Conscious leaders are good gardeners. They understand that most people have an inherent desire to learn and grow. When we invest in ourselves, we can help others find their hidden abilities. When we are generous with our time, knowledge, and relationships, we can get at the heart of planting golden seeds in others.
Consider these ideas for developing others:
- Take a personal interest in the people around you—in their goals, fears, and frustrations.You will be amazed by the impact of your green thumb.
- Tap into people’s strengths and help see their cup as half full and always refillable.
- Give them permission to be vulnerable—allow them to take risks, to not have all the answers, to make mistakes, and to feel the anxiety of change.
- Teach them confidence. Help them see that they are bigger than their image of themselves.
- Share stories about your personal lessons of leadership. Talk about someone who believed in you and brought out your potential.
- Help them learn lessons about setbacks and failures. Maybe it’s their perfectionism, fear of failure, or lack of confidence that’s tripping them up.
- Reflect on who you have helped by planting seeds in the last 12 months. Write down three names of people in whom you will plant a golden seed in the next three months.
Inspire and Energize Others
The consulting firm Bain & Company surveyed executives from companies around the world. They asked them about the relationship between satisfaction, engagement, and inspiration, and the impact these things have on productivity. Not surprisingly, they found that inspired people were by far the most productive. Much of their inspiration came from themselves, their leaders, and their company’s mission.
Conscious leaders are inspiring coaches. Whether you are positive or negative, aware or unaware, conscious or unconscious, you are constantly modeling behavior for the people who work with you. People naturally look to leaders for direction, but they also want toknowyou as a person. They love to get a peek into your world and guess what you are thinking and feeling, what you are planning and what is important to you. Why not have as much influence as possible?
People are Hungry for Inspiration
In a cynical and changing world, people are hungry for coaches to help them navigate through the winds of change. So ask yourself: Is your garden growing? Do people feel inspired by you? Are you leaving people bigger and better than you found them? Tilling your garden may be your greatest investment.
Help Your Garden Grow is part of the Step Up practice in our book CONSCIOUS: The Power of Awareness in Business and Life. The other practices are Go Deep, Think Big, and Get Real.
At Healthy Companies, we believe that growth and success lie at the intersection of the personal and the business dimensions of organizational life. Our missionis to help CEO’s and executive teams build healthy, high performing companies through our consulting services, executive coaching and learning solutions.
