If you look at any garden large or small it will contain paths. Some paths are straight, flat and open. Others are winding, sloping and enclosed. They have different surfaces with some smooth, some rough, some well marked and others hard to see. With some you can see the end where as others have the [...]

Tags: Career path, emerging leaders, employee engagement, Garden paths, Karen Schmidt, Leadership and gardening, Leadership and management, Leadership skills, Leading is like gardening, learning and development, www.letsgrow.com.au

I was watching another episode of Monty Don’s “Lost Gardens”.  This time it was devoted to a Victorian era pleasure garden complete with a beautiful summer house. This series is not just about gardening. It also gives an insight into how people lived at a point in history. What I learnt is that by the [...]

Tags: Change management, employee engagement, engagement, Karen Schmidt, Leadership and gardening, Leadership and management, Leadership skills, Leading is like gardening, Organisational culture, Reputation, Workplace gardening, www.letsgrow.com.au

So, another year is about to end and a new one begin. Besides running around getting all those holiday related tasks organised, many leaders turn their thoughts to analysing the year that was and planning for the new year ahead.   This time of year gardeners are also turning their thoughts to the past growing season [...]

Tags: Karen Schmidt, Leadership and gardening, Leadership and management, Leadership skills, Leading is like gardening, Purpose, www.letsgrow.com.au

When I was a child my mother gave me a small patch in the garden to grow whatever I wanted. I chose strawberries for a few reasons … they grow fast, are easy to look after and I love eating them! Later she introduced me to other types of plants, helped me to learn the [...]

Tags: Budding leaders, emerging leaders, Engaging leadership, Gen Y, Leaders of the future, Leadership and gardening, Leadership and management, Leadership skills, Leading is like gardening, Next generation leaders, Support for leaders, www.letsgrow.com.au

Gardeners have varying degrees of success in their efforts. Sometimes they are able to get a plant to stay alive and grow leaves but are never able to get it to reach it’s full potential which could be to produce flowers or fruit. I have personally experienced this situation and it can be frustrating to [...]

Tags: employee engagement, Karen Schmidt, Leadership and gardening, Leadership and management, Leadership skills, Leading is like gardening, Management versus leadership, www.letsgrow.com.au