Pruning Practices for Authentic Leaders: Strategies to Eliminate Deadweight

“He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” John 15:2 (NIV)

Organizational Transformation starts with a culture of ongoing personal and professional development. That transformation starts with me and you, the leaders. For that, our leadership skills need occasional pruning. 

Every so often, I would witness my wife pruning her fruit trees. She would cut off dead branches. She would also trim some branches that appear healthy but, as she explains, do nothing but take up nutrients from the fruitful branches.

Then the most amazing thing happens: in a short time, the trees would look healthier and bear even more fruit than before.

Pruning improves appearance, health, and overall efficiency by eliminating deadweight. This, in turn, channels the energy to the healthiest branches. The outcome is increased production.

Similarly, those of us who seek transformative growth and development must embrace occasional self-pruning. 

Benefits of Leadership Pruning

Here are a few of the many benefits we can experience from pruning.

• Reduction of non-performing activities.

• Less mental stress.

• Increased energy to walk in our purpose.

• Increased effectiveness.

• Increased motivational and inspirational impact.

• More meaningful relationships.

These benefits are possible because we will channel our energy to the healthiest branches. This allows us to focus on core objectives and strategic growth.

Pruning for Effectiveness

Pruning is not random. It has to be strategic.

When we prune, we cut away and drop deadweight and influences that distract us from our core objectives.

A few examples of areas to prune that we will discuss are: bad habits, friends and colleagues with toxic influences, non-essential commitments, ineffective styles and approaches, and language that diminishes our effectiveness.  

Pruning Leadership Skills

Pruning our leadership skills first requires adopting a growth mindset. This means accepting that growth is necessary to remain relevant and effective now and in the future.

Here are practical steps and examples of key branches we must prune to help us focus our energy on strategic growth.

1. Bad habits:  Assess which bad habits are in your blind spot.

You can survey trusted partners and family. They will know. These could include mannerisms like a distracting nervous laugh when you speak, behaviors like habitual tardiness, or even ignoring others’ feelings when giving feedback and couching it as being “honest.” Hint: honesty does not have to be brutal.

Honesty does not have to be brutal.

To prune our bad habits, we must develop self-awareness.

Know yourself and how you come across. Self-reflection and emotional intelligence are both critical skills to develop here.

You will have a higher probability of success and make lasting behavioral changes if you focus on one area at a time.

2. Toxic relationships:Effective leaders build relationships.

However, these relationships can sometimes be harmful spiritually, emotionally, and even intellectually. It’s easy to know the ones who are mentally and emotionally draining to you: You do not benefit from them, but always walk away feeling drained.

Prune these associates by first evaluating your relationships and identifying those that drain your energy or keep you from making progress against your goals and plans.

You will need to limit the time you spend with some. You may have to unfriend some on social media and even walk away from some.

If possible, encourage others in a direction where they can grow and develop.

3. Non-Essential Commitments. Responsible leadership means making and keeping our commitments.

Some commitments we make are important, and some are non-essential but can seem urgent, like a ringing phone. They take up a significant amount of time and effort. In a few cases, we may also commit beyond our capacity, causing us to miss commitments.

Trim this leadership branch by first evaluating all your commitments.

Then identify and trim the ones that are not aligned with your mission and vision.

Refocus on what matters most. Delegate when possible. 

Just as the main trunk of a tree is the core and must be protected, your mission is the core. Protect it.

4. Ineffective Approaches. We usually get comfortable with our styles and approaches because they may have worked in the past. However, are they still effective today?

Consider the following:

• For some of us, the “tough love” approach, where we are ridiculed and treated like we are in a boot camp, does not work. If that’s your style, it may have worked in the past, but it will most likely turn off and alienate your direct reports today.

• If your approach is to develop a friendship relationship with your employees, you risk compromising your ability to hold them accountable. You need to be friendly, but first you are their caring leader.

• If you are using a one-size-fits-all approach, it’s time you learned to be adaptable to the diversity of associates.

• Finally, while Micromanaging may be needed in specific situations – like managing through a performance issue, generally it’s an ineffective style to apply to your organization and will only accelerate burnout in you.

Great pruning techniques for this deadweight are strengthening your Situational and Servant Leadership skills. They will help you get more in touch with your organization.

You will also learn to develop skills to empower and motivate your employees to deliver their work.

5. Language that diminishes your effectiveness. We often use words and phrases that sabotage our effectiveness, such as “Don’t take me wrong, but…,” or “You don’t have to believe me, but….”

There are also common sayings that can limit our effectiveness. For example, saying “It is what it is” is just a lazy way of giving up. Similarly, saying “Better late than never,” communicates it’s OK to be late.

Our language, by the way, includes body language. People respond to our body language more than what we say. If I say I’m fine, but my face is twisted, no one believes me.

Overcoming this dead branch requires focus on improving your communication.

Start by sharpening your words and letting your actions do the talking. That means be the example you want to see.

Eliminate phrases, common idioms, and other sayings that really do not add value to your communication.

Pruning our leadership skills requires self-awareness, a desire to grow, and authenticity to motivate and inspire the right change in ourselves and others.

The above list of branches is a great place to start.

Caution: Leadership Pruning Ahead

Pruning too much at once, especially when the tree is stressed from a drought, or at the wrong time, such as when it’s flowering, can be harmful to the tree.

We need to learn how to prune to avoid harm and maximize impact. While some changes can be done immediately, it’s best to wait for the right timing for others.

Also, every branch that’s cut off from pruning does not go in the compost pile.

Occasionally, after my wife prunes her trees, she may replant a cut branch and grow another tree.

Similarly, pruning your relationships does not mean you turn away from all of them. Make yourself available to coach some into a place where they can be beneficial. Don’t just sever the relationship.

Help them grow.

Those of us who seek transformative growth and development must embrace authentic pruning— dropping bad habits, shedding toxic influences, streamlining commitments, improving approaches, and refining language.  This will help us channel our energies into high-impact core priorities.

Empowered Leader Reflection

Reflecting on the five branches to prune above, which one resonated the most with you? When was the last time you evaluated your effectiveness with that branch?

If this resonates with you, please share your thoughts below, and forward to someone you know could benefit from it.

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