The words you speak today shape the harvest you’ll reap tomorrow. Your team’s biggest breakthrough next quarter may be planted in the very conversation you choose to have—or avoid—today.
Anyone raised on a farm knows the painstaking, months-long, back-breaking process of getting a crop to market, hoping at last to see the fruits of their labor.
Yet so much lies beyond the farmer’s control: too much rain, too little rain, wind, or hail can wipe out a year’s profits. Still, a farmer never commits halfway.
And if all goes well, this weary, weather-worn farmer will one day stand in his October cornfield, marveling at the towering stalks that began as a single kernel the April before. He recalls the monotonous mornings on his tractor, turning soil and planting seed. He remembers the patience those first silent weeks demanded, when nothing seemed to be happening, and the faith required to keep watering and tending what he could not yet see.
What he harvests now is more than corn. It is the sum of every deliberate choice he made months ago.
Your team’s breakthrough moments unfold the same way. The day they anticipate what you want before you say it, execute flawlessly without being micromanaged, or solve problems before you even know they exist. That’s when you see the payoff. A great management team harvests the seeds of leadership you’ve been planting all along, often without even realizing it.
The real question is this: In the conversations you’re having with your people today, what kind of harvest are you preparing for tomorrow?
- Are you planting the seeds of the harvest you want, or exposing the gap between your goals and your actions?
- Do your conversations spark action, or stall it?
- What message are you avoiding that your team most needs to hear before the year ends?
At MasterThink, we’ve seen how one powerful conversation can shift everything. October is the perfect time to pause and reflect: What message do your employees and clients need to hear before year-end? Where could one conversation reset expectations, spark confidence, or clear away confusion?
Try this today:
- Write a brief note to your team outlining the #1 focus for the next 60 days.
- Revisit your mission, values, and goals. Are they present in your daily conversations, or collecting dust on a shelf?
- Take one bold action this week that proves your words carry weight.
Now it’s your turn: What’s the message your team needs most right now? Comment below!