Justine Ickes | Explore what's possible

photo of a hand holding small green buds of the dahlia flower with dahlias booms in the background

What can you learn about leadership from gardening?

What can you learn from the natural world about growth, transition, and transformation? That’s something I think about a lot.

You see, when I’m not designing and facilitating workshops for organizations and teams, I like to spend time in nature.

Getting my hands in the soil and caring for plants really grounds me. (See what I did there? 😉

Actually, if I’m honest – and what’s very obvious if you follow me on my socials or collect my art – is that I really love flowers. Come June you can find me oohing and aahing over my peonies. Ditto for the later summer and autumn beauty of dahlias.

And here’s the interesting thing about dahlias: They can grow to 14 inches in diameter!

But before that incredible blooming happens, the plants make one bud at the end of each branch with two or three side buds.

But here’s the thing: in exchange for those magnificent blooms, you need do something that I still find hard to do.

You need to practice disbudding. A simple process, disbudding is when you snip off some of the flower’s growth buds on each stem so that all the plant’s energy is directed to the central bud.

The result? You get larger and better flowers with longer stems.

If you don’t disbud a dahlia plant, the central bud and the two side buds will bloom, but the stems will be short, and the flower heads will be smaller.

Of course, you can choose to do what some gardeners do and leave all the buds and get more, but smaller flowers.

Or you can do what I do: say a silent “sorry” and “thank you” to those side buds as you remove them. That way you can give the main bloom the best chance of reaching its maximum size.

Your reward? You get to cherish fewer, but more spectacular blooms.

So, what does pinching out a dahlia bud have to do with you and leadership?

Essentially, disbudding is about harnessing energy. To be effective as a leader you need to be very intentional about the choices you make and about how you channel your energy.

Pouring your energy across multiple projects is probably what you do most of the time…and that approach may work for a while.

On the other hand, focusing on one organizational goal – launching a product, rolling out a new system, or onboarding a new team member, for example – may be the right decision for you and your team at this moment.

The most successful leaders – people who want to build their business, nurture a healthy work environment, and have an impact – excel at managing energy.

Again, it’s all about making intentional decisions that align with your professional goals.

What about you?

What are the “side buds” – inefficient habits or processes – that are draining energy from you? From your team?

What steps can you take today to direct more energy to the things that really matter to you, your business, or your team?

Where will your channel your energy today?

I design and facilitate transformational learning experiences for teams worldwide. Reach out to me to discuss how I can help your organization or team elevate performance, harness creative energy, and grow your business, together.

How important are values to leadership success?

“Tell me what you pay attention to, and I will tell you who you are.” ― José Ortega y Gasset

That quote came to mind recently when I was preparing to facilitate a session on values and leadership to a group of mid-level managers. We kicked off with the lifeline reflection, a deceptively simple but powerful tool.

The set-up is easy: Take a sheet of paper, turn it vertically, and draw a line across the middle. This line serves as the baseline. Next, starting with your early years, you plot the watershed moments in your life. Place anything above the line that you feel was a “positive” moment; events and experiences that you deem “challenging” go below the baseline.

If you’ve been on this earth for any length of time, you’ve experienced lots of pivotal moments. Here are some examples shared by one of the participants:

* got a college acceptance letter
* met a mentor at a networking event
* lost their job
* launched a business
* lost a loved one
* made partner
* was rejected for a promotion
* met their life partner

When I facilitated this exercise for these emerging leaders, I was pleased to see that the group was able to accurately identify this person’s core values.

What about you? If you shared your lifeline and those significant milestones with people you trust – family, friends, a mentor, your colleagues – would they be able to discern what matters to you?

What events and experiences would you feel comfortable sharing?

Where and why might you hold back?

For leaders, business owners, and any individual who wants to make decisions that are aligned with their values, doing this type of self-reflection can be very eye-opening.

Teams can also benefit from charting their individual lifelines + values and then, with the help of a skilled facilitator, exploring where these come into play at work.

Curious about bringing this kind of organizational development and team building to your workplace? Reach out to me and let’s talk!

a photo of a handprinted mandala with a butterfly in the center created by Justine Ickes copyright 2022

How to be merry all year long!

Did you know that “merry” comes from an Old German word for “slow” or “leisurely”?

I know! Not the vibe we typically associate with the end of the year, right?

In the holiday hoopla, we forget all too easily that relaxing, reminiscing, savoring moments alone or with family and friends, and simply BEING are what give us energy.

Nature takes breaks and so can – and so should – we!

So, as this year winds down, I hope you’ll give yourself the gift of downtime and rest!

Perhaps like many people – me included! – you might find yourself not measuring up to your own expectations when you take stock of the year.

Remember, no matter how much you did or did not achieve in (insert whatever year you’re reading this :-)), you are still worthy. So, go easy on you!

Here are some affirmations that might help.

🪬 I have done enough.

🪬 I created enough.

🪬 I offered my best to this year.

🪬 I am allowed to take time to rest.

🪬 Other people’s accomplishments have no bearing on my own worth.

Would you like some support in making those affirmations stick? Coaching can help!