When I was a young boy, I lived on about three and a half acres of beautiful land in upstate New York. Surrounded by farming fields, our small patch didn’t actually have a farm on it. It was an old colonial house built in the mid-1700s, just before the Revolutionary War.
My mother, brother, and I moved into the house soon after my mother married my stepfather. She immediately began the work of cultivating the land. Some 30 years later, still in that old colonial house, my mother and stepfather had transformed their land into a small enterprise with over a dozen different gardens producing vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
Growing up in a blended family of eight, much of our summer was spent digging, planting, growing, hauling, and harvesting the land. My mother loved starting from seed and seeing the plants grow all the way through to their harvest. Once harvested, she would shift into production mode, making salsa, soups, breads, pickled vegetables, and more.
My mother, ever the businesswoman, loved to come home after a long week and just “play” in her gardens. She’d often say, “Let’s go play in the dirt, Matt. There’s nothing like working with the earth to free up the mind.”
Though I wasn’t as much of a gardener as she was, I learned to appreciate the process, cycle, hard work, and connection to the land. Alfred Austin, an English poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896, once wrote, “The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” It sounds similar to something my mother would have said. Still to this day, if I’ve had a challenging week, you’ll often find me digging, pruning, and talking to myself (my wife is the true greenthumb however!).
I find there are great similarities between a gardener and a leader. In my workshops, I often show a clip from Dr. Peter Jensen, a Ph.D. in Sport Psychology who has coached at eight Olympic Games. In the clip, he says, “My metaphor for a coach, or a parent, or a leader, is that you’re just like a gardener. I can’t reach inside your head and do anything with you. You have to do things with you. But what I can do, if you work for me, is create an environment where you want to give more—just like a gardener creates an environment to get more growth out of the plant. The good gardeners don’t buy better plants; they’re better at getting growth out of the plants they’re given. The same goes for good parents, teachers, or leaders—they manage the environment.”
When we look at how a worker, follower, or employee develops, there are some foundational truths. We can apply our gardener metaphor to the decades of work Ken Blanchard has done with Situational Leadership II.
Last week, we discussed the aptitude (the competency, intelligence, and skills of a person) and attitude (the commitment, aspiration, and resilience of a person) of our people. In our new series, "The Plant Cycle of Follower Development," I want you to examine each stage of plant growth through these two lenses. Just like fishermen change their bait or style to match the fish they’re trying to catch, it’s up to us as leaders to adjust our approach to match each phase of a plant’s—or follower’s—growth.
This week, let’s start at Stage 1: The Seedling.
The seedling represents the first stage of growth, beginning once the seed is placed in the ground. The seedling starts to grow as it receives proper sunlight and adequate water. As the plant begins to sprout, it is weak, and much of its energy is spent growing deeper roots and thicker stems. During this stage, parts of the plant begin to develop, including those that carry nutrients and form bark.
A new employee, volunteer, community member, or follower of your leadership is not much different. The “seedling” individual enters your community, perhaps fresh out of college or as a first-time volunteer after retiring and moving to your area. We often call this the honeymoon phase. The person enters your orbit with rose-colored glasses, excited about the work ahead. Perhaps they’ve just been hired, are dressed in their best suit, and arrive 15 minutes early, filled with excitement and wonder.
Seedlings are earnest and impressionable. They are enthusiastic but lack the wisdom and knowledge to be highly effective. Much like the plant seedling, this period is about creating systems, processes and understanding the necessary work.
At this stage, the individual is relatively weak and has low aptitude because they don’t yet know the company, the community, your leadership style, or how things are done. However, their attitude is high. They’re excited to be part of the community, envisioning an aspirational relationship with you. The takeaway: Seedlings (and followers) have low aptitude but high attitude.
This is critical when we think about how to “garden” them. What does a good gardener do with new plants or seedlings? They provide resources (sometimes even artificial light), ensure the right amount of water (not too little, not too much), provide nutrient-rich soil, and may even prop the plants up so they grow properly.
Similarly, a leader or coach should focus on teaching, explaining, clarifying, and directing a seedling follower. It’s about using the right approach to suit the situation.
This is where good leadership shines! As a leader, you must adapt your style to match the developmental level of your follower. As an employer, my natural leadership style is hands-off, promoting self-direction (I expect my employees to be self-directed) and problem-solving. However, when I have a new hire—a seedling—I need to adjust my style to be more direct, clarifying, and instructional.
The seedling stage typically lasts about 6-8 weeks if the work is consistent and should quickly transition into the next stage, adolescence, which we will discuss next week.
Let me know what you think. Does this model resonate with you in terms of applying your leadership style, the need to be flexible, and using the lenses of aptitude and attitude as our compass?
Here are three questions to consider this week as you reflect:
How well do you understand the "seedlings" in your organization or community?
Are you providing the right environment, resources, and guidance to help them grow into strong contributors?
How adaptable is your leadership style?
When engaging with new employees or team members, do you adjust your approach to meet their developmental needs, or do you rely on a one-size-fits-all strategy?
What practical steps can you take this week to nurture the growth of a "seedling" under your leadership?
Can you identify areas where you might need to provide more direction, support, or clarity to help them succeed?
