Gardening Leadership – The Fourteen Principles

Effective leaders are Gardeners. They create a safe environment for their people, and protect and nurture that environment so their team can grow and flourish. Leadership (vision) and management (execution, or identifying and solving problems) are about how to relate to and empower your most important asset – your people.  Here’s how to do that . . .

One – Who Do You Want to Hire?

Obviously, you’re looking for people who possess the hard skills required for the job. You also want people who also have essential soft skills: intelligence, good critical thinking, a willingness to learn and be coached (smart folks stay smart because they know there is always room for improvement), affability – and the ability to get along with others. These essential character qualities – combined with their knowledge and experience – will produce a winning team. 

Two – The Secret to Writing Job Descriptions

Don’t bury the lede. When you create the description, put the most important qualities at the top. The core tasks that you will actually need them to perform. 

You will not get everything you want. Get most of it, and then train your people in what’s missing. You want the gap between what they already know and what the job requires. This will keep them stimulated and engaged. And  prevent them from getting bored and leaving.

Three – Everything in Writing, Including Deliverables

When you hire someone, list their responsibilities and goals in writing, and when you expect them to be delivered. Avoid interpretation  – about what you or they think they were supposed to accomplish.

Meet to discuss all of this. You – and they – need to know exactly what the organization’s performance standards are, and the quantifiable results you’re aiming for. Confusion breeds insecurity and negatively impacts productivity.

Four – Your Team Signs off on All New Hires

If a new hire doesn’t fit with the team, they will be rejected – like a virus. Old fashion leadership/management was about “the boss” forcing their choices on their workers.

Your employees will have to live with the new person. Be forward-thinking and sensible and let them greenlight new hires. After all, they’re the folks who will be living with them in the trenches.

Five – Training Your Peope,  Both their Job  – And the Culture of the Organization

Sadly, S.O.P. is that organizations just throw new hires into the work without guidance, without warning them where the land mines are buried. And then if they make a mistake, it’s the employee’s fault.

Instead of setting people up to fail, like a real life version of The Hunger Games, how about guiding them to win?

You hired great, competent people. Is your goal as a leader/manager to dominate, or to have them succeed?

Assume that they want to do well, to be proud of their work. Guide them in understanding how to navigate the culture of your organization. Who actually knows what’s going on? Who has influence and power to accomplish things? The most important thing a new employee can learn is not what’s in the employee manual or the org chart, but “how things actually work around here.” 

Six – These Are Individuals You Are Dealing With

Get to know them and learn what really drives them. Is it more money? A prestigious title? Greater flex time? Attending conferences? If you want to get the most out of your employees, focus on the meaningful rewards that will drive them to do their best for you. What motivates one person may not necessarily motivate another. 

Seven – Verbal Acknowledgements

We are a culture that focuses on the negative, often focusing on telling employees what’s missing. Performance reviews need to focus on what’s been accomplished and how to get  to the next level. Your people are presumably trying their best to please you. A kind word makes a big difference. Let your people know when they’ve done a good job. Make a concerted effort to give them positive feedback about specific tasks they’ve completed.

CAUTION: Be authentic about what you say – people can smell it when you’re being disingenuous. 

Eight – Tangible Appreciation

Reward your team in tangible ways, as well: lunches, drinks after work, birthday and work anniversary celebrations, raises, bonuses, days off, etc. Trips to conferences and conventions are a great perk – everyone needs to get out of the office occasionally, no matter how good a work environment you’ve created. 

Nine – LIghten up

Don’t take yourself (or the job) too seriously. Unless you work in an E.R., no one is going to die. Have some perspective – and a sense of humor – about your work environment. Send everyone home (including yourself) at the end of the day to have a life. The problems will still be there in the morning. We promise. 

As much as their jobs define them, always remember that family comes first. No one has ever lain on their death bed and said, “Gee, I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”

Ten – Be a Giant Ear

Your job is to handle problems, to be the calm center of the storm when they arise – which is constantly. That actually may be the definition of management.

A leader/manager needs to be a combination amateur therapist/priest/parent. The members of your team may come to you to fix a problem. They need to feel heard. Discern what each of them needs in order to feel heard. Is it guidance? An opportunity to present their suggestions or solutions?

Maybe there is nothing you’ll have to do. Just listen. People need to vent. Very often, the members of your team can discover the solutions themselves. Encourage them to do so.

Eleven – Be An Advocate For Everyone’s Well-Being

Part of your job is to monitor your team’s well-being, so they’re operating at peak efficiency.  Notice how they are feeling, how they’re interacting with others, including you.  Are they behaving professionally, or are they irritable and short?  You might inquire (if you don’t know) whether it’s because of a work or a personal issue (without prying into their personal lives.) They’ll often be harder on themselves than you could ever be. Notice when they’re out of sorts, no matter if they say they’re “fine.”

Ever notice how there are 12-Step Programs for alcoholism, drug dependency, gambling addiction, etc. – but none for Workaholism? Companies often encourage overwork. Some people tend to work too hard and too much. Their bodies rebel and then they get sick, which negatively impacts productivity. Encourage them to maintain balance in their lives. Be kind to them – and train them how to be kind to themselves. 

And always be aware of your own facial expressions, tone of voice, and gestures. What you say to your employees is important, and your non-verbal communication will be more impactful than your words.  It’s the most accurate form of communication, because it never lies (ever hear someone say ‘I’m not angry’ in an angry tone of voice?  Which do you believe?). Critical feedback will be much better received if it’s given with a caring tone.

Twelve – Leave Your People Alone

to do their jobs. You hired great people; encourage their ideas. They’re on the ground, while you’re somewhat removed from the day-to-day. They see things you don’t (and vice versa). Be humble: they’ll have ideas for improving process and workflow that would never have occurred to you. Embrace their ideas. You can tweak them. Make it okay for them to suggest the outrageous. 

Don’t be one of those bosses who says “my door is always open,” and then shut down an employee when they walk in to pitch an idea. They won’t want to try doing that again, because you’ve created an environment in which it isn’t safe for them to express themselves. And you’ve shut down a source of ideas that you could have used.

Thirteen – Close the Loop

Make it a standard practice that when you give an assignment to a member of your team, you receive regular feedback from them as to their progress (and if they may be running into any roadblocks) – and when the task has been completed.

This will mean less follow-up work for you, and your team will get used to communicating with you on an ongoing basis. This presupposes that if they do run into roadblocks during the process of completing an assignment, you offer suggestions, advice and/or encouragement, not judgment.

Fourteen – Process VS. Results

Instead of how hard are you working or how many hours have you put in, the team’s mantra needs to be: “How efficiently can we use our time?” The old fashioned approach is for goals to be handed down from above. These can be unreasonable, undermine morale, and are a setup for failure.

Instead, work with your team to set the goals they can accomplish. Then let your team be responsible for the process (how things are done), and have your focus be on quantifiable results. It’s shared responsibility, appropriate division of labor, and a win for everyone. 

Summary

If you follow the steps above, what you will harvest is greater productivity, and a more cohesive and loyal team that will want to stay. You will have built a reputation as a leader worth “killing for,” and will continue to attract talented people in the future. These principles represent a paradigm shift, a new way to think – and act.

The authors met through Imerman Angels https://imermanangels.org, a one-on-one cancer support community. Dr. Austin is continuing treatment for salivary gland cancer, and  Mr. Andrews is continuing recovery from oral cancer.

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