By Dr. Bryan K. Williams

Do you know what annoys a gardener more than anything else? A weed. They hate weeds. As soon as a weed rears its head the gardener pulls it out!

In my analogy, the “gardener” is the leader and the “weed” is not the problem employee… it is the undesirable behavior (blaming other depts, bad attitude, etc).

If your goal is to have a thriving garden (team), here are some keys to note regarding weeds:

*You never have to try to make weeds grow.
*Weeds don’t start big. They always start small.
*It’s always easier to pull weeds when they are small.
*Weeds are a sign of neglect. Whenever you see weeds, it means that they were ALLOWED to grow.
*You must pull the weed out by the root, or it will grow back.
*It doesn’t take long for weeds to grow.
*The presence of weeds inhibits the growth of whatever you are trying to grow.

When you walk by a garden full of weeds, who do you blame? The weeds or the gardener? Exactly. Weeds will ALWAYS try to find a way to grow. That’s just what weeds do.

However, the presence of weeds means that the gardener (leader) is not doing his/her job effectively.

The keys are to be diligent, care for your garden (team) and then watch the fruits (results) grow!