I’m still reading Michael Polllan’s book “Second nature: a gardener’s education”. This time I want to talk about his description of the garden world’s plants hierarchy. At the top stand the very civilized plants such as the rose and at the bottom are the weeds, attempting to take over. Where plants fall in this chain of importance has a lot to do with fashion but also breeding which in the case of plants is determined by how far removed it is from its wildflower origins. Colour also determines rank with pure white at the top, followed by blue (a colour with royal connections) then the hot shades of yellow and orange with gaudy, common magenta at the bottom of the pile.

Many organisations have their own hierarchy that denotes the importance of particular roles. In the legal, accounting and university sectors I have found that people with degrees are at the top of the pecking order (of course the more you have the more important you are) and those without are as seen as easily replaceable commodities. In other industries it isn’t about qualifications but income earning power so anyone who makes money for the company is revered like a magnificent rose and roles that cost the company money are viewed as the equivalent of weeds.

So who is at the top of the hierarchy in your organisation and who deserves to have a boost in their level of importance? This matters because, as in the garden, the most desirable types tend to get the most attention lavished on them and therefore perform better. It’s not the plant or persons’ fault then if they don’t perform. It’s the fault of the gardener or leader who is biased in their activities.

I have been visiting Perth on a monthly basis to deliver my first Budding Leaders Program and have had the chance to visit some of my favourite gardens including the wonderful Kings Park. I recently found myself standing next to a magnificent specimen of a plant and immediately identified it by the name I have always used: a black boy tree. When I read the description sign nearby it read “grass tree”, the more modern term for the plant. Whilst I know this is the new, politically correct name for it, I still automatically think of the other name first and have to do a quick “translation” in my head before talking about it to others.

It got me thinking about political correctness for leaders. We encounter situations where we are required to use terminology that feels unnatural because our usual words are now deemed inappropriate. More than once I have seen this gone way too far, making the leader sound pretentious, fake or both.

Whilst I understand the need to be respectful of other people’s feelings I sometimes wonder if we are taking it too far. This is one of the reasons I got out of HR, as they seem to be the root cause of this politically correct campaign. Some groups I now work with are quite happy to describe themselves in politically incorrect terms and it seems that if they do that it’s OK for the rest of us to join in.  It also seems to be about intention. If your thoughts are pure then the odd slip seems to be tolerated. Hopefully we are running out of terms that need changing and have reached our full compliment of political correctness. Maybe some of it will start to decline as people now understand the reason behind it and don’t run scared every time they think to use a word like “black” to describe something that is, well, black!

So I’m working away at the weeding down at Northey Street City Farm the other day and the Co-ordinator leading volunteers that day strikes up a conversation with me about what I do when I’m not attempting to rid the world of weeds.

I answer and respond by asking him about his background and find that I am working alongside a retired doctor.

As the morning continues, his medical training and knowledge of plant life come together when I am attacked by a stinging nettle bush. He not only knew what had caused it and why but how to remedy it. A very useful set of skills I must say.

I’ve also recently worked with some new people at www.nscf.org.au and got talking to them about how and why they got involved. Their answers have been diverse and sometimes surprising. One woman started out doing community service to pay for a speeding fine she couldn’t afford to pay but enjoyed the experience so much she decided to stay. Another had to give up their own garden due to ill health but still wanted to get his hands dirty on a regular basis. Others feel socially isolated due to disadvantage or disability and volunteer regularly because they find the farm is full of friendly people who don’t judge others. Regardless of their path to volunteering at the farm, what everyone has in common is a desire to be part of something they see as important. You wouldn’t turn up to get dirty and scratched if you didn’t! Their stories add to the richness of the experience for others and demonstrate the passion they have for what they do.

I think the paths people take to get to leading can add the same richness to our workplaces. Everyone seems to find their way to leading via their own unique path. Whilst I know there are plenty of people who make it their goal in life to lead, there seem to be just as many who never set out to do it but find themselves there anyway. Perhaps you were thrown into a role temporary and came to love it or took over in a time of controversy or drama and managed to get things back on track. You might have previously run your own business but that didn’t work out for various reasons.

Like my colleague at the farm I think it is valuable for leaders to make use of the full range of skills they bring to their role. Doing so can show your team members that you are more than a one dimensional person and at the same time build some much needed rapport. So what secret former life do you have that could be incorporated into your role as a leader? Instead of hiding your talents under a bush bring them out and share them. You never know how they might come in handy!

An infographic by the team at CouponAudit

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Couldn’t help but show off the fact that my blog has been named number 49 in the Top 100 Gardening blogs to follow in 2013. Sure, it’s a different “spin” on gardening but I’m proud of being able to spread the  message of workplace gardening even further!

What do real estate, employee engagement and gardening have in common? Success is all about position, position, position!

Columnist Michael McCoy from Gardening Australia Magazine explored the issue of position in one of his recent articles in reference to a plant he has, a Helleborous called “Mrs Betty Ranicar”, that had issues because it was in a “visually repellent position”. It was the last plant to survive in a garden bed and now looked lonely and out of proportion. Originally she was surrounded by other larger plants, which showed off her beautiful flowers but with them all now gone, she fades into insignificance in an otherwise empty bed. He laments that Mrs Betty Ranicar needs a better “stage” in which to perform and show off her qualities.

This reminded me of a workplace experience I had when I was placed in an incorrect position so that my natural talents were out of proportion with my role. Like the Helleborous, I do best when surrounded by others, not left on my own. My talents were definitely wasted and my performance suffered as a result.

How often do leaders mistake an under performing employee as someone simply being in the wrong position? Instead of moving the employee (which is what Michael proposes to do with his plant) we write them off as a dud hire, either ignoring them or doing our best to get rid of them. I’m sure a lot of time, effort and frustration could be saved if we first considered whether they were in the right position. Move them around, see if they do any better in a different role or on a different team. However, don’t do this simply to get rid of someone you perceive is a “problem” because your colleagues will not appreciate you making it their problem! This action should be taken before they descend into the realms of the non-performer or, as I call them, the Has Been.

There is a growing movement to bring back old style heirloom varieties of plants. They are varieties that were commonly grown in the past but fell out of favour as we developed newer varieties. Before the industrialisation of agriculture a much wider variety of plant foods were grown for human consumption.

Today most food crops are grown in large, single variety plots with few varieties of each type of crop grown to maximise consistency. These varieties are often selected for their productivity, ability to withstand mechanical picking and cross-country shipping or their tolerance to drought, frost or pesticides.

Heirloom gardening is a reaction against this trend. Many heirloom fruits and vegetables have kept their traits through open pollination whilst the modern varieties have been grown via grafts and cuttings, losing their ability to resist pests and disease without the addition of numerous chemicals. Along the way they often lose their original taste. Many gardeners are now searching out heirloom varieties for their superior taste and resilience.

Something similar has happened in the workplace. We have let certain roles fall into disuse, believing them to be redundant or old fashioned. Sometimes we are so eager to change everything to appear modern and up to date, we forget that some ideas stand the test of time. There can often be “seeds of truth” in those old ways that, if modernised a bit, can be just as relevant today.

For example, I’ve heard of organisations that are reintroducing the role of the old fashioned tea lady. There is even a website on the topic.

(http://www.bringbackthetealady.com/members/bringbacktealady/info/00014169).

In my early working life the tea lady was a little ray of sunshine. She would arrive every morning and afternoon with something hot in a real cup (never plastic or Styrofoam), always remembered how I liked my drink and offered me a biscuit along with a couple of lines of diverting conversation. It humanised the workplace.

All this human contact has been replaced by Cappuccino machines, which might be efficient but can’t replace the human touch. I think a modern tea lady could be used as an early warning sign of mental health issues in the workplace, something that organisations are dealing with more and more. The person who brings your tea or coffee twice daily would get a different insight into your state of mind and may be able to offer some comforting words or a suggestion to get help. So like heirloom plants, I say bring back the tea lady!

If you have read a gardening book or magazine you will have seen images similar to those pictured here. These are zone maps that represent the various climatic conditions that different gardeners operate in. The shading indicates whether a region is classified as Arid, Mediterranean, Temperate, Tropical or a Rainforest. Within some of these zones there are also subzones.

These descriptors tell a gardener about three key factors in their area: rainfall, temperature and humidity. This information allows them to select the correct plants for their region, increasing their chances of growing a successful garden. As it turns out, conditions in Australia and Asia are quite diverse, whilst in New Zealand they symbolically have two zones matching the two islands and two main cultural groups that inhabit the country.

Workplace gardens are the same. Different industries and different countries will operate in different conditions. As a leader it is vital you understand those climatic zones or you risk hiring the wrong people or attempting to lead your team using inappropriate methods that will not result in a productive outcome. Just as in the garden, there are three key factors to consider. In the case of organisations they operate on a continuum with some teams to be found at the extremes but most somewhere in between.

Here is my latest video blog post filmed on Langkawi Island, Malaysia.

Carlos Magdalena is revered in the gardening world as a miracle worker. He is known internationally as the Spanish “plant messiah” for his ability to propagate endangered species when other gardeners fail.  I encountered his remarkable skills whilst watching the latest David Attenborough series “Kingdom of plants” which I have now quoted a few times in this blog. Through his persistence and creativity, Carlos was able to save a rare species of Rwandan water lily by growing the seedlings outside water to replicate their natural conditions, which are to grow in very shallow pools of water. This idea only came after much trial and error using all the methods that are normally prescribed for a plant of this type. He didn’t let his early failures get him down, using them as motivation to keep going until he was successful. You could see the pride on his face when describing his results.

Workplace gardeners can learn from his example. Every now and then I come across a leader who can work miracles with an individual or a team that others had given up on. They persist, trying out sometimes unconventional methods to get them performing to their full potential. Like Carlos, they see it as a challenge and enjoy testing their skills. The feeling of pride they have when they achieve results is also the same. Other leaders seem to give up at the first difficulty, believing that miracles are not possible and resign themselves to losing that person or seeing that team fall apart.

So are you willing to do some miracle work? Your miracles don’t need to be big. The smallest ones can still have a significant impact on your organisation. If you want to go down in history like Carlos Magdalena then start looking around for an area where you can work your magic.

Organisations, like gardens come in all shapes and sizes but the methods of keeping them healthy and productive are exactly the same. I like to divide workplace gardens into 5 different sizes, depending the number of employees, and compare them to a similar sized garden.

* A micro business with one or two employees is like a balcony garden

* A small business with up to 100 employees is similar to the average backyard garden

* A medium sized organisation with 100 to 1,000 employees can be compared to a substantial backyard garden or acreage

* A large organisation with more than 1,000 employees is reminiscent of a botanic garden

* A government department with many 1,000s of employees is the equivalent of a nursery supplying to the public

It doesn’t matter what size organisation you work for, from a huge multinational to a home based business, the same rules apply. Sure the scale is different, which can sometimes work in your favour and other times make life more difficult. You just need to adjust the rules to suit your needs.

If you are small you just need to start thinking bigger and connect yourself to other like minded organisations and benefit from being part of something larger. If you are big start thinking smaller by looking at how you can personalise the employment experience for your people.