Pull the Weeds

Do you know what annoys a gardener more than anything else? A weed. They hate weeds. As soon as a weed rears its head, the gardener pulls it out! 

In my analogy, the “gardener” is the leader, and the “weed” is not the problem employee… it is the undesirable behavior (blaming other depts, bad attitude, tardiness, absenteeism, etc).

Repeat after me: Weeds are not people! They are the undesirable behaviors you don’t want.

As a master gardener, the goal is to have a thriving garden (team), filled with flowers, fruits and vegetables. If that’s truly your goal, then here are some keys to note regarding weeds:

• The presence of weeds inhibits the growth of whatever good things you are really trying to grow. (strong morale, etc.)

• Weeds are a sign of neglect. Whenever you see weeds, it means that they were ALLOWED to grow.

• You never have to try to make weeds grow. They just grow on their own. That’s what they do.

• Weeds don’t start big. They always start small.

• It’s always easier to pull weeds when they are small.

• You must pull the weed out by the root, or it will grow back.

• Weeds don’t just go away on their own.

• It doesn’t take long for weeds to grow.

When you walk by a garden full of weeds, who do you blame? The weeds or the gardener? 

Exactly. 

Weeds will ALWAYS try to find a way to grow. That’s just what weeds do. However, the presence of weeds means that the gardener (leader) is not doing his/her job effectively.

So, here are the two key takeaways: 

1. Carefully tend to the flowers, fruits and vegetables you want to grow. (teamwork, taking ownership, attention-to-detail, etc)

2. Pull the weeds when they are small.

Keep pulling. Keep watering. Keep leading.

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