Roots and Wings

I recently read a quote that said “There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots and the other is wings” Hodding Carter, Jr.  As my 18 year old daughter gets ready to head off to college, I feel the truth in this.  For her whole life I have worked hard to give both her and her brother "roots".  A safe home where they could retreat and rejoice, hide or learn;  be themselves.  As they have grown I can appreciate the importance of "wings"; space to find out who they are, room to fly and explore themselves, their potential and their dreams.

When I work with professional groups, I often ask them to reflect on their work lives and to identify a manager or mentor who had impacted them in a positive way shaping their professional lives and their development. Regardless of where I am working , the answers to this question are remarkably similar.  In different vocabulary, this same concept of  Roots and Wings (safety and room) comes up again and again. It is a great metaphor for the descriptions of the managers, mentors and teachers who help us to become great.

Memorable Managers provide both Roots and Wings:

 “Roots”:

~Direction

~Guidance  

~Support

~Feedback

~Open Communication

  “Wings”:

~Stretch assignments

~Delegation

~Individual visibility & credit

~Empowerment

~Inspiration

Trust:

Trust is the key thread that contributes to most all essential leadership behaviors. Trust shows up in both the Roots category and the Wings category.  When we create an environment of trust, employees know that the relationship we share is safe.  They know that they can expect predictable responses from us, and the advocacy we express to them in private will be the same when we are publicly representing or defending them… Roots!

When we talk about the concept of wings, trust is also incredibly important.  We need to demonstrate our trust by letting go~letting go of outcomes and putting the accountability in their hands.  We need to appreciate that their path to the end result may be very different than our own and that has to be okay.  Employees need to trust that no matter what happens their manager is in their corner to figure it out, to fix it or to celebrate their success.  And lastly,  for better or worse we need to allow them to find their own place in the professional world.

Much like with our children, we are for the most part, spectators challenged to trust that all that we have invested and all that we have shared will carry them forward in the direction of success.

image credit: Plusritmova.net