My husband, Roger, grew up on a berry farm in Maryland. His teenage and college summers were spent growing, tending to, and picking strawberries. He knows what they need and what they don’t.
Two years ago, after a rather dismal crop, he suggested we dig them out and replant. But that meant no strawberries last summer. None.
I knew he was right, but I resisted.
We love our homegrown strawberries — for jam, pies, or just a handful eaten right after picking. Skipping a year felt like a loss I could already taste.
But of course, he was right.
This year’s harvest is the best we’ve had. More berries ready each day than we know what to do with. They taste better than ever. Jam jars line the counter.
Sometimes you really do need to step back to grow.
Soil needs fallow seasons to produce its best harvest. So do people. So do teams. So do leaders. I’ve seen what happens when that season gets skipped — the burnout, the diminishing returns, the harvest that gets smaller every year because nothing was ever allowed to rest.
I coach this. I name it when I see it.
And still, when it was our strawberries, I resisted.
The hardest part of stepping back is feeling the loss before you see the gain.
Where are you forcing a harvest when the soil isn’t ready?
#SCurve #Leadership #StepBackToGrow #LeadershipDevelopment