A leader needs to act like a gardener and spend time tending their plot.
Sometimes, the gardener works to pull weeds. This is akin to putting out fires and tending to small but seemingly urgent tasks. Others can see the weeds and often point them out to the gardener, demanding immediate attention to rid them. Weeding may fill all the time and give the illusion of accomplishment, but it doesn’t create anything.
Other times, the gardener works to plant and cultivate seeds, growing culture, capacity, and outcomes. Gardeners working the soil need to be intentional and fight to make time to do so to prevent other priorities or diversions from prevailing. This work may not show any results in the short term and therefore, is often neglected, but this is the action that yields the desired outcomes.
If the gardener spends all of their time pulling out weeds, the garden may look beautiful for one season but will be unable to sustain long-term growth. The need to focus on the future will never be urgent in the moment but it is essential over time.
Pulling out a few weeds helps the garden’s appearance but planting is the core reason the garden exists. Ensure your gardening time is appropriately spent.
