Planting the seeds of leadership
Are you cultivating your growth?
In recent weeks I’ve been working on an ambitious (some might suggest foolhardy or even pointless) project to try and improve the grass in my back garden. I won’t call it a lawn as honestly, it doesn’t deserve the title…
First was the preparation. Raking out the moss, weeding, filling in holes, which at times felt never ending. No matter how much raking I did there always seemed to be more moss to remove, and the weeds just kept growing.
Next I reseeded, being careful to spread more seeds in the bare patches and trying to get an even coverage elsewhere. This was followed by top dressing (a thin layer of sand and compost), fertiliser, and raking it all in once again. Did I mention this was hard work?!
Then the watering.
Oh hell, the watering.
If you’ve ever tried to grow grass seed you’ll know it is notoriously temperamental. If it dries out? It doesn’t germinate. If it is too wet? It doesn’t germinate. If it’s too cold? It doesn’t germinate. If it germinates and then gets too dry? It dies.
And of course we hit a dry spell just as the seeds went down…
Sigh.
Getting grass to grow requires high reserves of patience, a lot of attention, and small consistent action - plus a dollop of luck from the weather. It also requires tolerating your garden looking like a mess for several weeks while the whole process is playing out.
As I watered it (again) this morning I realised it’s a great analogy for working on yourself and your leadership skills.
It’s all too common to identify a skill we want to improve, do a little work on it then get impatient and frustrated when either we aren’t immediately good at it, or we don’t immediately produce the result we hope for.
What if we thought about it as cultivating that new skill (just like cultivating the grass) instead?
First, preparation.
What preparation do you need to do?
How can you set up conditions that will maximise your chances of success?
That might be choosing your timing, talking to those around you or doing preparatory learning.
Second, consistency.
Are you willing to commit to practise over time?
What will support you to be patient and consistent?
This may be as simple as acknowledging this to yourself, and you may benefit from support structures or accountability.
Third, attention.
What do you need to do to ensure you are paying attention?
How can you stay present and focused on the skill despite everything else you’re up to?
Part of skill building is ensuring we are operating in our conscious mind, to allow us to interrupt our more automatic, unconscious behaviours. Think about what you may need to remind yourself to keep practising and not revert to old patterns.
Fourth: persistence.
Do you accept that it may not work first time?
Can you stay the course even when it feels messy?
When we expect and welcome missteps and failures, we can embrace them as experimentation and learning, and the messiness of the learning process becomes easier to start and to sustain. Are you willing to embrace the messiness? For real?
A week after seeding I’m just starting to see a few seeds germinate, so for me it’s time to double down and recommit, despite my impatience and being somewhat fed up already with the apparent lack of progress.
Because, to borrow a saying (of unclear origin), the grass is greener where you water it. Are you cultivating your leadership skills with the care and attention they need and deserve?
Let me know in the comments.
All tips and suggestions on getting my grass to grow also very welcome!
Looks OK from a distance, not so much close up! Yet… Also featuring my cat Matilda.
Sweating the Small Stuff
This week: Water your grass
What’s one skill, or area of your leadership, that could do with some care and attention? What could you do this week (and beyond) to metaphorically water it? Perhaps set aside some time to reflect or practise? Or create some accountability, or ask for support? Or take on your next level of learning?
Are you willing to stay the course, and cultivate it until it is fully grown?
A little bit of book news…
If you follow me on social media, you may have seen the exciting news that the author copies of Do Sweat the Small Stuff arrived last Friday! It’s amazing to see it in physical form after so long where it has existed only in my head or on a laptop. There’s a (very happy/cheesy) video here if you’d like to see my reaction to unboxing them!
And, if you’d like to support me around launch time, and would be interested to join my Street Team, you can sign up here. You’ll get some additional behind the scenes insight to the publication process, and have the chance to help my campaign to try and make the book an Amazon bestseller!
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