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 [...]

Tags: Employee Communication, Leadership and management, Organisational culture, Political correctness, Workplace gardening, www.letsgrow.com.au

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 [...]

Tags: Leadership and gardening, Leadership and management, Organisational culture, www.letsgrow.com.au

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 [...]

Tags: employee engagement, Karen Schmidt, Leadership and gardening, Leading is like gardening, Reputation, www.letsgrow.com.au

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 [...]

Tags: Karen Schmidt, Leadership and gardening, Leading is like gardening, Small Business, www.letsgrow.com.au

  While researching ideas for a customised presentation I recently delivered to the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (www.wista.net) I came across this example of how you can’t keep a good seed down. The lush green plants in this picture contain more history than you can possibly imagine. They came from soil that was [...]

Tags: Career path, employee engagement, engagement, Karen Schmidt, Leading is like gardening, mature employees, www.letsgrow.com.au