Lead like gardener, grow your business
Hard lesson from 4-star Army Gen. McChrystal
The general explains only a leader can create the environment and ecosystem that fosters growth.
To say that small business owners are under considerable stress right now is of course a vast understatement. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, everything is different – money is tight, customers are scarce, employees are scared, and so are we.
But what if I told you there is a better, much less stressful way to manage your business than the way you are probably doing so today?
Yes, everyone is telling you to “be flexible, adopt new ways, use technology, pivot to remote, and hang in there.”
Yes, of course it’s all true and necessary, and yes, to a degree it works. But technology is no panacea. Running a digital organization when you are used to having an analog business is no easy thing.
So how do you manage a remote business when that is neither your strength nor your skill set? What does being a digital leader mean, anyway?
The answer is that the traditional type of hands-on, top-down leader is probably not what your business and team need right now. What they might actually need is for you to be a nurturer, not a commander.
That is the hard-learned lesson from retired four-star Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal is the former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan and the former commander of the nation’s premier military counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).
Longtime readers of this column know I am not in the habit of quoting generals, and McChrystal has certainly had his share of controversies and demotions. But I also believe in giving credit where credit is due.
McChrystal inherited a mess in 2003 when he took over JSOC and was charged with defeating al-Qaida in Iraq.
His impressive background from West Point on up had not taught him much about dealing with such an unwieldy opponent (like coronavirus?), nor such a remote team with soldiers stationed all over (like your quarantined employees?)
McChrystal later wrote a book about that experience called “Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World”, in which he shares how the “chess master” approach that he had been trained for was not going to work in that new, unconventional arena. Instead he says, he “backed into a far better approach – that of a gardener.”
“What does a gardener do? I don’t think a gardener grows anything. Only plants can do that, but gardeners are not unimportant. They prepare the ground, they plant, they water, they weed, they feed, they protect, and then they harvest.”
The general explains only a leader can create the environment and ecosystem that fosters growth. The gardener doesn’t tell a rose bush how to grow roses, but instead, by nurturing the plant, fertilizing and watering it and making sure it is nourished, the gardener allows the plant to flourish and do what it does best – grow roses.
Doesn’t that feel easier to you than trying to trying to micromanage a team that is at home and distracted by their own issues?
Maybe what your team needs is not for you to be the chess master leader, managing and dictating from the top down, but instead to be a gardener; someone who creates an ecosystem that supports and nurtures them during this harsh winter.
What your team may actually require is someone who waters and weeds and feeds and protects, trusting that when the sun does come out again (because the sun always comes out again) they will be ready to thrive and bloom and support the garden in all its bounty and beauty.
Steve Strauss is an attorney, popular speaker and the best-selling author of 17 books, including “The Small Business Bible.” You can learn more about Steve at MrAllBiz.com, get more tips at his site TheSelfEmployed, and connect with him on Twitter @SteveStrauss.