(From Wikipedia) Pruning is the process of removing certain aboveground elements from a plant; in landscaping this process usually involves removal of diseased, non-productive, or otherwise unwanted portions from a plant. The purpose of anthropomorphic pruning is to shape the plant by controlling or directing plant growth, to maintain the health of the plant, or to increase the yield or quality of flowers and fruits.In general the smaller the wound (smaller the branch that is cut) the less harm to the tree. It is therefore typically better to formative prune the tree when juvenile than try to cut off large branches on a mature tree.

People must be pruned to bear fruit. What does that mean? In leadership this analogy is very true. People must be trimmed or corrected/improved/strengthened/ trained/etc. in order for them to produce fruit or other leaders/more work product/better quality of work/etc. So we show today how people are like trees in that for them to be promoted they must be trimmed or pruned.

What is promotion?
(From Wikipedia) A promotion is the advancement of an employee’s rank or position in an organizational hierarchy system. Promotion may be an employee’s reward for good performance i.e. positive appraisal. Before a company promotes an employee to a particular position it ensures that the person is able to handle the added responsibilities by screening the employee with interviews and tests and giving them training or on-the-job experience. A promotion can involve advancement in terms of designation, salary and benefits, and in some organizations the type of job activities may change a great deal.

So very few, if any, of us does not want to be promoted. Every one of us is different. Some want to be promotion for title, others for Salary, others for Benefits, others for more responsibility, others for political power or influence.

However, I have learned that you must be pruned to be promoted. You cannot expect to be promoted without change. If you keep doing the same, these same things that have not gotten you to the next level (HNL), then you must change what you are doing (Pruning) to be promoted.

How does this apply to leadership?
Above in the definition of Pruning it states: in landscaping this process usually involves removal of diseased, non-productive, or otherwise unwanted portions from a plant. In leadership, Pruning is the process of removal of non-productive and otherwise unwanted habits, characteristics, or weaknesses from the leader.
The purpose of landscaping pruning is to shape the plant by controlling or directing plant growth, to maintain the health of the plant, or to increase the yield or quality of flowers and fruits. In the same way, pruning in leadership is to shape the person/leader by controlling or directing the person’s growth, to maintain the health of the person and company, or to increase the yield or quality of work productive and leadership product.

A Leader bears fruit by:
1. Productivity in others
2. Producing other Leaders
3. Producing processes to grow more leaders and produce more (cycle of 1, 2, and 3 – builds momentum)

Illustration of a tree branch.
1. If you do not prune it, the branch becomes too thin. Then if growth does continue, when it starts to bear fruit, the branch is not strong enough to handle the weight and the branch is broken.
In Leadership, if you are not pruned/improved at a lower level, when the fruit comes or you are promoted to a HNL, you will not be able to handle it and you will break/fail yourself or the business.
2. If the branch breaks, it can cause an infection and can even kill the tree. So not trimming a tree and then allowing fruit to come – by not pruning, you risk killing the tree. By not pruning your leaders, you risk killing the department and even the company.

Takeaway Points: Promotion only comes from Pruning
1. Not Normal: It is not normal to growth of the branch or the person. Everyone just wants to continue to grow, or continue to do what he or she is doing and expect promotion. Promotion does not happen without Pruning.
2. It Hurts: It hurts, some more and some less than others. Yes, it does, no doubt about it. When you are pruned as a Leader that means you have to change what you are doing or focus on an area that is your weakness. That is not fun to do, but you must do it to be promoted. No promotion without Pruning.
3. Trust: Shows that you must trust the leadership and your supervisor who is the one doing the pruning. In pruning, the leader is revealing to you that you have a weakness. And in your old capacity, the weakness was ok, but to be promoted you must correct your weakness or it will not stand up to the weight of the next level (HNL) and the weight of the new fruit that will come. The branch will become heavy, and if you did not prune, the branch is too weak.
4. Change: Many times pruning is in the form of reprioritization by your supervisor/leader to get you to focus on what is important to get to the next level. This is many times hard, because it is a change from what you have been doing. But what you have been doing has NOT gotten you promoted, so pruning/change is required to get you to the HNL or next level.
5. Must Changes to Reach Max: You must be pruned to bear maximum fruit to reach your maximum potential.

So you want to be promoted? Then these are Questions you must answer yourself?
• Are you receptive to pruning? If you react with excuses and reasons for your weaknesses, you are not ready to be pruned.
• Are you seeking to be pruned? If so, when is the last time you asked your leader/supervisor what you can do to be better?
• What are you doing to take things off of your supervisor’s responsibility and add to yours? Do you know what is important to your supervisor/leader? Have you asked him or her? How can you prepare yourself to be promoted if you are not learning in your current role and assisting your supervisor in his/Her job?
• Will you allow someone to prune you?
• Do you understand that pruning hurts, and sometimes you must take a step backwards before you can take two steps forward?

If you did not answer “YES” to all of the questions above, you are not ready to be promoted – to go to a HNL.
Lead On!
Sutton