What do you get when you plant tulip bulbs? Tulips.
What do you get you plant marigold seeds? Marigolds.
What do you get when you plant nothing? Nothing.
Right?
Wrong.
You get weeds.
Right now, the weeds are coming in, and they’re coming in strong. You can’t pull all the weeds one day, then sit back, relax, and say, “I never have to pull weeds again.”
UNLESS—
You plant something—anything—better.
In March and April, the opening days of the pandemic, we saw amazing leaders nailing it—over-communicating, ensuring their people were able to work from home, and extending appropriate grace.
Not only did the best leaders and teams and organizations pull weeds, they planted better relationships and were, in the words of Pat Lencioni as he provided guidance at that time, “exceedingly human.”
But many of them have stopped. I’ve seen it, anecdotally, and now there is evidence from Gallup.
The article in the link is worth checking out, but here’s the upshot:
Over the last couple of months, agreement with these statements has sharply declined among both employees and managers:
- I feel well prepared to do my job.
- My immediate supervisor keeps me informed about what is going on in my organization.
- My organization cares about my overall well-being.
Please—
These are critical times for you and your mission. Plant good stuff. Don’t let weeds grow.
Communicate. Ask questions and listen. Keep working, and equip others to do their work well.
Feel stuck? Give me a call. Let’s plant a garden. It’s how we’ll thrive in the long term.
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