One Tree a Day: The Leadership Practice No One Taught Us

Every day, I plant a tree.

Not as a hobby.
Not as a nice-to-have.
But as a leadership practice.

Because somewhere along the way, we were taught that leadership happens in boardrooms, strategy decks, and performance reviews - and that nature sits somewhere outside of that.

But that framing is the problem.

The moment we separate ourselves from the land, from the soil, from the systems that sustain us… we lose our ability to truly lead.

Jane Goodall didn’t say“save nature.”

She said:decide what kind of difference you want to make.

That distinction matters.

Because I’m not planting trees to “save the environment.”

I’m planting trees because I am the environment.

This land I walk on, this soil I dig into, this rainforest I’m regenerating - it’s not separate from me. It’s part of the same system I’m asking leaders to understand when I talk about culture.

A culture is a living ecosystem. So is a forest.

You don’t control it, you tend to it.

On my property, The Valley of Joy, what was once cleared and quiet is slowly becoming something else. A delightful, joyful and twittering filled bird sanctuary. Tree by tree. Day by day.

There’s no shortcut. No KPI that captures the full impact. No quarterly result to check. And yet - everything meaningful is happening.

The soil is changing. The birds are returning. The system is healing (hint: so am I!)

This is Steward Eldershipbecause stewarding is not about what you extract, it’s about what you leave behind.

Jane Goodall didn’t just study chimpanzees. She changed how we see ourselves in relation to the natural world. That’s a huge bloody legacy, an imprint that should never be forgotten. And what I loved about Jane and her approach was her humility, her gentleness and her focus. Not noise, titles or performance.

What if the most dangerous idea we’ve been taught isn’t greed…but separation?

Separation from nature, from each other, from our tribe? When we degrade the land, we degrade ourselves. When we restore the land, we restore something in us too.

Planting a tree every day has taught me more about leadership than any textbook ever could. And it’s especially reminded me that the role of a leader isn’t to control the system but to care for it…and to leave it better than you found it.

One tree or one human at a time.