The Secret of the Seed

The Secret of The Seed! (355 words)

By Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

As some of my clients and readers already know, I moved out into the country north east of Edmonton about 15 years ago for a more creative and casual lifestyle.

When I'm home, Iwould frequently have coffee with my old buddy Steve (my 94 year old neighbor) and his two 'younger' farmer friends (Mike, 80 and Peter, 78 respectively). (Sadly, Steve and Peter have left us, and Mike is no longer able to farm. His nephew and son are now doing the farming.) Over the past few years I've learned a lot about farming that is directly applicable to what we do in life, sales, and business. I've grown to appreciate the effort and challenges our farmers go through to help feed us. They are amazing, hardworkingand productive people.

Mike and Peterrotated their crops based on their 'best guess' at what will be the best offering in the market for the coming year. They would plant canola, wheat, barley, or peas, as selected, each year.

When they planted wheat in the spring, they expected to harvest wheat that fall. There is an 'expectation' that the seeds they plant will produce the crops they expected. They would be very surprised to plant canola and get barley, for example. This is the secret of the seed!

Interestingly enough, I see people planting seeds for failure and then expecting successful or different results in their sales, business, or life. They are surprised when things fail or don't work to their misguided expectations.

Here is the secret of the seed: You get what you plant, nurture, and harvest.

· Plant the seeds of creative, personal leadership and responsibility;

· Plant the seeds of continuous encouragement, to dream and stretch;

· Plant the seeds of equipping your team with the tools and the motivation to win;

· Plant the seeds of personal disciplineand long-term focus;

· Plant the seeds of co-operative innovation and competition;

· Plant the seeds of high standards and personal excellence in customer service;

· Plant the seeds of creating value-added products and superior services we (customers) actually need;

...and harvest abundance and success at the end of your labours.

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey is a creative, productivity and leadership strategist who regularly writes for North American Consumer and Trade Journals, on-line magazines and company intranets. He works with Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. He is the prolific author of multiple business and leadership books and the 48th person in the history of Toastmasters International to earn their coveted professional level Accredited Speaker designation.

Articles may be copied or used for non-profit purposes, without the consent of the author, subject to the following being included: © Copyright 2015 Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey www.ideaman.net www.BobHooey.training All rights Reserved. Used with permission of the author.