Latest / Lead With Clarity: Practical Insight for Senior Leaders / The Trees You'll Never Sit Under
Transcript
- Blake Holman: Welcome to Lead with Clarity. This is a space for leaders who want to grow without losing themselves in the process. Each episode is a short reflection on leadership, influence, and the inner work that shapes how we show up for others. It's not hype, not noise, just clear thinking for the journey of leading well. Today's episode is entitled The Trees You Will Never Sit Under. Here we go. There's a version of leadership that gets celebrated and a version that actually works. And they are not always the same thing. The celebrated version is fast, it's visible, it's the turnaround, the launch, the quarter that beat expectations. And there's nothing wrong with that. But it's not the whole story. Here's a quote I keep coming back to from Warren Buffett. He said someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Sit with that for a minute, because it's easy to nod along and move on, and this one deserves more than a nod. Think about the leaders who shaped you, not the ones who gave you a good quarter, the ones who gave you a chance before you had earned it, the ones who fixed something broken so you never had to deal with it, the ones who spent an hour with you that they didn't have to spend, and never mentioned it again. Most of them never saw the full return on that investment. They planted it, they moved on, or they retired, or they left the company, before the tree ever grew tall enough to matter. That's the leadership moment I want to talk about today. The decisions you make that you will never get credit for. Here's where most people misread this idea. They hear plant trees for the future, and they think it means big symbolic gestures. A five year strategy, a bold vision statement, something with your name on it. That's not it at all. The tree Buffett is talking about is usually small and unglamorous. It's the conversation you have with a struggling employee instead of writing them off. It's documenting a process clearly so the next person who touches it doesn't have to guess. It's saying yes to mentoring someone who has nothing to offer you in return. The misread is thinking that legacy has to be loud. It almost never is. Here's the reframe. Leadership is not measured by what you finish. It's measured by what you start that someone else finishes. That's a hard thing to sit with, because most of us want to see the result. We want the shade too, just not the planting. The leaders who last, the ones people still talk about years after they've moved on, they made peace with that trade a long time ago. They understood that some of their best work would benefit people they'd never meet. This matters even more today, in workplaces where AI tools can execute almost anything you ask them to fast. The tools can write the report, build the model, draft the plan. What they cannot do is decide ten years out. Which investment in a person or a process is actually worth making? That's not a technical question, it's a judgment question. And judgment is still and will remain entirely on you. If you're leading in that kind of environment, let the tools handle the speed. Spend the time you get back on the slow work, the mentoring, the fixing, the planting. Here's a reflection to carry with you. Think of one thing in your organization right now that needs attention. That you personally will probably never benefit from fixing. Not your team, not your quarter, not your bonus. Someone else's later. Do it anyway. That's the whole idea. Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. You don't get to choose whether you're the one who plants or the one who sits. Most of us do both at different points. But the leaders worth remembering are the ones who plant even when they know they won't be the ones sitting in the shade. Plant something today, let someone else enjoy it later. That's not a loss, that's the job.