What if it doesn’t matter. The thoughts in your head, the worry about what could be or what was. What if it doesn’t matter.

We crunch along the path, observing the light change the day. It’s a pink sky this morning. The pond still in the shadow of trees and is captured by the blue cold of leftover night.

We stepped out of the pink sunlight and into the blue. It’s a different feeling here. Max dog plays in the deep snow following the scent of Fox. He has enough and so we walk back into the light, the feeling changes again.

Step into the light. Step out of the light.

What if these thoughts don’t matter?

Righty tighty, lefty loosy - This expression from the construction industry, teaches the new folks, who are at the beginning of their journey for mastery how to remember a key principle and keeps them in a playful growth mindset. On the farm we relate to ‘pitter patter, let’s get atter” particularly in the important Spring time when moving quickly to set up our systems of growth is all important.

We need simple expressions that remind us of the how and why. That exemplify the culture of the system and organization that we are in. An easy expression that keeps us connected to each other in shared purpose and mission.

At Freshbooks, Grace and Randy created Execute on Extraordinary Experiences Everyday. Many of us will never forget the Herculean effort they put forth to surprise the company with these words painted on the top most wall across our biggest workspace. It has since become a mantra for Freshbooks and exemplifies their culture beautifully.

At our company, Leaders@Scale we are still playing with our true north, the expression that exemplifies all of what we stand for. #courageousleadership #leadershipisalifestyle #transformationalleadership. We accelerate your growth and scale your culture.

Louise Karch has written a beautiful book, Seven Words, that creates a path to get there. April Dunford has done something similar with Obviously Awesome.

Words matter.

What are your four or seven words?

Deep into eastern Canada’s February - It’s all about the snow. The quality, amount, feel of it. 

Today it’s like frozen comfort - soft, billowy and with just the right amount of give as we swoosh through it. Gratitude is how it makes me feel. Wondrous at nature. And observant.

This mornings stories in the snow tell us about Rabbit and maybe a jumping jack mouse - the tracks share with us where they came from and where they are going and a little bit of why.

Once we’ve got the full picture in place - we can be about the minutia, the detail of the moments throughout the day. In the ‘weeds’ of it. Looking down at the lowest levels to see what’s happening, what’s here to tell us what might be the next move.

Max-dog’s next move was chasing down all the scents in the tracks - onto the pond, through the ice and muck with a happy tail telling us his progress.

What are the weeds telling you today?

Some mornings the quality of the light is unmistakable, or maybe it’s the way we see it.

A thick layer of clouds covered the sky but the sunrise was an incredible bright yellow orange with depth and breadth. the light filled the sky below the clouds in contrast to the thick grey/blue of the clouds above.

I knew these moments would be fleeting - rare glimpse into the intense quality of this incredible light - changing the way everything looked

Working in a great team with the powerful feeling of flow is so rare and wonderful. Savouring the moments of challenge and overcoming together is like no other experience. When we know these moments - what they feel like, how they work - then we can yearn for them again and work towards recreating the conditions for the same.

A large hawk flew over the forest and field - catching the wind and light as it moved. hunting for breakfast.

As we walked along more birds came out to great us - chickadee’s, wren’s. everyone enjoying the quality of being bathed in this incredible light before the contrasting clouds would change the day

I cannot control the quality of the sunlight but I can relish in the beauty of this orange/yellow glow before the contrast takes over. And even still I can know its there just above the clouds

What are you yearning for today?

What are our early warning system? Is there a signal that let’s us know danger is imminent or at risk? Often the signs are fleeting - if we’re not paying attention we may miss them completely.

The sunrise was a dramatic combination of reds, pinks even streaks of deeper azure blue and the sailor’s creed came to mind. The sky held these colours for just a few moments before the rising sun changed the sky again.

Some times the signs are so obvious we have to work to ignore them like the sky this morning. It’s dramatic, prominent and I can make meaning from it. And I would guess some people may not know this sailor’s warning or connect to the weather like we do on the farm

It depends on what you’re paying attention to and what you’re willing to be open to.

How are you embracing the early warning system in your llife?

this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.” ― Goethe

There is a nettle plant growing up between the deck boards at the yurt, two in fact.

We looked for her all summer and then one Fall day she popped up. I was so happy to find her. Nettle is a powerfully healthy and supportive plant. Drunk as a tea or an infusion, she helps regulate our “chi “life force energy among many other benefits.

Each morning I greet her, and believe it or not, feel her positive energy say hello back. She is frost hearty, and while she droops with a heavy ice of the early morning and night before, she pops back into her beautiful self with the warmth of the sun.

For the longest time we were lamenting at not being able to find any nettle at all, “how can this be?! “Then once we found one we found the others.

It makes me curious about the people, the talent, we desperately seek. One of the biggest issues for many of my scaling clients is talent. In the tech sector it’s a growth economy, people are hiring, salaries are high, and talent seemingly scarce. But if you have some great people, they will help you find the others.

In my experience with the best recruiting teams we always hired 1/3 from staff referrals. The rest brute effort. We always celebrated each referral we got in public ways and on a regular basis.

There’s something absolutely special about nettle. an energy that is palpable.

Finding the others is an important human need and once we find one we can find more because they know others or have the creative energy to help.

What is your way to find the others?

The old stump, glowing gossamer in the morning light, revealed its new purpose. No longer a growing tree, filled with the holes made by woodpeckers and squirrels for storing nuts as well as a myriad of insect now making it home. No longer growing it is transformed into another life.

ML is a new manager for a small and critical team. They are tasked with solving a problem that could unlock exponential growth for their organization. ML was introduced to the team and then made a manager after the first few weeks. This was a management mis-step - in this case moving so fast to get people hired and in without considering more context for the team and impact on the individual ie ML.

The leader responsible was thinking about the 3 month probationary period as the time at which the promotion would occur versus putting ML into the seat with the team and letting her actions from the role for which she was hired determine if she should stay. ML was part of this decision with her leader, thinking if she came in as one of the team she could get her feet wet with the work and the context before also taking on people management. All in all these moves created a negative dynamic on the team as no clear criteria for ML’s seemingly sudden promotion were offered and the others, particularly B on the team who had the same tenure as ML and more experience, saw it as an unwarranted surprise. Why wasn’t he chosen - again no context offered.

We need a courageous conversation.

We need to acknowledge the miscommunication, create clarity, and connect with empathy to a shared vision of the future potential.

At this stage at growth, where demand has been established, there is momentum across all teams, friction not only creates a negative impact it has a massive wake given the tenuous lead the organization has and the critical nature of this team’s role.

The hope is B will embrace the transformation required. He may not have expected this way forward but the ask is for a fundamental shift to propel him and the team forward with greater self awareness, a new way to work within the team and support the mission of the company

Tree accepts transformation with grace and wisdom showing us the beauty of this way.

What is the beauty way forward for you?

and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

I first learned this expression from C, who learned it from his military experience. It was a funny to me way of saying let’s get going. To pick up my energy and drive forward whatever I was doing. On the farm there are always a million tasks to be done. Never ending, and that’s the way of it. Speed in what you do and efficiency are paramount.

To every business there is a season. At FB our “go season“ was fall, gearing up for the end of the year tax season when small medium businesses would be looking for support. That meant the summer was a big wave of activity to raise awareness and serve our community. SME, meet ups, and big ticket events. My favourite was SxSW by because it always challenged our marketing/CS team to do some thing outrageous, completely unexpected and characteristic of our brand. Creativity innovation and purpose with a bit of whimsy thrown in. Behind the ideas a small team of mighty Giants

In the here and now at the farm we are planning the garden. That’s not just what we will grow, but when how and where. Each answer critical to success. The details for each plant is what I will be tackling over the next few days. Pulling out the seed packets and information pages to know how long it takes to germinate and calculating back from the approximate planting date, post frost, when the seedlings would need to be started.

In software we managed back from a release date or a customer driven milestones. The key to success being our build process. That’s why methods like agile were so revolutionary to the speed of progress. We no longer had to follow a waterfall process of large chunks of code, things could be broken down to the smallest of small MVP, the story point.

In the garden we grow with imagination of what the weather will bring as well as systems to support growth. How irrigation is laid out mulch or some type of weed suppression a nutrient management plant feed the plants even before they get in the ground and then throughout the growing season pest control pruning. All the message methods to maximize flavour and yield

I am excited to pitter patter into the plan and ensure our timing is right for what we will grow.

What do you want to pitter patter into today?

I felt safe. The wind bellowing all around us. The snow pelting the sides of the yurt and piling up on the sky dome above. We are in a storm, 20 cm / 8 inches is what is expected and I hear it all around us. But here in this round house with felt walls and a woodstove to keep us warm, I feel safe. I am capable here. I can keep the fire going, I can make us food, we are OK here. I am confident I can manage having done so in many storms before, I know what to do and who I can rely on if needed.

Teams are the place and people we want to be safe with, it’s not always the case but it can be cultivated. Even in the storms that may be raging around you.

My current favourite team building tool is based on Lencioni’s work. It’s a good proxy to assess the level of individual and team courage.

Courage is the main virtue that all of us need to start with to aspire to any others according to Maya Angelou. I agree with her.

If we don’t feel safe enough within and without to be courageous, we won’t say the thing, we won’t challenge with empathy. We won’t step into curiosity to ask questions that may challenge in the moment and push our thinking to innovate in new ways outside the status quo.

The promised magic of team flow, for those of us who have been lucky enough to experience this, I invite you to slow down in this moment and go back to the feeling of it. Let the experience wash over you. It is shared purpose a way of being together and the courage to say the thing that might unlock greater potential or deeper connection.

How will you garner safety in this moment?

Max-dog and I took an evening walk down the path to the pond. Not much light tonight, the moon is hiding behind the clouds.

We’ve had a warm spell of a day.

As we approach the trees, the big maples, they remind me, We are here through it all. No matter what changes, we are here with you. I thank the trees for reminding me about the timelessness of nature and soul

What’s important to remember today?