Each January I head to the freezer in my basement and pull out a worn cardboard box. There are jars, envelopes, and bags filled with all kinds of seeds. Some are remnants of seeds purchased at a store in the past while others are seeds I have saved from my own plants.

As I shuffle through the various containers, I ask myself, “What do I want to grow this year?”

The same is true for leaders...

This year, I have committed to being a more curious gardener: to be willing to grow some things I haven’t grown before and see what happens. I decided to try and grow one of my favorite fruits, Papaya! I’ve heard that if I do certain things, give it the right soil conditions, and protect it from the cold winter temperatures, that even the tropical Papaya plant can grow here in North Carolina. So why not give it a try?

In the same way, curiosity is an important trait for leaders to have. Your curiosity doesn't just benefit you, it sets the stage for a more creative, empathetic, and resilient team.

If you’ve ever tried to grow anything, then you’re probably familiar with the uninvited companion: weeds! A weed by definition is, “any undesirable or troublesome plant, especially one that grows profusely where it is not wanted”. Pulling weeds adds a lot of extra work to gardening. Thankfully though, there are several fantastic products out there to help keep the weeds under control. Once my plants are established in my garden, I can apply my favorite herbicide (such as Preen) and it prevents other weeds from germinating and growing.  It helps to clear the way for healthier growth of every plant that I want in that area. 

In my book, Always Growing, I talk about how leaders need to create the environment that gives people the best chance to grow, just like a gardener wants to give their seeds or plants the best chance to grow.  I’m currently reading, Radical Candor, by Kim Scott and she gives two key actions every leader needs to take in order to create that environment. They need to care personally and challenge directly.

Have you ever wondered why some leaders are able to effortlessly inspire and motivate their teams, while others seem to struggle with gaining the respect and cooperation of their colleagues? The answer might lie in the masks they wear - not literal masks, but the metaphorical ones we all put on to protect ourselves in the professional world.

I will never forget sitting in a movie theatre in 1977 watching Star Wars Episode IV-A New Hope. As a middle schooler looking for adventure, the Star Wars saga was an adventure of a lifetime.The scenes of Darth Vader inviting Luke Skywalker to come to the “dark side” were especially troubling to me because there were so many moments where I believed Luke might actually give up and join his father.

In my 29 years of working with leaders and managers, I have rarely heard any of them say, “I’m so excited about doing the performance reviews for my team.” They see it as another “elephant” in their schedule. 🐘

Performance reviews ARE important. Some of the benefits include:

If you’ve followed my work for awhile, you know I am a BIG Seth Godin fan. His ability to pack so much thought into just a few words is incredible.

While reflecting on some of Godin’s older posts, I came across one that really rattled me as I read it. Three Ways To Add Value focuses on three words that can quickly expose how little time we daily dedicate to moving ourselves, our team, or our organization forward by acting on change.

I hold a picture of an event I attended some time ago which holds great meaning to me. The occasion was Frank and Dorcus' diamond wedding anniversary 💎 celebrating an incredible 60 years of marriage! To add to the celebration, Frank was also marking his 80th birthday 🎂 and the event was hosted by their children. Although there is so much to write about Frank and Dorcus's long-lasting marriage, I'd like to focus my comments on Frank, who has become one of my unknowing life coaches.

I’m currently reading the book, Die With Zero, by Bill Perkins. This book is a revolutionary game changer that upend our traditional ideas of retirement, later years in life, and even the choices we make right now. He argues that it isn’t necessary to accumulate wealth or save for retirement; instead, we should focus on creating a life of meaning and purpose. The big idea in the book is that we need to die with as close to zero monies as possible at the end of our life.

I love my old truck. I’ve had it since 1990. The paint is faded, a cheap seat cover hides the years of wear, and the a/c hasn’t worked in years. It has a five speed manual transmission so I get to be a (very) active participant in the whole driving process.

Like my old truck, I believe we have often parked our face-to-face communication skills in favor of…

If you're a plant parent, you know the heartbreak of seeing your once-thriving plant just… kind of sitting there. You remember the early days, when it was shiny and the growth was steady, but now it seems like it's just taking up space. This describes my Fiddle Leaf Fig. After a couple of months, it just stopped thriving. And then the real decline started - it started losing its leaves, and I couldn't help but think it was disengaged or unmotivated to grow.

I recently spent a couple of hours working with a new coach on listening. They couldn’t believe how much they had been missing in conversations with others. They jokingly asked me if it was okay to use these new skills with their spouse. They felt like they now had an unfair advantage in understanding them!

Two key components of successful teams are for individuals to "own" their responsibilities and deliver their work outcomes in a timely and effective way. And it's the job of the leader or manager to make sure these things happen. With heavy workloads, frequent distractions, and sometimes unclear organizational goals, however, leaders can neglect this important role. They naively hope that their team members will simply "do the right thing."

Yes, I meant to type "inciteful" and not "insightful." A recent blog by Seth Godin has completely changed my attitude about how I look at what I might read. One of the questions I now ask about a "good book" someone mentions to me is, "How did you change behavior as a result of reading the book?"

While on vacation you stop in a local restaurant for breakfast. You’re adventurous so you didn’t check the Yelp ratings before choosing this one. Seated near the kitchen, you have a birds-eye view of all the action. Cooks are working furiously to keep up with all the orders thrown at them, dropping dishes or utensils from time to time, and occasionally getting yelled at by the wait staff or manager for how long it’s taking to fill an order. The menu is extremely limited because the cooks have only basic ingredients and haven’t been trained to do anything except the quick stuff. Those apples and breakfast bars back at your hotel room are looking better all the time, aren’t they?

Whether you are an associate manager or a senior executive, what you say, how you say it, when you say it, to whom you say it, and whether you say it in the proper context are critical components for tapping into your full strategic leadership potential.

Have you thought (or said) any of these statements in the past 30 days?

• I thought we had that problem handled.
• When will I have time to focus on what I need to get done?
• I should have seen this coming.
• All people ever bring me are problems.

If you said yes...

If you live in the US, you'll probably hear the words "Thank You" a little more often this week. As Thanksgiving approaches, we tend to recognize the blessings of family and friends a little more and that causes us to think and act differently toward others.

Hopefully. that same sense of gratitude will permeate thoughts about our jobs and those with whom we work.

Where do you think you have more impact as a leader or manager? Is it in the formal, planned interactions like team meetings or performance reviews? Or is it in the casual conversation that started with the question, "Have you got a minute?"

My experience with coaching leaders and managers is...