We have a bush on the side of our house that is a little out of control. A few months ago my wife suggested that we need to trim it down so I finally got to it the other day. As I worked on thinning out this bush I was reminded of the book Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud. He discusses the idea of pruning as leaders. He says:
“The areas of your business that require your limited resources – your time, energy, talent, emotion, money – but are not achieving the vision you have for them should be pruned.”
As I reflect on trimming and pruning that bush there seem to be different ways we need to prune. (As an aside reading the above book will provide a greater depth of exploration on this topic.)
Dead
As I was working my way through this large bush and grabbed some branches, they broke off. These branches were of no value to the bush. They were rotten or dead. Sometimes we may lead people that seem “dead.”
These are the employees in an organization I’d call subordinates who simply show up to get their paycheck and do just enough to not get in trouble. They may be volunteers in another organization who show up and do nothing or worse stir up problems. These people may create problems by not carrying their load, creating more problems, not getting results, or simply bring no value. If you think you may have someone like this on your team visit this post to see if there is a deeper reason before removing them.
Out of Control
One of the branches on this bush was out of control. I began sawing the branch off, but it still was fruitful so we will evaluate if we keep it. We must determine if the way it sticks out detracts from the overall vision we have for the bush.
Maybe you have someone you lead who is out of control. They still get results but are not staying aligned with the organizational or team vision and may struggle as a team player.
With this person pruning may be determining together how to best position the individual to help the overall vision. It could also be a difficult conversation to help the individual understand how to use their desire to be unique in a productive manner. This individual may not have to be removed, but could use some mentoring or coaching so they are not a negative influence.
Healthy but Need Attention
Finally, some of the branches simply needed cut back so they can grow back more fruitful. These are the individuals on your team who add value, produce, but need some guidance and direction to grow. This may be the individual who has only been on the team for a few months or is new to learning how to behave in your environment. This could be someone who has transitioned from a sales or technical position and needs help shifting to thinking like a leader.
Mentoring from someone within or coaching from someone outside the organization may serve this individual well. Pruning in this case is for the purpose of identifying gaps in their performance to help them grow to their full potential.
Take a minute and look at your team. Do you need to do some removal or pruning? Do you need help thinking into your leadership or does someone on your team? Contact me and let’s discover how I can help. Don’t put off pruning like I did my bush so you can create room for growth. Lead Well.
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