Blueberries and Leadership
Q. What do blueberries have to do with leadership? A. Nothing, yet everything!
Are you ripe for a good pruning in your life, relationships or career?
For anyone who has owned fruit-bearing tress, bushes or vines, you know that the act of pruning anything that is delivering bountiful fruit is hard to do. It seems counter-intuitive to what seems appropriate. I was so discouraged in the moment of realizing my blueberry bush had no blossoms this year. This beautiful little bush produces so much fruit each season it is mind-blowing.
But not this year…no blueberries for me!
I own cherry trees – several of them. I firmly believe in the act of pruning to encourage new, healthy growth. It escapes me why I have not applied this to my little blueberry bush. Then I realized that my scarcity mindset was the culprit.
You see, I planted several bushes many years ago. Sadly, after some reckless trimming in the yard with a weed-whipper when my plants were small, only one of my plants remain today. Therefore, my approach to it became very protective. Not wanting to risk losing it or going without fruit, I neglected to care for it properly even though I knew that pruning would not create either of those results. Just silly! And now, because of my poor choices, I have no fruit.
This got me to thinking…people are not much different than fruit-bearing plants. We, too, need to let go of the things, ideas and people in our lives that are unhealthy and no longer serving us. We naturally move in and out of our own seasons of life, each requiring us to let go of something to make room for what is in store for us. Failure to let go of what is not serving us will eventually catch up to us. The price we pay to keep our dead branches can leave us operating from a deficit. I often refer to this deficit as “burn out”.
Going without blueberries will not change the course of my life. My “deficit” is manageable, but that is not always the case when we aren’t wise with identifying what (and when) to let go. I have operated from a deficit many times in my life and, in retrospect, the cause of my pain and suffering was from an unwillingness to let go.
Letting go = freedom. Every time.
The amount of pain and suffering correlates directly to the amount of time between realizing what I needed to release and act of releasing it to make room for what was next. The greater the distance between those two points, the greater the pain and suffering.
It is my opinion that most people understand this intellectually but cannot apply this wisdom in their own lives when the emotional investment of the situation is high. And that, my friends, is when we need it most. As a life and leadership coach I often have the privilege of serving people who are in need of pruning and assist in minimizing the emotional barriers that prevent them making difficult decisions. It is one of the most rewarding parts of my “job”.
Scripture agrees with this, too. Before Jesus went to the cross, his sermon uses a gardening metaphor to describe the importance of growing spiritually and understanding from where we draw our strength. He also says, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2).
Just as a wise gardener doesn’t let his fruit grow wildly on its own, we must cut away or release our “dead branches” in order to produce the best fruit through new growth.
Like the branches in Jesus’s story, we’re all unique, and our pruning won’t look the same.
RELATIONALLY - this could be:
Unforgiven acts that hinder the relationship from moving forward in a healthy way.
Unreasonable expectations that we place on others.
The need to be right instead of being kind.
The desire to change others so that we can feel better.
PROFESSIONALLY - this could be:
A system or process in the business, an ERP system for example, that is not able to serve the future needs of the business but “it’s getting the job done”.
Keeping an employee who is not competent in their current role, nor are they coachable or suited for another role.
Continuing to do business with a client/customer who does not fit your ideal customer profile.
MENTALLY - this could be:
A limiting belief that keeps you playing safe and small instead of realizing your next level of greatness or happiness.
Making assumptions about the future based on past experiences and missing out as a result.
Judgment of others that stunts your curiosity and willingness to be open to new and different ideas or possibilities.
SPIRITUALLY - this could be:
Doing things for the sake of doing things – not aligning your actions with your vision (or purpose).
Acting, speaking or believing incongruent with what you believe or what you call important. Said differently… saying one thing, doing another.
These are just a few examples. In most cases, there is a fear of being set back in some way if we let go of (prune) what is no longer serving us. We might be a bit afraid of who we would be if we weren’t in our current, familiar state. Our brain favors the familiar, even if it is not what is best for us. The disfunction we know is easier than the uncertainty of new possibilities.
Holding on to what no longer serves us is costly.
What are you holding on to that should be pruned from your life?
What thought (or belief) is causing this?
What is it costing you?
What would be possible if you cleared the path?
I challenge you to identify one thing relationally, mentally, professionally and spiritually that no longer serves you and clear it away to make room for new possibilities in your life.
