Too many managers operate with [false] hope that things will just work out.

In contrast, great leaders courageously embrace undeniable and proven principles, while practicing intentionality, to ensure the best possible results. Pruning is one of those principles.

Pruning is as important in business as it is in agriculture when one or more of following three conditions exist:

• Deadwood: when part of the organization is no longer growing and is impeding growth around it.
• Incurable Illness: when part of the organization is sucking away an inordinate amount of scarce resources and not producing enough healthy fruit and corrective efforts don’t work.
• Superfluous Fruit: when there is too much ok fruit, but not enough great fruit. 

My father taught me about pruning with his apricot trees. It was early in the season and the apricots were small and plentiful. Just as I commented about what an incredible crop it appeared he would be having that year he asked if I would assist him in pruning the trees. 

The first task was to remove deadwood. Each year some branches die and impede the growth of other branches. These were easy to spot and, since they were already dead, easy to cut off.

The second task was to remove sick branches. He explained that sick branches only produce small and undesirable fruit while stealing nutrients from the rest of the tree. To the untrained eye it is hard to spot the sick branches and the temptation is to simply ignore them in hopes they will get better. He convinced me, however, that in order to optimize the crop it is necessary to prune them away.

The third task was to remove one third of the fruit early in its growth. This is the toughest task, because the branches are alive and healthy, and it seems counter productive to pick off every third apricot and throw it away. This part of the pruning process seems wasteful and callus.

He explained, however, that if all the fruit is left on the tree the harvest will consist of lots of small mediocre apricots. But when every third apricot is removed, also known as culling, more nutrients flow to the remaining fruit, which in turn grows larger and more flavorful. The ultimate result is a more valuable crop.

No doubt as you read the foregoing you are able to draw parallels to your own business experience.

So I need to ask, when was the last time you pruned your organization?

If it has been a while, or never, you no doubt have some dead and sick wood that needs to be cut away. Further, there is a good chance that you are seeing smaller fruit. In business this can also take the form of a build up of fat, or expense creep. 

Sometimes managers get too close to the action and need assistance from a third party to take necessary steps. If that is true of you I encourage you to seek expert assistance. 

I also highly recommend Henry Cloud’s book, Necessary Endings, in which he offers a mindset-altering method for proactively correcting the bad and the broken elements in our businesses and our personal lives. 

Cloud challenges readers to achieve the personal and professional growth they both desire and deserve—and gives crucial insight on how to make those tough decisions that are standing in the way of a more successful business and, ultimately, a better life.

According to gardenerspath.com, successful pruning can be among the most satisfying of garden tasks, because the results can be spectacular. Pruning done correctly yields abundant flowers, foliage and fruit. Pruning done incorrectly results in damaged plants, disappointment and failure! No wonder we fear the process.

Great leaders do not revel in the idea of pruning, but understand the importance. That is why they courageously act, despite the presence of fear and sorrow, to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility and achieve results.

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.