The plots surrounding mine tell their own story – abandoned by well-intentioned gardeners who never return. I understand their reluctance. Converting wild meadow into productive garden space is hard, persistent work. There’s no magic shortcut.
As I dug two small oak saplings from my asparagus bed, I had a moment of clarity: the success of my garden mirrors the success patterns I see in women leaders’ careers.
The wilderness always encroaches.
The carefully prepared beds I’ve nurtured over years remain under constant threat. Creeping buttercup in full bloom, persistent bindweed, and the bane of my existence – horsetail – set seed and blow into my cultivated spaces. The wilderness doesn’t respect boundaries; it’s opportunistic and relentless.
Sound familiar? The demands on a woman leader’s time and attention are equally relentless. Emails flood in overnight. Unexpected crises emerge. Unconscious biases persist. The urgent constantly threatens to overwhelm the important.
The heroic weekend warrior approach fails.
I’ve learned through hard experience that a heroic burst of weekend gardening, followed by neglect during the busy week, simply doesn’t work. The weeds gain too much ground between visits. The garden needs consistent, regular attention.
Similarly, women leaders who attempt to manage their careers in irregular bursts of activity – frantically networking before job hunting, cramming professional development into occasional weekends – find themselves constantly starting over.
Little and often wins the day.
The revelation that transformed my gardening success? Consistency. An hour in the early evening as days grow longer. Thirty minutes before work in summer. Small, regular interventions make the seemingly insurmountable task manageable.
I’ve watched this same principle transform the careers of the women leaders I work with. The consistent investment in relationship building rather than sporadic networking. The regular practice of boundary-setting rather than occasional dramatic stands. The daily commitment to purpose rather than periodic career reflection.
The practice of consistency creates compound returns.
My most productive garden beds are those I’ve tended consistently over years. The soil has gradually improved, the perennials have established, the ecosystem has balanced. These areas require less intervention for greater yield.
In leadership, consistency creates similar compounding returns. Regular investment in your thought leadership gradually positions you as an authority. Consistent boundary-setting trains both you and those around you in new patterns of engagement. Regular reflection keeps you aligned with your purpose, preventing the need for dramatic course corrections.
The women leaders who transform their impact aren’t necessarily working harder than everyone else. They’re working consistently. They’ve replaced the exhausting cycle of neglect and heroic intervention with sustainable, regular practices that accumulate benefits over time.
What area of your leadership would benefit from the consistency principle? Where might “little and often” transform what currently feels insurmountable?
Like my allotment, the leadership journey is never complete. But with consistency as your ally, the wilderness becomes manageable, and what once seemed overwhelming gradually transforms into something beautiful and productive.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.