Isn’t it true that things that make some people great and successful in life are so basic that they typically remain invisible to most of us? And describing them to people is like defining water to fish and air to birds? You ask, “Sir, what are you talking about?” I’m glad that you asked this question. I’ll explain. In October 2020, I gave a keynote address at a dinner and dance event for some professionals in my hometown. The ambiance was impeccable. Exquisitely impeccable. The subject of my talk was ‘what is the vision of your future?’ After the talk, a young practitioner came to me with the following statements and questions - “I liked what you talked about. True, we need to be visionary in life and professional in our business dealings. But what should one do to be successful in one’s career? What is the secret?”
First, I corrected the narration of the young man’s question from ‘what should one do . . .?’ to ‘what should one be doing . . .?’ Second, I told the young man that personal growth is a marathon, not a 100-meter sprint. It is not a one size fits all kind of prescription. Third, unintentionally, I find myself sitting down beside the young man for a tete-a-tete chat. I shared with him three short stories and powerful leadership lessons that we can all learn from (today, in this blog, I share only one story).
Just as a house must be built on a solid foundation to avoid collapse under stress, so must our life. For a building to stand tall, it needs to be anchored in bedrock, not quicksand. When we go through school, we are rarely taught the art of dreaming big about our future. Students leave school with no clue as to who they want to be and what they want to achieve in life. All they are concerned with is landing a respectable job in whatever field, marry and be able to look after their families. Then die. Nothing more. No wonder many leave school with good grades but live on the margin of life. Or regrettably, they wait for fate to decide their destiny.
I’m abundantly blessed with many mentors in my life. From my high school Greek teacher-cum- tutor, monsieur Taylor, who immensely inculcated in me the value of lifelong learning, to my mother who taught me the significance of giving and serving others. Perhaps, the greatest influence is the one that occurred recently.
A few days ago, I visited a gardener in my neighbourhood to buy grafted mango seedlings. Little did I know that the sojourn was going not only to put mango plantlets in my hands but offer valuable leadership insight that I shall live under. (My hope is that you, too, will pick a lesson from it). After I explained to the gardener about my mission, he took me to his orchard and nursery. Full of fruit trees. Beautiful orchard. He asked me, “sir, which mango seedlings are you looking for? I told him the variety that I was looking for. But to my surprise, he repeated the question, this time qualifying it, “which seedlings are you looking for, mzee - one in small polyethylene tubes or medium-size polythene tubes or large tubes? I told him that I did not know the relevance of his question. He explained: “You see, mheshimiwa, when a mango tree is planted in an open space, within a few days, its tap root grows deep into the soil and starts to grow numerous small hairy roots. Growth is enhanced as well.
The tap root grows deep into the ground in search of water and nutrients for the mango seedling. In the first few weeks, as the tap root goes deeper into the ground, the offshoot grows taller. There is growth in both directions - downward and upward. The roots are able to suck water and extract nutrients from the soil without any hindrance thereby providing good growth to the young mango tree. Similarly, the leaves on the branches photosynthesize nutrients, unobstructed. The ample space, available in the soil and on the surface, makes the plantlet develop faster, grow stronger and become more productive.
Inversely, when the same mango seedling is planted in a small polythene tube, the tap root coils at the bottom of the tube. Its development is severely affected. Growth is hindered. The plant is limited in growth due to the limited availability of nutrients and space in the tube. The environment is not as conducive to growth as the one in open space. However, if the same seedling is planted in a bigger polythene tube, its growth improves. This tells you and me that environment matters for physical, emotional, and spiritual growth.
This is what happens to you and me. Our personal growth is essentially a function of the environment we find ourselves in. It’s gospel truth that some environments are not conducive to our growth. If you frequently associate with negative or toxic people, how do you expect to experience positive growth?
Dear reader, if you want to reach your potential, you need to be in a right and conducive environment. Sometimes we fail to grow, develop positive life skills, and become productive and successful not because we don’t have what it takes to grow, develop, and produce, but because we happen to be in toxic social ecosystems that don’t encourage and support personal growth. Mark Cain put this better than I could when he said, “The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.” Wise man.
Lester Chinyang’anya ǀ General Manager - Operations ǀ Minet Malawi
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