It’s the end of June and my gardening-loving soul is in full swing. I have three leadership perspectives I want to share, all starting with gardening as an analogy.
Leadership requires continuous care
Every year, I plant tomatoes. My husband’s grandmother immigrated from the Ukraine in the 1920s during the famine. Her family brought heirloom tomato seeds with her, which have been lovingly saved every year. This task has now expanded to me, and every fall, I save the oxheart seeds from the best tomato to preserve and plant the following spring.
I start off each spring with excitement and enthusiasm to get the seeds into the soil and wait for them to sprout. Once it’s warm, I transplant them into a planter outside where they grow up to 6’ tall. This is where things often fall apart. My intention is to create a framework and string them up, so they remain tall and spread out as they grow. This is what it looks like today.
The plants are growing, but they’re all falling over. It’s like they have scoliosis, and their spine can’t support all of their growth. Once the tomatoes form and that weight is added, they’ll fall over or even break from the weight.
To grow successfully, the tomatoes need my enthusiasm and care at the beginning to get started. They also need my ongoing attention. They need regular watering, pruning and a structure within which to grow tall. They can support the weight of their growth and their fruit, but only if I provide the support they need.
Can you see how this parallels leadership?
When we lead others, we most likely have times when we feel more engaged and enthusiastic. Perhaps it’s at the beginning of a project, or perhaps we connect more one-on-one and find team meetings and dynamics challenging. To thrive, our team members need our constant care and support.
Here are two ideas to consider to support your growing team members.
Check in regularly and prune what’s getting in the way.
Like plants, team members can grow in different directions if left unchecked. Take time to notice what’s thriving and what might be weighing your team members down. Have regular one-on-ones, offer feedback, and remove unnecessary tasks or blockers that prevent progress.
Offer support that adapts as they grow.
What your team member needs will vary over time. As they take on more responsibility, adjust your leadership approach. Step in with encouragement, coaching, or new challenges that match their stage of growth.
Writing this article prompted me to give my tomatoes the care they needed! This is my updated planter after giving my plans the attention they needed.
What’s the impact on your employees when you struggle to provide ongoing support?
Know what specific plants need
My husband and I have purchased our dream lakefront property after watching a nearby lake for 15 years. We purchased our cottage in the winter, and since May, when we took possession, we’ve been watching what emerges in the flowerbeds.
It’s taken me years to figure out my current yard – there’s so much shade! I’ve experimented over the years with what plants thrive in shady conditions and have come to love hostas, Japanese spurge and bleeding hearts. In contrast, our new property has a ton of sun! I’ve realized that I’ll need completely different plants that thrive in the sun. It’s a whole new learning curve.
Team members thrive in different conditions. Some need more shade and others need full sun to thrive. As leaders, we need to take the time to understand our team members’ unique needs so that we can provide them with the best environment they need to be their best. We need to put the right employees in the right roles and then adjust our leadership to support them.
Here are three ideas to consider:
1. Observe before you intervene.
Just as I’ve been waiting to see what will grow in my new yard, take the time to observe your team members’ strengths, challenges, and work preferences so that your changes and support will be aligned with what’s needed.
2. Match the environment to the individual.
Some team members may thrive in highly visible roles (full sun), while others do their best work behind the scenes (shade). Understand the nuances that make each employee ‘tick’ and adjust your expectations, feedback, and support based on what each person needs to grow.
3. Stay open to replanting.
Sometimes, it’s not the person, but the role or context. If someone is struggling, explore whether a shift in responsibilities, team dynamics, or even a different role might allow them to thrive.
How well do you know your employees and what each person needs to do their best work?
Prepare the soil – prepare for AI
Every month, I host a breakfast, Issues and Ideas, for local HR and L&D professionals in Waterloo Region. In June, our discussion focus was AI. To carry my gardening theme forward: just like healthy plants depend on good soil, implementing AI successfully requires an organization to have fertile ground — the right conditions for growth.
How can you develop that fertile ground?
1. Test the soil before you plant: Assess readiness.
Before launching AI tools, assess your organization’s current state, the skills, data practices, trust levels, and openness to change. Like testing pH in soil, you need to understand what you’re working with.
2. Clear the weeds: Address legacy systems and outdated mindsets.
Old processes, assumptions, or tech can choke out progress. HR can play a critical role in identifying and removing what no longer serves the organization to make room for new growth.
3. Enrich the soil: Build foundational skills and mindset.
Just as soil needs compost or nutrients, your people need preparation. Focus on digital literacy, data comfort, and a learning mindset so employees are equipped to work with (not fear) AI.
4. Create proper drainage: Build psychological safety.
Without psychological safety, innovation can’t take root. Employees need to feel safe asking questions, admitting what they don’t know, and experimenting with new tools.
5. Choose the right plants for the soil: Align AI with purpose.
Don’t implement AI for the sake of it. Match tools and approaches to your organization’s values, goals, and challenges, the same way you choose plants based on climate and soil conditions.
I’m curious, what has been HR or L&D’s role in supporting AI in your organization?
In case you missed it
I’ve shared some additional posts online. Here they are, in case you missed them.
- Lead, Learn Grow conversation cards: overcoming our fears (video link)
- Psychological safety for teachers (video link)
