Seeing Trees in Saplings

This spring, I’ve been reworking our backyard by transplanting volunteer trees that seeded themselves wherever they pleased — eastern red cedars, Kentucky coffeetree, black walnut, elm, golden rain tree, a locust, and an oak of some sort I haven’t quite identified.

They are small. A few inches of trunk and a handful of leaves. And if I’m honest, not all of them will make it. The survival rate for transplants like these is not great.

But here’s the thing. When I look at that knee-high oak, I don’t see a twig. I see the eighty-foot canopy it can become. I see the shade it will provide and the decades of storms it will withstand. I see the tree in the sapling.  

What I can’t do is rush it. Each of the small saplings will take care, fertilizer, and a fair amount of luck to go from sapling to massive shade tree. One must be willing to show up to nurture them and help remove what hinders their growth.  

Building a business is the same kind of patient work.

The numbers are sobering: most companies take seven to ten years to grow from startup to something you’d call success, and two to three years to turn a profit. Roughly half don’t make it to year five at all.   

The ones that do make it almost always have someone in their yard. Someone who sees the potential canopy before anyone else and helps clear what is hindering their growth, and stays long after to make sure they root and branch appropriately. 

That’s the work I love. If you’re an entrepreneur or leader trying to grow into the fullest version of yourself, let’s talk.  I might be able to spread a little fertilizer and help you achieve your full potential a little sooner than the national average.