Great leaders are like plants with their roots growing down and stems shooting up. What roots grow down and what makes them grow down the post offers answers. The same analysis applies to growing up.
Going in two different directions
All living systems consume oxygen when breathing and give up carbon dioxide except for plants. Plants consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
Apparently, all humans grow up and not down, but plants grow up in two contrarian directions- parts up and parts down. The collaboration between the parts of the plants is amazing and their opposite growing parts do not fight each other. In opposite, they strengthen each other.
When new scientific findings disapprove what we know humans go in two main opposite directions. Some people will accept the research findings and other people shall reject them. The vaccination against the corona virus provides a recent example. In few countries, people demonstrated against the vaccines and most people accepted them.
In stock markets, most investors go with the trend but few investors choose to go against the trend.
To understand why the plants metaphor is a practical metaphor for leaders and successful people we need to understand first how plants can do it.
There are chemicals in plants that help them grow in two different directions. The one that makes the stem grow is a very light chemical. It rises to the tip of the stem and pulls the tip up (like helium in a balloon). The chemical in roots is just the opposite. It is a heavier chemical than the root cells. It sinks to pull the roots down (like a weight).
Great leaders grow up with increasing humility. Humility is the light chemical equivalent to that in plants. These leaders keep pulling the people up if they tilt down with kindness and keeping “lightness”. By growing higher leaders and followers, get more of the sunlight of knowledge. They digest the new knowledge and release new oxygenated-knowledge to the world to help them breathe it.
Great leaders grow down because they increase their appetitive to learn more, dig deeper in the available nutritive knowledge in the soil, and share it with their followers. Great leaders are living leaders.
It is interesting that new research is consistent with this metaphor. Leaders are more powerful when they are humble, new research shows. Please refer to this report and this one for more information.
Do great leaders grow in two opposite directions? Please share your thoughts.
Ali – OK, THIS is the article you were talking about! Love your analogy about leaders growing up with humility (Jim Collins’ “Level 5 Leader” comes to mind) and down so as to tap into others in the organization. Well said!
Jeff- thank you for your appreciation and feedback.
Yes, this was the one I meant on trees as your wonderful post also using trees as a metaphor for leaders from different angles.