Evergreen Leadership

If you want to be a better leader, take up gardening. 

My grandmother taught me a thing or two about gardening early in my childhood. She loved gardening and was good at it. It helped that I also loved learning, and the creative process. It became a lifelong passion. 

Gardening, to me, is like a book that keeps expanding. Each year adds another page. It is ever-growing. 

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I have yet to learn. And, as a gardener, I never want to stop learning. The same is true as a leader. Max Depree, in his classic book Leadership is an Art, said: 

“We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”

I believe when a leader stops learning, she begins to wither. A leader needs to be evergreen, ever-growing. 

Ever-Growing Leadership

I've been thinking about the concept of ever-growing leadership. How can I continue to flourish as a leader, but also as a husband, father, and friend? 

As leaders, it's easy to fall into a rut. We get into our groove, a project takes over, an idea takes root, and we drill down. We forget about the world, and focus our lasers on what's in front of us. 

Sadly, even family can fall a distant second at times. But that's another post altogether! My point here is that we get so into what we're doing that we forget to nourish ourselves as leaders. 

And I'm not talking about just hopping a plane and going to the next conference. That doesn't count. Conferences can wipe you out just as badly as an ongoing project.

Sure conferences can ignite an idea, but what I'm talking about is something nourishing, I'm talking about engaging in something that is life-giving. That encourages you to breathe. That renews your soul as much as your creative juices. 

Gardening, for me, isn't just an ever-growing textbook of learning. The act of gardening itself is life-giving, literally. It can produce fruit, flowers, foliage, and resources in the form of food or fuel. 

On a more creative level it produces beauty. Beauty possesses a unique power. It invigorates, inspires, and creates awe. Artists often love beautiful gardens because of their ability to inspire. I know I do! 

From a leadership perspective, ever-growing means I continue to grow by nourishing myself so that I can, in turn, produce useful resources that serve others. Even further, I continue to grow as a person, both mentally, spiritually, and physically, so that I can contribute to the lives of others as a gift of grace to them. Whether that's in the office, in my family life, or in my community. 

Some say that the gift of grace is actually the gift of beauty itself. Like what a garden gives! I want to have the same effect on others as my garden has on me. I want to be life-giving and inspiring. 

Make Me Evergreen

I have all kinds of shrubs, perennials, annuals, ground cover, and trees in my garden. I'm even propagating my own. The key to keeping a beautiful garden is keeping color year round. Naturally, you want to keep trees and shrubs that are evergreen. 

They keep their color even in the dead of winter. 

It's stunning to see barren limbs and stalks in the beds, then an evergreen tree, like a spruce or pine. 

If you want to plant a pine tree or hemlock tree, you don't do it in the summer, because that's their best time of growth. In the summer you leave them alone. Those hot months are when their roots are reaching deep into the soil, preparing for winter. 

I look at the evergreens, and take note. I need times of the year in which I'm digging deep. I'm unplugging. I'm creating an environment around me that will allow me to be my best in my work and in my personal life. 

I want to be evergreen. I want to be a constant resource of innovation, creativity, and grace to those with whom I work, live, and play. But to do that I need to be intentional. 

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