I dug up my second early potatoes yesterday, and it never ceases to amaze me how much comes from so little. A dozen seed potatoes buried in the ground a few months ago now yielding a tub of beautiful potatoes. Not a blemish in sight. Alongside them came the first tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, French beans, and those deep purple-black early blackberries that taste like the height of summer.
This year, the harvest is early. A warm spring followed by unseasonably hot, dry weather pushed things along fast. But without regular watering, there’d have been no harvest at all. Just shrivelled plants gasping in the clay-heavy London soil, which, in winter, turns boggy, and in summer, hard and cracked like concrete. It’s not easy ground to grow in. But if you learn to work with it — nourish it, understand it, adapt to its rhythms — it can still produce something wonderful. There are countless variables to consider and deal with.
Leadership can feel a lot like this. Especially for women, navigating the relentless demands, the shifting conditions, the invisible pressures of a high powered role. Some days everything flows beautifully, Your ideas land perfectly, your team responds with enthusiasm, and progress feels effortless. Other days, weeks, or even months, it feels like you’re pushing against an invisible force. No matter what you do, you can’t seem to get the traction or results you’re working towards.
That can feel frustrating. Disheartening, even.
The secret isn’t in controlling every variable. It’s in learning to read the conditions around you and adapting accordingly. Just as I’ve learned which areas of my plot work best for different crops, you need to understand your organisational landscape. When is the best time to plant new ideas? What kind of consistent nurturing do your initiatives need to flourish? How do you sustain your efforts through the inevitable dry spells?
So if you’re in a season where the results feel meagre, don’t rush to judge yourself. Tend your soil. Watch for signs. Adapt. Trust the cycle. Because growth is still happening — often underground, unseen — and the harvest, in some shape or form, will come.
What season are you in right now with your leadership goals?
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