I know the title above may cause question. This time of year is when fruit trees are dormant and it is time to prune them for health and structure for the following growing season. Yesterday, Selah and I went out and pruned our four apple trees. She loves all things growing and gardens. I took the time to teach her all of the major parts of the tree and the function of them so that she would know the "why" behind what we were doing. We discussed the roots, central leader, leaders, drip-line, and the fruit. There is obviously lot more to the tree but I wanted her to get the big picture first. There are a lot of key leadership lessons an apple tree can show us if we understand how a tree functions.
I worked through this concept with our Key School Leaders a couple months back.
Let's Begin:
What is the purpose of a fruit tree? Pretty simple....bear fruit..
What is the purpose of leadership? Well, pretty much the same.. bear fruit.
I am going to speak in general terms regarding the tree rather than from an arborist vocabulary.
At the top of the tree you have the Central Leader. The central leader is responsible for the shape of the tree. How the central leader is formed will directly affect the direction of where the tree is going to grow. The same way in leadership. The Central Leader (CEO) is responsible for the shape and direction the organization is going.
The Leaders are the branches that follow the lead of the Central Leader and provide support and structure to the physiology of the tree and are responsible for the production of the fruit. In leadership your Leaders are your mid-level leadership that are in direct supervision of those who produce the end product (fruit or service).
The roots are the most important part of the tree. The roots are the heart of the tree and are what provide the stability and nourishment required for the tree to grow and produce fruit. The roots are your end user experience. They are your workers that actually get the job done in your organization and are the heartbeat of who you are.
The Drip-line is the farthest point the leaders reach and where water drips from branches. The roots of a tree will not go beyond the end point of the drip-line. The leaders protect the roots from large volumes of rain that would damage the roots and soil. The roots need the protection of the leaders to remain healthy. Leaders must protect their workers by shielding them from the elements and providing the focus of the organization and support. Also, remember the roots won't grow past the length of the leaders. Your ability to lead and support will create the cap of potential in your organization.
Pruning is one of the most important parts of maintaining a healthy fruit tree. When pruning a fruit tree you look for any leaders (branches) that are crossing one another, or any leader that is blocking the sunlight from another, any leader that has become unhealthy or diseased, any leader that is growing in toward the central leader. Also, you shorten the leaders by about a third of their previous years growth to allow them to become thicker and more stout to be able to handle more fruit. Apply those same concepts to how you prune leadership within your own organization.
Fruit is the end product of the fruit tree. The fruit is only as healthy as the aforementioned parts and process of the tree are. If the tree and processes are healthy and consistent the so will be the fuit.
Fruit Trees can be very fickle and high maintenance. They operate just like a business. They are expensive, time consuming, get diseases, need pruning and constant care. However, when cared for in the right way; the produce and lessons learned create an incredible organization that is healthy and sustainable.
These are just basic concepts to think about in leadership but the fruit tree provides a great structure to teach leadership off of. Of course you can expand in much more detail than I did today in a lecture or leadership talk. I was just reminded of this concept yesterday when we were pruning trees and just thought I would pass the concept along!
Lead NWA well this week!
- Dr. Keith McDaniel
