Gardener: A manager

I can see my garden dotted with beautiful and ugly sights. Roses are covered with green bushes. Petunias filled with dust. Morning glories are lying without any support. Weeping willows have overgrown beyond its designated boundaries. It urgently needs the attention of a skillful gardener. It requires the committed heart and an intelligent head of an excellent gardener.

The sights in the garden remind me of many of our organizations. Just as a garden needs a gardener so also an organization needs a manager. Organizations today have complex roles and responsibilities. They cater to various needs in the market. Some deliver goods and some services. Gardens are designed to meet different purposes. While some are kept to meet aesthetic purpose, some supply fresh flowers and vegetables. The gardener becomes the chief manager to look after the needs of the garden. So what must a gardener do to keep his or her garden beautiful throughout the season?

The external environment is dynamic. It keeps changing. The gardener has to maintain the garden in tandem with the changing seasons. The gardener has to watch out for the thunderstorms, torrential downpours, scorching sun and heavy snowfalls. Likewise, the managers must remain sensitive to new developments and changes in government policies, and dynamics in the market. He or she should be able to initiate things well ahead of time to meet the changing needs of the clients. A gardener has to have a broad knowledge of gardening tools, fertilizers, seeds and seedlings and gardening ideas and skills. The managers should be able to use the most effective management techniques to solve potential problems. The toolbox should contain a good set of problem solving ideas and methods to meet challenges in day-to-day work. The most important thing is that the gardener should be able to use the acquired knowledge and skills on the right time. Otherwise, either a heavy hailstorm or a creeping worm may destroy a well set up garden in a minute! The manager must have the ability to apply the theoretical management principles into reality. The application must take place on time.

The job of the gardener is challenging. He or she has to be aware of the latest gardening techniques. It could involve selecting scientifically tested hybrid seeds and seedlings, eco-friendly fertilizers, manures, better pruning and cutting implements to keep the garden green in the face of capricious weather conditions. The manager should be in a position to make changes in accordance with the need of the organization. Appropriate set of people must be recruited in time to meet the growing demands in the market. The recruitment policy must go in line with the human resource development policy in the organization. The newly recruited set of people must be given in house job orientation so that they can get prepared to handle new tasks. They must be also equipped with practical knowledge and skills. They must be nurtured to grow and attain full development. The gardener may have to think beyond the normal garden. He or she may have to compete with other gardens in this competitive world. Some other gardens may supply exotic flowers than the ones in vogue. It is not enough for the gardener to rest in peace and carry on with the usual routine. This may make the gardener run out of business. The managers cannot afford to wait for the things to occur. They will have to be proactive. They will have to plan things well ahead of time. The gardener cannot afford to be complacent. Complacency could cost him or her dearly.

What must the gardener do to get his or her garden back in shape, make it world class and ready for the competitive eye of the nextdoor neighbour? How must the gardener react to the garden filled with nothing but weeds…..? How can the gardener save his or her garden from the dangerous thunderstorms and blizzards? The answer is every gardener must “seed, feed and weed”. The gardener should be able to see that the weeds do not take a toll on the flowers and plants. The gardener should also be able to see that the flowers and plants thrive well without any unnecessary competition from the unwanted weeds. The gardener should also be able to carry out the cutting and pruning in time so that the plants and scrubs get equal amount of air, water, nutrition and sunshine for the survival and growth. The manager must ensure that the organization does not provide a breeding ground for sycophants. For they could pave way for the death of the organizations. They will use the manager and the organization for their own selfish gains. They will simply suck the blood out of the manager and the organization like parasites. He or she must curb unhealthy organization culture such as sycophancy, favouritism and nepotism.

How do the gardeners perform seeding, feeding and weeding? The gardener should be able to sow suitable seeds that are appropriate for the garden soil. He or she should be able to nurture the seeds till the seeds sprout into seedlings. The seedlings will again need very good care to be able to grow up and flower. So the gardener has to feed the plants with just enough water and fertilizers from time to time. The germinating seeds will absolutely require the tender care of the gardener. The art of gardening not only consists of seeding and feeding but also weeding. In fact weeding is the most important part of gardening. This is because no matter how well the gardener tries to keep the garden moving by seeding and feeding, the process of getting good fruits through these methods will greatly be disturbed if weeding is left out. The manager should be able to run the organization through seeding, feeding and weeding techniques. The organization needs appropriate people to work in the frontline. The people will require motivation and words of encouragement from the manager. The manager should be capable to drive the organization safely through thick and thin.

Therefore, weeding is an essential component in the art of gardening. Weeding involves uprooting unwanted creepers, grasses, plants and shrubs. This means that the gardener must not allow these weeds to grow among the real seeds and seedlings of flowers and trees. These weeds should be able to leave the established garden. The people must not be given chances to feather their nest. Sycophants must not be given protection. They should leave the organization if the threat posed is seen as a potential one. Otherwise the weeds will feed on the actual plants, thrive as parasites and pose a threat on the survival and growth of the real seeds and seedlings. The sycophants must not feed on the blood of hardworking and honest people. They should not suck fellow worker’s energy. Weeds normally do not require extra care for the survival. They have strong life and can grow in any part of the garden. They also have the ability to survive on any type of soil and in the face of an unexpected turn of the nature. The weeds simply can tag along the flowers and trees to get their way through. They will not care for other plants at all. They can get by sucking the minerals, water and air from their neighbours. So no culture must be started to nurture sycophants. The gardener must respond to this act on time so that the growth and development of the garden is not hampered by these disturbing elements.

The manager should be able to retrench unwanted and useless people in the organization. He or she should uproot bloodsuckers and disturbing elements. Yet another task for the gardener is to trim the ever-growing trees and plants from time to time. An equal opportunity must be provided for the flowers and trees in the garden to grow well. The trees must not overgrow and cast a shadow on the rest of the plants in the garden. The shades created by the tall trees can be conducive for growth of unwanted weeds. The canopy can hide the weeds from the eyes of the gardener. Pruning is as important as weeding. Dead and unwanted parts of the trees and shrubs must be trimmed on time. Trimming can prevent the unnecessary parts of the plants from growing and can set the stage for the rest of the plants to take a healthy growth. The manager should have a sharp eye to see that everyone gets an equal opportunity to grow and develop along with the organization.

Above all the gardener has to carry out seeding, feeding and weeding on the basis of the change in season, vagaries of weather and the make up of the garden. Today’s global economy appears to have no season as the gardeners keep growing and selling things in the market. But a smart gardener watches the sky, reads the clouds, forecasts the shifts of the season and can tell the indicators of a new season. The gardener can either invent new products on right time or sell old stock in prime time. The smart manager understands the external and internal environment well. He or she is a foreteller of trends. Hence, the smart manager will be more proactive than reactive. The turns in the market, the changes in the government policies and the need of the time will form the basis of his or her management style.

In this way, the smart gardener can avoid selling products on a wrong time and thereby prevent the risk of heavy loss. Understanding the timing is the key to success. Without understanding the timing the garden can become a piece of an eroded land. Efficient managers must watch for trends in the market, sow the broken patches of the organization in line with the current and future trends, feel the pulse of the market and subordinates and make a timely decision. Efficient managers must not only get the organization back to its normal shape but also make it world class. The type of garden mirrors the gardener’s efficiency. An organizer mirrors the manager’s efficiency. Would not it be wonderful to see the garden loaded with beautiful sight?