Well, hey there, welcome to the People Gardener podcast. I'm Rhonda Delaney, your host, also known as the People Gardener, thrilled to put this podcast together to help small business owners, new business owners, frustrated business owners and aspiring leaders, whether they're inside business or outside. Each week, we bring you some actionable steps so that you can actually improve your skill as a leader. That's what we're about. We're here to help you become a better leader by giving you access to lots of different perspectives. By giving you access to lots of different perspectives. The guests are varied. We're thrilled to have them. Get out your pen, get out your paper and be ready to learn Every single episode. You're going to be able to take something away that you can implement. Are you ready? Let's get to work. Well, are you there? Are you ready? Let's get to work. Are you there? Okay, let's dive in to what is a people gardener. You know I have had a lot of responses from people over the years oh, I wish I had that name or that moniker. It just makes so much sense and I'm thrilled every time I hear that, because the tenants that make up the People Gardener principle are all taken from my experience in the garden and working with plants. So it's been a lot of fun developing the framework for the People Gardener principle. Developing the framework for the people gardener principle.

So a people gardener cares deeply. We're not someone that not only has conversations that are meaningful, substantive. They observe the behaviors of their people. They can tell when things are maybe a little bit off or maybe a little bit off. They want what's best for that person, even if it means that person needs to be promoted out of their department or that person, their job in the company isn't the best fit for them and they really need to move on. So caring is at the root. It is a foundational component of people gardening. Being interested is a prerequisite to caring. The other thing a people gardener does is believe in the growth, believe that it's possible for growth, believes in the potential of the people they need. So spending time really getting to know someone and understanding what their hopes and dreams are and even what their hobbies are and what they're passionate about in the world that I was in in corporate was able to bring their hobby passion, their hobby skill set and use it inside the business. It just absolutely lit them up. So you may have somebody that is in one department and they have a skill set that is just completely the opposite. You know it's something that they do in their downtime, but they can bring it in. By knowing all of these things about your people, you are able to see the potential in them, see that the growth is possible for them. You also, as a people gardener, understand how to nurture. A large part of nurturing is really observing and understanding what it is that they need. Out in the garden, you're constantly looking. You're looking at the leaves, you're looking at the flowers, you're looking at the soil, you're checking to see what's happening, and the more often you do that, the faster you pick up on the cues from the plant, what it is that the plant needs. It's the same thing with your people. When you're constantly nurturing them and giving them what they need, they absolutely will flourish, and it's so much fun to see them blossom and to grow and to become these amazing contributors.

A people gardener finds joy in helping. A people gardener finds joy in helping my husband. He asks me every time we come home from vacation. We're away, even if it's for three or four days. We all get unpacked and the first thing that I do is take a walk around the garden and I have a visit with my plants and I check in on them and there's such joy when they're flourishing, when they need help, I am so happy to give them a drink, to give them some fertilizer. It's the same thing with your people Find ways to help them in their job, help them in their tasks, help them with the processes, the procedures, help them with their interpersonal skills.

Help them in their tasks. Help them with the processes, the procedures. Help them with their interpersonal skills. Help them with their EQ. There's so many ways that you can help and finding the joy in that is it. Just it makes the day and the days and the weeks and the years so much more enjoyable when you can just find joy in serving and helping other people. And you are, as a people gardener, committed to supporting your team. And support for each person looks different. There are some that just have really, really sturdy self. They just might need some help with the periphery. There's others that have real need for that inner internal support. You have to spend time with each of them to understand what support looks like for each individual and I guess that's part of the whole the people gardening thing. As a gardener, every plant requires something different. A gardener, every plant requires something different, and your job as the gardener is to make sure that you're giving the support in the way that the support is needed. Simon Sinek is one of my favorite guys on the planet. I just like the way he presents his information. This quote of his really aligns well with the people gardener. It's.

The true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above our own. Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead and understand that the true cost of leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest. It's all about them. It's always been all about them, and the neat part is when you get that really clear and it's embedded inside of you, you no longer have to worry about all of the metrics that I'm going to call them the bean counters Look at. They'll take care of themselves. When you have happy, engaged, empowered people, they are going to perform way beyond anything that you could expect.

People gardeners transform lives Like plants. Everybody needs love, they need care, they need nurturing, nurturing. They need good food and good water, rest and sunlight. All of those things correlate to the human experience. You need to participate in the human experience inside your own department, and the teams that people gardeners build are transformational. Each person on that team is able to interact with others in a positive and collaborative way. Culture you're going to create raving fans that love their job, their company and each other and, most of all, you, and that's what we want. We want people who are happy to be where they are energized to do the job that they've been asked to do and have fun doing it. So you can do this, you absolutely can become a people gardener.

Well, thanks for joining me today. Just a quick reminder if you were not on my email list, go to my website, rondadelaneycom, and there's a place there that you can subscribe, keep you up to date on all things people gardening and leadership, and also a reminder that the Raving Fans Society app is available on the Apple Store and the Google Store. I do have a free membership in there that you'll be able to access some of my material, and then there's also a paid membership, and right now it's $49 a month and you will receive access to all of my material, all of the teaching content, including a resource library that will really help you along, as well as group coaching every month and then quarterly bringing in guests that will talk on topics that pertain to small business owners and leadership. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you again next week.