The night before Hurricane Isaias landed in Pensacola, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Everything looked so peaceful. And yet, we knew what was coming.
Then the storm hit. Through the night there was wind, rain, and the sounds of things happening outside that we couldn’t see. When morning finally came, the landscape we knew had changed. And in the days that followed, I realized that the storm had brought home a truth about leadership and development: we can’t help our people grow until we truly know them.
For me, one of the hardest things to see was the trees. Some had stood for generations and weathered hurricanes before. They were strong. Their roots ran deep. And suddenly, so many of them were gone.
Massive root systems were pulled completely from the ground. The soil had been saturated from days of rain, and when the winds came, it could no longer hold them.
The trees hadn’t stopped being strong. Their roots hadn’t stopped being deep. But the conditions around them had changed. And there’s a lesson in that about the people we lead.
When we look at a tree, we see what’s above the ground. What we don’t see is everything happening underneath. No two root systems are exactly alike.
We do the same thing with people. We see their roles, their responsibilities, their performance. But how well do we really know what’s beneath the surface? Do we assume that because people have similar responsibilities, they need the same kind of support?
One of the most important responsibilities we have as leaders is to truly know our people. Not simply their names, titles, or tenure, but how they think, how they learn, how they solve problems, and what motivates them to give their best.
That understanding matters most when things change. And in healthcare, change is constant. Every one of us, regardless of experience, has to keep learning, adapting, and growing.
We don’t all learn or adapt in the same way. Some people need to understand the why before they can embrace something new. Others learn by doing. Some are motivated by achievement, others by relationships, purpose, or the chance to make a difference.
This is why Precision Leader Development™ is so meaningful to me. It isn’t about trying to make everyone the same. PLD begins with understanding the individual: their strengths, their learning strategies, their approach to problem-solving, their motivations. Then it helps us leverage that insight to shape how we coach, communicate, and develop each person. It’s about understanding who they are so we can help them grow into who they can become.
Those trees taught me one more lesson. Even when we understand the roots, we can’t ignore the ground. We can recognize someone’s strengths and invest in their development, but we also have to pay attention to the environment we’re asking them to succeed in: the expectations, the resources, the relationships, the support. Even the most capable, motivated people can struggle when the conditions around them no longer support their success.
We have to care for both the roots and the ground.
In the days after the storm, I noticed that no two people experienced the upheaval the same way. Some needed time. Some needed encouragement. Some needed to learn something new. Some simply needed someone to recognize what they’d been through.
Perhaps that’s the greatest lesson those trees taught me. Don’t wait for a storm to discover what lies beneath the surface. Know your people. Understand what helps them grow. And pay attention to the conditions that allow them to thrive.
