Your Business Can’t Grow if You’re Afraid to Prune
This morning, I passed a line of rose bushes on my walk. Most were blooming beautifully, but some were covered in withered flowers that needed to be cut away.
And as I stood there, I thought, there’s a metaphor here for business owners and managers. Leaders often do the same thing with their businesses.
We keep processes, systems, and even people in place long after they’ve stopped producing growth. We cling to “the way we’ve always done it,” even when it’s quietly draining life from what’s next. Out of habit, out of fear, out of nostalgia, out of comfort.
Growth requires courage. It means looking directly at what’s no longer serving you, your team, or your mission and choosing to cut it away. That’s the heart of resilient leadership.
Exercises for Managers and Teams
1. The Pruning List
For fun at your next sales meeting, ask your team to list three things in your current workflows or systems that feel outdated, clunky, or energy-draining.
Then, have each person share one replacement idea (a new rose, if you will) that could bring more efficiency or inspiration.
Close the discussion with this question: What’s one thing we can stop doing this quarter without losing progress?
2. The “Always Done It This Way” Audit
Create a whiteboard (physical or digital) titled “We’ve Always Done It This Way.”
Invite everyone to write down examples. Anything from meeting formats to approval steps to software tools.
As a group, go through the list and ask:
Does this still serve our goals?
What purpose does it fulfill now?
What would happen if we changed it or removed it entirely?
It’s playful but revealing, like pulling weeds and realizing which ones have been strangling the roots.
3. The Resilience Check-In
In your next team meeting, start by asking:
“What’s one challenge we’ve adapted to recently, and what did it teach us about our capacity to change?”
This reframes “change management” from a stress point into a celebration of adaptability, one of the core skills I teach in my Resilience Training Program.
Closing Thought
Healthy growth requires pruning. So does leadership.
Whether you’re managing a team of five or steering a company through change, your ability to cut away with intention determines how boldly new ideas can take root.
Build resilience by pruning what no longer serves.
Every thriving team needs space to grow. “The Leadership Pruning Guide” is a short exercise to help leaders and teams identify what’s draining energy, reflect on what to release, and take small, courageous steps toward renewal.