What’s that got to do with Leadership – Part II (Guest Blog)
Back in September of 2017 I shared my musings on the “Low Hanging Fruit” as a metaphor for leadership and project management. Well I was at it again. Today, for the second time this year, I set out to pick the plums in my backyard. In 2017, the mantra of Low Hanging Fruit kept reverberating in my mind – this year it was “Dead Wood”. It would seem that picking plums, for me, is quite a meditative exercise and allows my mind to ponder life and all its intricate complexities while my hands get busy with the task at hand.
I could see the plums. They were beautiful and enticing and just out of my reach. What stood between me and that luscious fruit was years of old growth that was unproductive, incredibly prickly and absolutely in the way of reaping the fruits of my labour.
I thought about the workplace and how often we see that unproductive old growth who’s only function seems to be to provide resistance and block forward movement. They are prickly in disposition, they are not interested in helping achieve a new goal, they are entirely comfortable right where they are.
As I faced the well-entrenched network of branches that blocked access to the very fruit I wanted to pick I realized that I needed to remove the dead wood. Before I knew what was happening I had the pruning shears out and away I went. Twigs and branches flying. I began to see a clear path to those delicious plums. As I hacked away at that poor tree I realized that each twig lead to a slightly bigger twig which lead to a small branch which lead to a larger branch and finally it became evident that the entire branch was dead. I had to call in reinforcements – out came the power saw. Sometimes bigger, stronger tools are called for. After much effort and not a small amount of struggle I managed to eliminate the main obstacle that was keeping me from achieving my goal.
Pondering the connection between pruning and leadership I realized that so often in our professional lives we get lost in the small twigs. We can spend a lot of time eradicating the small details of an issue and we never get beyond that point. When we start finding bigger twigs and then larger branches our endurance often peters out. We might at this point decide that half the amount of plums is sufficient and leave the rest for the birds or deer. However, perseverance will reward you with achievement at levels previously unheard of. There will be more light and fewer hazards. There will be more room for the fruit to blossom and grow.
It is not easy to rid yourself of the curse of dead wood. There will be a lot of sweat. A lot of cursing. A lot of dirt. You will be bone tired. Your arms will ache. But persevere. It will be worth it . . .