Rooted in Care: What Plants Teach Us About Organizations

I like plants. I like their shapes and colors and textures. I love the warmth and calm they bring to a space, their connection to the earth, the thrill of seeing a new leaf emerge. I haven’t yet reached “crazy plant lady” status, but I confess to having 10 houseplants indoors year-round and another 16 tropical plants that will soon need a place inside to survive the winter.  

That said, nothing I write here should imply I have a green thumb. Case in point: two containers now hold the remnants of what were once thriving Thanksgiving Cactus and Chinese Money Plants. Considering these are among the easiest varieties to maintain, I’m not entirely sure where I went wrong.

What I’ve discovered, though – both from the plants that thrive under my care and the ones that don’t – is that tending to them has a lot in common with tending to organizations. Both need the right conditions, consistent attention, and a willingness to learn from mistakes in order to flourish.

Let’s visit some of those parallels:

• A healthy plant requires healthy roots. Likewise, a healthy organization is built on a strong mission, vision, values, and priorities.
• Like most living things, plants need routine care and maintenance. To bring out the best in a team, its members must be properly trained, nurtured, and motivated – not just once, but on an ongoing basis.
• Pruning encourages new growth in plants. When an organization lets go of old ways of thinking, roles, processes, or programs, this provides opportunities for new ways to fulfill its mission.
• Some plants grow best in bright light while others prefer shade. People, too, need the right environment to flourish. Leaders who understand and nurture individual differences cultivate healthier, stronger teams.
• Weeds happen. Left unchecked, they eventually overtake healthy plants. In organizations, unresolved issues like poor communications, unclear policies, and unproductive conflict can spread quickly and choke out success.  
• Plants can’t thrive in depleted soil. Similarly, staff won’t thrive in a poor culture. Just as soil must be fertilized regularly, leaders must consistently nourish a culture of respect, collaboration, and purpose.

I may not have an innate green thumb, but each of my plants (thriving or not) has something to teach me about leadership and resilience. Growth doesn’t just happen; it takes the right mix of light, care, and patience. And when people or plants finally flourish, the reward is more than worth it.

Staci Barfield is a Senior Advisor with Armstrong McGuire who specializes in organizational design, organizational assessment, organizational strategy, strategic planning, succession planning, leadership development, and executive recruitment. Learn more about Staci and check out her other musings in her bio.