Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Gardening Basics of Leadership


In the process of growing up, we would have taken some form of leadership roles among our brothers or sisters, friends and peers and in a variety of circumstances. When you become a leader, leadership is no more all about you, less it gets over your head. It's about growing others.
Put yourself in the shoes of the gardener with a watering can and a fertiliser can on both hands. Most of the time you nurture and take care of the plants. Then observe everything flower. Then someone says to you, 'You got green fingers'. Think again. It does compliments your hard work, determination, perseverance, optimism, dream, learning, passion and success . Though many may not know the miles of legwork and strategy involved in making the plants thrive amidst the changing seasons, pests and individual needs of the species.
It's all part of the job description. Welcome to the gardening club. A gardener too is an ordinary mortal with a head, stomach and heart. You will occasionally need to uproot the wicked, obnoxious weeds. They choke the system. You've got to have the stomach to remove them even though it has not reached crisis proportion, weeding is therapeutic.
At the end of the day, when everything is cleaned up, you'll be glad that you have retained the best grass and flowers in the garden. Finally leadership like gardening is a spiritual workout . You need to resort to your heart to inspire your followers or group . Encourage them with virtue, trust, love, wisdom and human insight. That's how they find their true calling. So they say ' A rose by whatever name is still a rose' - true to oneself.