Trees as Teachers: On Staying Rooted, Even in the Wind: Thoughts From Red Sunflower Farm
Curious Questions from Observing the Everyday
Trees as Teachers: On Staying Rooted, Even in the Wind
Have you ever stopped to look at a tree on a windy day? When you do, you can’t help but notice how these worldly giants sway and bend with the wind. If the tree is well-rooted, a windstorm is just a passing moment. Maybe it loses a few branches, but the trunk and bulk of the tree stand tall. But if the tree has failed to establish a solid root system, a windstorm may be the death of it.
Trees make beautiful teachers. They help us understand the importance of staying rooted in the ground, but flexible enough to bend in the wind.
If your business is well-rooted, it can withstand the winds of economic turmoil. If not, volatile economic times may be the death of it.
So, what makes a business well-rooted? Three things: intention or purpose, values, and cash. Stay with me here:
1. Intention (or purpose) is foundational. Without it, you’ll spend your days chasing rabbits down rabbit holes. Be bold, claim what is important to you, and live your truth through your business. Consider your purpose your tap root, forming the center of your business from which all other roots grow.
2. Values are your lateral roots. Whether it is new clients, new services, or new team members, choosing from the lens of your values keeps your business integral, upright, and solid. If your values form your lateral roots, your company shows up as consistent and courageous. Outsiders and insiders know what to expect and what they can count on.
3. Cash headroom makes up the third element of your roots, your heart roots. Heart roots absorb nutrients and anchor the tree. With cash, you are in business. It doesn’t matter how good or noble your business model is, without cash, you are, quite simply, out of business.
Trees never stop growing. And your business shouldn’t either. Yet many business owners stop worrying about their roots when times are good. If you focus solely on gaining market share (and ignore your roots), you may lose your purpose and you may neglect to articulate (and live) your values.
When times are good, build your cash headroom! Why? Because there is only one economic certainty: Change.
No matter who is president, what the prime rate is, or what the S&P is doing at any given moment, the future will be different. That’s a guarantee. Eventually, times will be radically different. It is in this time of growth when leaders are called to prepare for radically different times. Those that do will stay rooted, strong, and upright through the next economic storm. What choice will you make?
I’ll leave you with these curious questions:
Am I rooted?
Is my business rooted?
Which of my roots need nurturing?
How can I better prepare for uncertainty?