Embracing natural rhythms in organizations transforms our approach to leadership in incredible ways.
Now, imagine you have enough land to start your own garden. The first step isn’t deciding what to plant. You’d consider the quality of the soil and access to water. Healthy soil and water are essential for plant growth. Do you know which plants thrive in your soil? Would you plant fruit trees in winter or spring? Potatoes and beets in summer or winter?
If your tomatoes , lettuce or peaches weren’t growing fast enough, would you question why? Would you yell at them and demand faster growth? Are they to blame for not meeting your expectations? Any lay offs for plants not contributing to your farm’s success?
Would you tend to your garden every day? How would you manage weeds? Would you let them grow wild and choke your crops, or would you handle them without using toxins?
We’ve built organizations like machines, but we are not machines. Yet, we expect people to be efficient, productive, and produce unnatural growth quarter over quarter. We hire people and then lay them off if our numbers are off.
Imagine if we approached organizations like growing a garden. Maybe we’d value natural growth over forced productivity. We’d understand that sometimes growth is slow, and that’s okay.
Nature operates in cycles and rhythms, unlike many organizations today. Imagine infusing an organic rhythm into leadership cycles. Asking more questions, without blame. Encouraging open dialogue, natural growth, and flow. Recognizing that growth isn’t always linear and that setbacks are opportunities.
There’s much to unlearn and learn about natural rhythms in organizations. As below, so above. Nurturing environments lead to healthier realities. Can we move towards creating spaces where we grow at our own pace, supported and valued for our unique contributions and rhythms?