Here is the latest Facebook Live that shares Who a People Gardener is.

If you’d rather read the transcript, scroll below the video and have at it :)

TRANSCRIPT

Hello everyone. We are alive. It's Wednesday four o'clock and we are going to talk, I am going to try and get my, my post here on my laptop so that I can see any questions or comments that that might be becoming in.

So today I wanted to just talk about people, gardeners and who they are, how they operate and why they operate the way that they operate. And I guess the WHO People Gardner is, Gardner is a leader that understands that the buck stops with them. And what I mean by that is a gardener never blames the plant for not growing and not thriving. The gardener understands that. They need to make sure that the soil is right. They need to make sure that the conditions are right, they need to make sure that the plant is being fed. So they take complete ownership of the plant and its ability to thrive. So that's what I mean by a people Gardner. So, gardeners are tenders, they love to walk around and just be focused on observing and watching and looking and touching and engaging with the garden with the plants.

It's funny, when we go away, travel, my husband, he laughs at me because the first thing that I do when I come home is I walk the garden, I go and I look and he teases me that I'm talking to the plants and I'm going, yeah, they need love and they need care. I've been away for a week and I just want to make sure that they're doing okay, that they are happy in the spot that they've been in and that they'd been cared for. I try and make sure that somebody comes and waters the plants so that they don't dry out. But that's what a people Gardner does as a leader. The People Gardener make sure that they are spending time in and around their team of people so that they catch any little thing that might be happening that might be a concern. So that's who they are. They, just love to care for the people. They love the people in their department, on their team. They want what's best for them. They care that they're thriving, they care that they're doing well. So that's kind of who a people gardener is and you know what, there are people gardeners out there already. It's been interesting grabbing this thought of people gardening and getting it out there has been a bit of a challenge. People understand leader, people understand manager. I wanted something that was more organic, something that really spoke to my own heart as a gardener and how I developed my philosophy and my teaching as far as leadership. And it's from the gardeners heart. It's not from a psychology manual, it's not from academia, it's from life experience out in the garden. And so, I know that there's a lot of confusion when I say People, Gardner, some people think, oh, you’re a People’s Gardner and no, I mean, yes, I am a gardener, but no, I don't do gardening for other people. And so I thought, you know what, I really need to spend some time helping people understand who a people gardener is. And the interesting thing too with a People Gardener, even though it's a noun, it's really more a verb.

I believe from the bottom of my heart that leadership is a verb. It is not a position. It is not a title. It is getting out there and acting, getting out there and putting into motion and doing things that, cause movement in people, whether or not it's in the job that they're in, whether it's in a challenge that they're having. For those of you that know gardeners, they're constantly taking action, they're digging, they're raking, they're weeding. Everything that they do is an action. And all of those actions together consistently over time create this phenomenal environment. And there's just amazing joy in creating this environment. And it's the same with people. When you spend time tending them and loving and caring for them, you have this People Garden that is such a joy to not only look at but to watch. And they just love to do what they do because they're engaged, and you have helped them to be successful in their task. So that's a little bit of the WHO as far as the People Gardner and now let’s talk about how for People Gardening.

How they operate is spending a lot of time in the garden. They spend a lot of time with the people on their team. They spend time talking to them about their job, about their function, about their hopes, their dreams, their hobbies. They even find out about the skills that somebody has that might not have anything to do with the job that they're in, but there might be an opportunity for it to actually be utilized somewhere down the line. And something that I found very true is when you give people opportunity to showcase the things that they love and the things that they're skilled at they are very happy to jump into that role and to utilize those skills. The beautiful thing about plants is they are brutally honest about how they're feeling. If they're not feeling top notch, you're going to have drooping flowers, drooping leaves, leaves that have fallen off, leaves that are shriveled, their whole demeanor just shrinks, and it bows. They're not happy. The leaves could get spotted. And that's the beautiful thing about plants is you can see they are communicating with you and you might struggle with the interpretation for a bit and you'll have to try a few things, but they let you know, not so much with human beings.

The interesting thing with humans is sometimes you have to, spend considerable effort to encourage somebody to open up and to share with you what their challenge is, what they might not be feeling good about. So, with humans, as a People Gardener, you're still wandering around and you are still observing, you are interacting. But what's happening is you're using language, spoken word, you're using your inflection of your voice, you're using your body language, you are using your ears and all of that information is coming back and is helping you determine, okay, how can I help? How can I help this plant get over the roadblock or this person I should say over this roadblock and how do I help them to become engaged in their job knowing that I'm here to help them, I'm here to serve them? And so, the people gardener, how they conduct themselves is they are there to serve. They are there to tend the people that are in their department. They want what's best for that person. They're happy to move that person if in fact the place that they're in is not the right spot. Something interesting that I would love you to just take a minute and picture here. I'm here in the Pacific Northwest. So, we have the tulips that are blooming just beautifully and down south of us there are acres and acres of tulip fields. And I'm sure you've probably seen pictures in magazines where it's a whole acre of these yellow tulips or red tulips. The pictures that resonate the most with me as a gardener, as a People Gardener are the ones that have rows and rows inside that Acre let's say, and they're all different colors!

A gardener understands that the garden needs diversity. The garden needs plants of every color and greenery of every color and texture and the height and size. A People Gardener understands that the absolute best way to get 100% authentic you as the employee is to find out who you are and to allow you to be who you are. The whole human. We all have quirks. We all have idiosyncrasies. We all have biases that we have grown up with, things that we like, things that we don't like.

But as a people Gardner, you just need to love and accept each person as they are and figure out what is the best spot for them in your People Garden. in your department there is a spot you just have to figure out what it is. And you take ownership and responsibility that it's your job. It's your job to make sure that they are in the right spots so that they can thrive. And the only way that you can do that is by getting to know the whole person. Finding out about them. And another part of the how with the people gardener is being curious. What makes people tick? I think it's fascinating. There's lots of differences, but there's so many similarities as well. So that's a little bit about the the how.

What about the why? So they do things a little bit differently. They're focused on people's strengths. They're focused on that person thriving, not waiting for that person to perform, but they're in there helping them so that they're in the place that they can perform. So why do they lead this way? Oh, I think that for me, one of the best reasons, and this is from, my heart why I lead my team in corporate this way, is because my people are happier and they're not only happier at work, they're happier at home. And when you have happy people, their life is so much nicer. It's so much better. So creating an environment that allows them to be who they are and to help them succeed in their job and with their tasks causes them or brings them happiness. And when they leave for the day, they go home and they're happy. So their interaction with their family is so much nicer, so much more positive.

And even their interaction inside the office is the same way. An interesting statistic, I was pretty shocked when I read this particular one, 75% of Americans that were polled said that their boss was the worst part of their job. That's a lot. That's a lot of people unhappy, frustrated, mad in their workplace. And those same people that are frustrated, mad and unhappy at work are going home and in that same mindset, in that same heart set in that same space and it doesn't need to be that way. The other reason why you want to be a People Gardener is because the productivity goes through the roof. I'm sure you've all experienced it when you're doing something that you love, when you do something that you enjoy, that you're skilled at, that you're appreciated for, you have a skip in your step. You feel like, okay, yeah, I can do this.

Wow, that was a good day. I got a lot accomplished. And you go home and it's like, yeah that was good. That's why you want to tend your people. That's why you want to help them. That's why you want to walk around and you want to observe and you want to listen. You want to get rid of roadblocks for them. You'll also find that the collaboration and the cooperation inside your own team just is so much more. People want to work together and, and if you can spend time helping everyone feel confident in their contribution so that they're not feeling threatened by somebody else's contribution because they're not all the same. We all have different skills. We all do things at a different pace. We do it with more enthusiasm, less enthusiasm. We do it in quiet or we're happy to do it in absolute chaos. But when everyone feels confident in how they're contributing and that their contribution is appreciated, then everybody opens up and is happy to help the next person.

Something that happened in my corporate time that was so neat is there were, there were several gals in the department that we're very good at tech and there were others that weren't good at all. And there was this, there was this sense of, um, what's the word? I think I would use pride in those, that knew tech to be able to go and help those that didn't know tech, those that didn't know tech, they had strengths that the techies didn't have. And so, they were able to have this great bond because they were helping each other do different things. You don't get that when people feel insecure about their job because they don't want to put their hand up that they're struggling or that they don't know something because they're worried that they're going to be moved out the door.

They need to know, Hey, I have you here in this position because you are good at this. I'm not expecting you to be good at this. Yes, you need to be working on that. But yeah, if so and so can help you more power. Yes. Get in there and get it done. So, the collaboration and cooperation are high.

And another thing is less absenteeism. Think about it. If you've got 75% of the population who is feeling like they hate their boss and the boss is the absolute worst thing about their job, how easy is it to call in sick? How easy is it to leave early? How easy is it to not perform and to not engage? It's really easy!!! And so, when you come from a People Gardner perspective, when you come from a place of love and care for that person and wanting the best for them and wanting to cultivate them and have them be a part of this incredible garden that you're creating, they want to be there. They want to be at work. They don't want to miss. They're having fun. They're enjoying their time together with their teammates and they're loving the interaction with you because they know you care about them. You care that they're in the right spot. You care that they're getting the support, you care, that they know that they're appreciated. Another part of it is the fabulous relationships that you can build through respect and trust as a gardener when you're attending the plants. The neat thing about a plant too is if it's lacking water, let's say, and you go and you water it, the response from the plan is to just perk up and it's like, okay, yeah, I'm feeling good. Okay, this is good. I'm hydrated. Well, the same thing happens with humans. You need to be making sure that they are appreciated, that you're watering them, that you're giving them feedback so that they can be confident that they're doing a good job, that you're happy with their performance. Don't assume that they know, I guarantee you they don't know. You need to tell them that they're doing a good job. So the respect and trust is there. I am an avid gardener and I am an avid People Gardener.

And it is so important to me to get this message out to, to help people understand what it means to be a People Gardner and why it's so desperately needed. And you know what, this isn't just a US thing. The 75% happened to be in the US but I'm sure, I mean human nature and human beings are the same all over the world. So I'm sure other countries are having similar kinds of challenges. So I, I just want people to embrace being a People Gardner and tending to the people in their department. I'm going to look down here and see what we've got for comments and yes. Candy for sure. Spending time in the garden that they matter to you.

And Ernest, the leader's job is to make sure the person has what they need to grow on their own. Yeah, for sure. You know, the buck stops with us. We have to care enough that we understand if they're not thriving, it's on us because innately they want to thrive. I don't think anybody comes to work planning to or with this thought, you know, I'm going to do a crummy job today. I don't think anyone goes to work that way. I certainly know when you plant a seed, it's not going. Yeah. I don't think I'll sprout!  If the conditions are right, it's going to sprout. And it's the same thing with your people.

Oh yeah. 75%. It's hard to believe, isn't it? Um, Ernest? Yes, it's the Boss. So there's a lot of boss problems out there. For sure. Oh, great Candy. I'm glad that you feel that the message is helpful. So whether you're watching this live or you're watching this on the replay, really encourage you to share this message. Um, come back and share this video. It would be wonderful and I would thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also have created a Facebook group for people, gardeners, it's a people, gardeners rock, so it's facebook.com, forward slash groups slash people, gardeners rock. And that is a community that I've put together for people that want to learn about leadership and they want to understand how can I become a people gardener, how can I become someone that produces this phenomenal, spectacular people garden? And we've got people that are firing on all cylinders and are producing beyond our imagination.

So, I'd invite you to let anyone know about this new group. I'm also on Instagram @thepeoplegardener and you can find me on Linkedin at Rhonda Delaney and my web site is www.rhondadelaney.com.  I thank you all for stopping in and for your messages and let's see. Thanks Ernest. Yes, go ahead and please share this. I'm ready to kind of shout it from the rooftops and get a little more vocal with it because it is so needed. There are lots of people that want to do a good job in leadership. They just aren’t sure of how to do it. There's a lot of young, new leaders that are stressed and overwhelmed and they don't need to be. If they come from that heart place, they will do well, and they will serve their people well. So thanks everyone. I will be back here next Thursday, 4:00 PM Pacific Standard Time and appreciate you coming. Thanks. Bye. Bye.