Howdy folks! I was recently preparing for some workshops and as I was pulling together my presentation. I went through my book, The Leadership Playbook, and came across this sub-topic, “Focus on the Roots, Not the Fruits.” Although it wasn’t the information I needed then, I made a mental note to get back to it for the blog. Let’s talk about trees, roots, fruits, and maybe even dirt. Intrigued? Let’s go!
Let’s Forget The Fruits of Your Labor
Everyone, please stick with me on this one. I genuinely want you to adjust your leadership lens. Here’s the thing,
Too often, leaders focus on revenue, sales, product development, customer service, employee satisfaction, etc., as issues disconnected from our people. These are just the fruits of our labor on the job.
Good leaders should never forget that none of the spoils are achievable without the roots of our business – our staff. A famous saying is, “We reap what we sow,” in business, it’s never been more relevant. You will never reach the company’s maximum potential if you lead a team with low morale and limited job coaching. If you’re a good farmer, erm, or leader, you must invest in pruning, i.e., constantly developing your team. It’s a fact of nature. A weak seedling left on its own to survive will likely never grow. A fragile but well-tended seedling has the best potential to bear quality fruits.
Even if you’re no Farmer Joe, I truly believe every business leader can achieve this, even if they lack some skill sets. The critical thing to remember is that any team can flourish with a positive mindset and a desire to develop your coaching skills.
Preparing the Soil for Your Roots to be Well Nourished
If you’ve not caught on yet, you’re the farmer. Over the years, I have found that some leaders are afraid to coach, not because they don’t want to, but because they are afraid to show that they’re not as good as some of their staff. I get it; nobody wants to be shown up by their staff. However, realistically, you hire a team because you lack the skills and time to operate as a one-person show. To borrow from my book,
Hank Haney couldn’t hit a ball farther than Tiger Woods. Bill Belichick can’t throw a pass like Tom Brady. Even good players who became incredibly successful coaches, such as Phil Jackson in the NBA or Pat Summitt at the University of Tennessee, never had the skills of their superstars.
As a leader, you should create a team that will win FOR YOU! You can’t get there without coaching, aka, pruning your roots. Why? A leader’s job isn’t to be as good as the team. A leader’s/coach’s job is to make the team and its team better than they were yesterday.
A Quick Guide to Growing Strong Roots
Here are some accessible leadership practices that will make your team more deeply rooted in the success of your business:
- Do scrimmage (practice) sessions to develop your team. Whatever you sell or serve has a particular way to go about it. Practice as often as possible with your team so they know its ins and outs and commit it to heart.
- Implement one-on-one sessions with you and your team members. Use this time as a working session to refine their skills and knowledge about the business and job. There is always something new to learn and improve.
- Accountability will keep them committed to the job. For those unwilling to account for their work output, hire fast, fire faster.
- Create a positive environment. Weed out the bad seeds, and work on yourself to lead by example (till that soil!). Customers can tell if everyone is miserable on the job and will go elsewhere to find a more accommodating environment.
Final Thoughts
Your team will bear no fruits if you bypass tending to the people aspect of your business. They do the work that gets the sales to make your business flourish. Don’t upend their roots by leaving them behind, taking them for granted, or ignoring their need for constant improvement. It is the output of THEIR labor that will make YOUR business thrive.
