Recently I’ve been trying to find a good farming analogy for what I consider the “leadership no-brainers”. It’s surprising how many leaders, newbies and veterans alike, make small leadership mistakes that turn out to have big consequences, such as a reduction in employee engagement and an increase in turnover. And with the majority of employees already not engaged, we can all benefit from a couple easy wins.
When in doubt, ask your local farmer
The solution to my leadership analogy search came up the other day in conversation with my dad, who still runs the dairy farm I grew up on in Northern New York. One of the many revenue streams the farm has is an operating fruit orchard. It’s mostly apples, but he’s got a few other kinds of tree fruit also such as pears and cherries. This time of year, cherries come in season and need to be picked. My dad picks them by hand over the course of several days, resulting in hundreds of pounds of cherries. The trees are tall enough that many of the cherries need to be picked from a ladder, so my dad’s method is to go around and pick the cherries that don’t require a ladder first, and then later bring out a ladder and collect those on the higher branches.
Later, it hit me like a ton of bricks. He literally picks the low-hanging fruit first, just like the expression. It’s a leadership consultant’s dream! Why does he do it? Well, because it’s easier to do a great job and get more good fruit. When you get on a ladder, it naturally becomes harder, so he takes the easy win. Makes good sense, right?
In leadership, so many of us don’t take the easy wins. We don’t pick the low-hanging fruit, so later we have to make up our crop under more difficult circumstances (if even possible). We do it to ourselves. Here are a few tips that can make it easier to do a great job leading your team, by picking the low-hanging fruit.
Read the room
Yes, being informal with your team shows an openness and engagement that generally makes your people feel comfortable. Letting them see the real you is a good thing. But, it’s easy for some leaders to cross the line. Maybe they’re that blind to what’s commonly considered inappropriate, or maybe they think they can get away with it. Maybe they think it impresses people. They can’t. It doesn’t.
If you catch yourself prefacing a comment with “I know I’m not supposed to say this but…”, don’t say it. The one off-color joke you make. The one time you’re too casual with your team and they talk about you afterwards. The time you don’t stand up for what’s right, you decide not to intervene when an incident occurs, or you allow a culture of disrespect to continue. The moment an employee begins to feel like they’re not welcome in their work environment. It’s hard to get back someone’s respect after you’ve lost it. Even if that leader “gets away with it”, the respect they’ve lost in that moment can be the difference between success and mediocrity, or even failure.
Avoid these moments. Instead, be the leader that doesn’t need to push the limits but still has fun at work. Stand up for what you know is right and take good care of your most vulnerable people, especially in times of crisis. It’s low hanging fruit.
Lead from the front
Leading from the front means many things to many people. But for me, it’s walking the talk. Have you ever worked for someone who would expect a lot out of you but not out of themselves? Or someone who criticized their team for not being punctual, but always made them wait? Someone expecting strict engagement but would spend entire meetings not paying attention? It’s the worst. But what about the leader that models their values? The one that works the hardest and brings the team along too? The boss that’s not afraid to clean the breakroom, picks up a piece of garbage on the sales floor, carefully listens when their people are talking. It’s inspiring. It’s also low hanging fruit.
First, meet your people
I used to have a manager that couldn’t get my name right. Just… unable to call me by my actual name. I never took it personally, but you know what? My name isn’t that hard. And if he couldn’t figure out what I like to be called, would you imagine he knew the slightest thing about my interests, how to motivate me, things that were important to me, or the challenges I was facing? And if he didn’t know that basic stuff, how would he possibly know how to get the most out of me as a top performer?
Hi, I’m Patrick. I’ve been working for you for two years. Nice to meet you.
Meeting your people is knowing how to keep them in the game. We all have tough days, challenges, and things that we need help with. A leader who asks after a sick grandma, or knows what kind of chocolate will make someone’s day a little brighter – that person naturally helps their team battle through the challenges that impede their progress to being great. It’s easy to take a second to get to know your people. It’s low hanging fruit.
Now, meet your people where they are
I like this expression. I also like the similar one, “Meet your people more than halfway”. You’re in a position of leadership a lot of times because you’re naturally good at something. Or you worked harder than most people did to get where you are. Or both. Sometimes, especially as newer leaders, (although we could all use a little leadership development) we act with a little more entitlement. We feel like maybe we’re a little better than everyone else because we got promoted.
In reality, we just signed up for a little more responsibility to the full team. It’s our job now to lift our people up, help them get better without having to face the challenges we did, because we already learned the lessons for them. The business grows stronger and faster because a leader like that becomes an accelerator. So, meet your people where they are, and don’t allow yourself to judge them too much. If they were as good as you, they might be your boss right now instead of the other way around. Help them find their way. Clear the path for them to succeed. It’s pretty simple. Pick the fruit.
Blessed be the fruit
Picking the low-hanging fruit gives you an advantage. In the simplest sense, it makes it easier to gather better fruit, without the additional complications of needing to get on a ladder. Similarly, much of leadership is electing to take easy steps (or avoid some) to get the most out of your team. And although there are certainly many more cherries on this tree, these four tips should give any leader the chance to reflect on how they carry themselves, and how they can truly encourage peak performance from their business unit through their people.
Patrick Ingham is the founder of John Patrick Consulting Group, helping businesses optimize their performance through HR and People Ops strategies. He proudly comes from an operating dairy farm in Northern New York, where honey, apples, and maple syrup are also organically produced.