see possibilities they couldn't see before. Sometimes that comes from visiting a totally business. Sometimes it comes from sitting beside someone from a completely different industry: A crofter from the Western Isles learning alongside a satellite engineer from Shetland. A family estate owner working with a digital entrepreneur. A renewable energy specialist challenging a tourism business. A conservation leader learning from a technology company.

When those conversations happen, something remarkable begins to emerge. People stop thinking about "their business" and begin thinking about "their region". Innovation stops being something that happens in cities and starts becoming something that happens in communities.

Diversification stops meaning converting outbuildings into self-catering units and starts asking much bigger questions. How could this land support new businesses? How do we create value from natural capital rather than simply manage it? How do we build supply chains around offshore wind, forestry, biodiversity, space or data and who can work with to do this?

How do we create careers that encourage young people to stay in rural Scotland rather than leave it? These are leadership questions, not technical ones.

That is why I'm delighted Elevator has been reappointed to deliver the Scottish Rural Leadership Programme and to run Scotland's Rural Leaders Alumni Network, of almost 1,000 rural leaders from every corner of the country. 

The next chapter of the programme will deliberately push people further. Working alongside partners including the Glasgow School of Art's Rural Lab and SAC Consulting, we'll challenge participants to think more creatively, collaborate more widely and see innovation not as something separate from rural Scotland, but as central to its future. We'll mix people who might never otherwise meet.

Scotland doesn't need every rural business to become a technology company. But it does need every rural leader to become more entrepreneurial and to understand the tool box that unlocks opportunities for them and their business.