What Gardening Can Teach You About Leadership

I recently decided to start a vegetable garden with my kids, they abandoned me after the first week! ?But I kept with it because I was really curious as to whether or not I could actually have a legitimate vegetable garden, you know the kind that gives you vegetables!!

So here I am about two months in, and I can’t help but see the connection between gardening and leadership! I know, it sounds like I may be out in the sun too much but read on before you think I'm just one of those people who find any excuse to talk about their garden!

New Gardener

As a new gardener I have this vision of what I want my garden to look like.?I am already fantasizing about all the veggies I get to pickle, all the Zucchini bread I will bake, and the tons of tomatoes I will have to give away to neighbors because my harvest is going to be incredible! Right?!?

I planted beans, carrots, zucchini, 3 types of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, spinach, & herbs!?I followed the steps to the tee!?

A week later I had some sprouts (arguably the best day of my life)!!

But most of the things I planted did nothing.?

I kept watering and nothing.?

I gave them plant food and nothing.?

I decreased my watering and nothing.?

A few weeks later, nothing; AND some of my baby sprouts started dying on me!

But there were some; my zucchinis, beans, and cucumbers that were thriving! It made me happy but puzzled and very frustrated because I couldn't get my other plants to "perform"! It felt like no matter what I did to get the others going, it just wasn't happening!

What did those countless hours in the middle of the night searching the internet teach me?

1. I didn’t take the time to understand what each vegetable needed.?

I approached gardening as a one size fits all.?Every seed got the same treatment.?Some flourished, while others didn’t and instead of adjusting my approach to give what was needed to each type of plant, I kept doing the same thing for all of my plants. Sound familiar?

2. I wanted too much, too fast.

The goal was more important to me than the process, the enjoyment, or the learning, which led to many mistakes. I also planted way too much, without giving them the environment they needed to grow.

I just wanted to be able to pick my vegetables, take Instagram worthy photos, and act super humble whenever I got compliments about my amazing garden!

I know I'm outing myself here.

But truthfully, I wanted results and FAST; and I didn't slow down long enough to fully understand how my actions were impacting my "crop". As a result, I lost many plants and some that were thriving before began to suffer. Ringing any bells?

3. I was impatient and didn’t give one strategy enough time to fail or succeed.

In 3 weeks, I applied soapy water, neem oil, I watered twice a day, I watered every other day, I put up shade because maybe the problem was too much sun, I talked to them, I gave plant food, eggshells, coffee grinds. I practically put my whole kitchen in the garden.

I was simply not giving any one thing enough time to fail or show improvement! And again, I wasn't taking time to understand the specific needs of each plant.

The connection to leadership?

As leaders (new or seasoned), many of us are guilty of doing all the things I did as a new gardener. We have a vision for what we want. We want to be successful! We want to have proof that we know what we are doing. We want everyone to perform to our expectations! We want to look at what we've done and feel proud. That's not unreasonable, right?

The thing is sometimes we forget that we are leading different types of people, who are motivated by different things, and need different things from us as leaders. Sometimes we expect our teams to adapt and adjust to us, when in fact, we are the ones who should be adapting and leading each person the way that works best for their personality, motivations, and background. Thinking that one approach to leadership is going to work is misguided and will only lead to frustration all around.

What to remember

When leading people, we must remember that each person has the potential to be successful and our job as leaders is to understand challenges, understand what matters, respect differences and continuously work to create an environment that enables our team to thrive!

A BONUS lesson from composting

Often, we give up on people when they are not meeting the expectation of certain roles; especially if we believe we've done what can to support them. However, this doesn't always mean they should be removed. It could mean they are better suited for something else within our company and can add value in other ways that can potentially have greater impact! Do don't give up yet on the ones who are not doing well! Consider their strengths, their drive, and their engagement because finding a way to repurpose their skills could, save money, reengage them, and yield better overall results for the entire company.

All that said, am I one of those folks who just finds ways to include her garden in every conversation? Well of course!! But there are lessons about leadership everywhere you look, even in my little somewhat sad but loved backyard garden!