Finding a metaphor for leadership on the other side of the world

I have recently returned from another wonderful trip to Australia to visit my family. This time there was no travel to New Zealand but instead, magical times spent seeing more of New South Wales.

One of the highlights of my visit, surprisingly, was ‘trees’. Perhaps an odd one, however, for anyone who has been to somewhere like the northern beaches, Sydney, north of the bridge, with its many national parks or The Blue Mountains, you will understand what I mean when I say that trees dominate and define the landscape.

I have seen vast expanses of trees or bush in my life…but never trees on this scale before.

In the Blue Mountains, they spread across the land, mapping its contours while hiding the depths of the valleys and gorges, making it hard to fathom the actual height of the mountains.

Looking across those vast vistas of tree-clad slopes, it suddenly struck me – something I had never really consciously considered before: how, like zebras’ stripes, every tree in the world is unique. What miracle of nature is that!

So it is with people – how could I not have drawn this analogy before?

It got me thinking about how you could apply all that lay before me to leadership…

These are some of the ways I came up with as to how trees can be used as a metaphor for leadership:

•“Taking time to ‘untangle’ the vastness and appreciate the individual trees within”:  finding the uniqueness and value that each person brings to your team, the organisation...

•“Seeing the wood for the trees”:  breaking down a huge challenge into more easily identified components to enable progress and growth

•“The vista of trees stretching on to the furthest horizon”:  not limiting your view but carrying on looking as far as you can go – and then imagining what might lie beyond as you search for solutions or opportunities that exceed the boundaries of what lies before you

Can you think of any others?

I shall miss these beautiful trees – the smell of eucalyptus in the fresh morning air, their tops glowing orange in dawn’s light…how they cocooned me and created a place of peace…but I am grateful that I have experienced the enormity of their presence and influence on the land…and how they awakened me to a whole new way of seeing and interpreting the world.