Spider Lily
The strangest thing has happened in my living room this week.
Here’s the backstory: We have been fortunate to have been gifted a few “orphaned” plants over the years – plants from friends who were moving and needed to rehome them. Despite my lack of green thumb, I have managed to keep most of them alive. But since they are orphan plants, I rarely know exactly what kind of plant they are (Oh who am I kidding?? I don’t know any of the plants I own by their actual gardener-plant names. But I digress…)
We have one plant we were gifted over 20 years ago by a couple who remain close friends. It’s just your basic green thing with leaves. No interesting trailing stems, no blooms, no colors – all uniform leaves that just, umm… grow. I water it, it doesn’t die. We’ve been a terrific team, this plant and me. In those 20 years, I bet I have moved this plan 5 times or more, and literally across the country. Although it was orphaned to me, I have put it in my car and driven it from coast to coast on I-80.
When we moved into our most recent home just over a year ago, I dutifully put the plant in front of a window and watered it. Just like always, it grew leaves. Some of my other diva-like plants threw temper tantrums until they were positioned in the house just right, but this plant just did its thing, growing leaves.
Then, last week, this giant stem grew out of the middle of the plant.
Okay, so at first, I didn’t notice. And then I honestly thought the stem was just a new leaf. But it got taller and then started sprouting these super-weird looking bloom-things and I was a bit shocked. Then I looked closer and noticed that it had divided in the pot – had actually grown a second plant. And every day, the bloom stem-thing got taller, and weirder looking. And then it started blooming. And y’all, it’s the coolest looking bloom I have seen in a while!
Naturally, I am struck by the cosmic meaning of this – here’s this plant that has been just quietly doing her thing, and I have been quietly doing my thing watering her, and all this time she’s been growing into this wicked cool bloom! I have no idea how often the bloom may happen – but I am sure glad I got to enjoy it.
Every team has members like this plant. Reliable, solid performers who show up and do their thing well, no questions asked. They don’t demand a lot of attention to accomplish their greatness. As a leader-boss – or a co-worker – you know these folks are incredibly important to the team culture, to the organization and to the people your group serves. How do you show your special gratitude and appreciation to those people? If you haven’t stopped by their desk lately to thank them, or if you haven’t ensured they are aptly compensated or honored, put that on your to-do list today.
2 Comments
Cultivate Your Best Self - · September 22, 2022 at 8:50 pm
[…] I’d never been much of a green thumb, until a tiny sprout of a flower, gifted to me by my aunt, insisted I evolve into a proper gardener. My childhood home was full of plants; my dad is terrific with all growing things, inside and out, and I suppose I had taken them for granted. As a young adult, I never gave them much thought, unless someone gave me a plant that could take care of itself, plants were doomed. Dogs? People? Those have always been more my jam. […]
Better the Ball - · September 22, 2022 at 8:51 pm
[…] a team member who has their back. Everyone wants to be on a team with synergy and flow, where the other team members are focused together on being their collective best. And we love to sweep the other team by playing as an unstoppable force. Team success creates […]
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