The Power of Cultivating

It's springtime in the northeast USA, which means that it's time for gardening. We were fortunate to move to a new house a couple of years ago, with enough space for a small garden. We grew up with gardens, so I thought it would be easy and straightforward to turn the patch of grass into a vegetable and fruit garden. It turns out it is much more complicated than I initially thought. 

This is my second year growing a garden, and while it may not be easy, I am getting better at it. In addition, I am learning that good gardening rules also apply to good leadership. Here are a couple of my gardening/leadership best practices. 

1. Plan - a good garden and team don't just happen. They are planned out, reviewed, and adjusted accordingly. Determining what type of garden or team is critical to all subsequent steps. 
2. Good soil - the output of your crops is directly correlated to your investment in good soil. The more you spend time upfront, the better it will be for your garden and team. 
3. Planting: Knowing when to grow and, more importantly, when not to plant plays a critical role in success. It takes as much discipline to wait until the frost concerns are over as it does to wait for the right time to hire the next team member. Patience and planning help when it comes time to planting.
4. Fertilizing: Plants and teams need help to reach their full potential. Knowing when and how much to fertilize can make the difference between healthy and burnt-out plants or team members.
5. Feeding: Gardens need lots of water and sunshine to be productive. Too much water and sunshine can cause as much damage as good, so you must constantly monitor and make real-time adjustments. The same is true for your team. Too much or too little encouragement, mentoring, direction, or early results can directly impact long-term success. 
6. Weeding: It is remarkable how easily weeds can pop up and take over a garden. The constant threat of a weed infestation means staying vigilant and aggressive when weeding anything that doesn't belong there. The same is true with your team culture. Creating a healthy environment requires a leader to weed out negativity or other elements that sow distrust, anger, or nonproductive activities. Just like weeding, the job is never done.  
7. Pruning: There comes a point when you have to prune or thin your crops. This seemingly counterintuitive action promotes a more robust and healthier output. It is painful to watch your hard work, good ideas, and cultivated projects go to waste so that the best ideas can emerge. Don't be afraid to prune the "garden" out of fear that it might hurt your team. Do the right thing and create environments where the best ideas are given the best chance of success. 
8. Harvesting: All the hard work finally pays off when you can harvest your crops. There is a fair amount of joy and satisfaction when you convert months of labor into something that benefits others. Spending all that time without reaping the rewards would be a waste. 
9. Sharing: One of the best parts of a garden and a team is an abundance of "crops" when appropriately managed. This means that others can benefit from your hard work. Giving generously to your team and others allows your work to expand beyond the original plan.  
10. Turning over the fields: Every season in the garden or life ends at some point. At the end of the harvest season, you turn over the fields so you can begin again. The same holds for gardens as it does for teams. While you may not need to replace everyone on the team at the end of the "season," changes in a team are signs of healthy growth. 

Hopefully, your garden and your team continue to thrive this year. If you are looking for me this season, I will be in the garden of life, pulling out weeds and growing more crops than ever! 

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