Do you like to garden, or do you like when someone else helps you with your garden? Or… do you like to smell the flowers and call *that* gardening? (We see many hands raised.) Our CEO Sally appeared on Luvvie Ajayi Jones’ recent podcast, and Luvvie called it “Pulling the Weeds.”
They had a lively, truth-telling conversation about tending to the garden of teamwork. Building a high-performing team has some similarities to gardening: finding and planting the best flowers that align to your goals, attention to the conditions/culture of soil health, nourishment to keep them growing… and a little weeding from time to time. The conversation had us smiling at how Forshay is like a gardening partner who supports you in any area of team growth, including getting into the weeds to build a solid foundation for teams to flourish.
2023 Was Worse for P&Ls Than Covid’s Arrival
No breaking news here that last year was *the worst* for many leaders running their P&L. The free-flowing streams of revenue in the economy were tightly turned off, and the question of when the economy/conditions of growth would return was on every CEO’s lips. How much should be pruned so that the limited resources would get us through this drought?
Luvvie didn’t hold back in revealing just how tricky it was to navigate team transitions in both growth (she wanted to pull the weeds that were in the wrong garden) and when the weather conditions changed in her financial forecast and she could only support a much smaller flower bed. Most CEOs we know don’t reveal the conversations we have with them behind closed Zoom rooms, but Luvvie laid it all out there, and even made us laugh during some pretty manure-y challenges.
Planting the Right Seeds (or Borrowing Some Fully-Formed Flowers!)
Happily, we are seeing a shift in the weather at Forshay. It’s definitely not raining, but the sprinkles of key hires are happening. And the interim, 3-6 month fill-in-your-leadership gap requests are always the first to come in.
What’s missing in your beautiful team garden? When you aren’t sure if you can support the longer-term employee headcount, but you need to keep your team healthy and hitting it’s goals…the interim model is ideal. It’s portable, fully-formed adults jumping in.
We’ve been placing interim CFOs and backfilling Chief People Officers when the garden needs a little rotation. As our most recent client said, “You really took the time to understand our culture, adjusted to our needs and nuances, adapted quickly, and delivered the right candidates.”
We love taking a holistic approach to learning the current state of the market and then sourcing top talent to cultivate a leadership team that will flourish.
Tilling the Soil: Working With What You’ve Got
Even the most vibrant seeds can’t thrive in the wrong soil/structure. An outdated org structure, unclear roles, or inefficient workflows can stifle growth and frustrate your team.
Forshay’s organizational design and job architecture experts are like tilling the soil in your garden. We help you create a clear, fertile foundation with just the right amount of structure, well-defined roles and responsibilities, and modern ways of working that empower your team to do their best work.
Nourishing Your Team: The Power of Learning and Development
High-performing teams are more like prize-winning orchids, roses, or tulips…and less like wildflowers. They need regular watering, nutrients, and shaping. Similarly, your team thrives with ongoing learning and development opportunities to stay sharp and motivated.
Just ask your favorite AI engine what the data are for the ROI on learning and development, and the citations will fill up your screen. We’ve been designing and delivering custom workshops with absolute JOY this year. But if you want to do this part of the gardening yourself, we can also support you in creating customized learning plans using AI. However, you want to nourish your team…we’re here to make it high-quality, effective, and easy.
Thinking of Expanding Your Garden? Let’s Strategize
Regardless of the economic climate, companies need to grow to survive. Just like any gardener with a grand vision, we all need a plan…with a budget that will get approved.
If you’re looking for new ideas, we are evaluating a business idea for a large AI company where their “garden” might expand. They cited the need for “big company consulting services” without the big company consulting fees and asked for management consultant/analysis support. We also seeded their internal leaders’ perspectives with an objective outsider POV to help them decide where to expand.
If you are considering tilling a few more rows, we’ll help you assess the feasibility of expansion plans and develop a roadmap for supporting your ambitious goals.
Don’t Overwork The Master Gardener!
The market conditions have been rough, and leaders who have been tending their team gardens (ie, you) have been through some tough, exhausting storms. Forshay is here to partner with you to ensure your garden bears fruit season after season…and that you don’t burn out!
Is it time to add a key leader (interim or direct hire), strengthen your organization’s latest structure, nourish your team with new skills, or strategize for future growth? Reach out – let’s cultivate a bumper crop harvest!
