Leadership and Fires

Sharing about the Jack Pine never gets old to me. I have used this imagery with teams, groups, and leaders for several years and each time I share I feel like I learn something new in the process.

The Jack Pine is a particular type of pine tree that produces a cone called the serotinous cone. Each cone stays on a tree for several years before dropping to the ground. However, once the cone drops to the ground it does not immediately release its seeds. Instead, the seeds remain in the cone because a resinous substance has sealed the cone tightly shut. It requires a high temperature of at least 140 degrees to melt the resin, allowing the cone to expand, and then new seeds are released. In other words, the cones must go through a fire to produce something new.

As humans, and particularly as leaders, we often face moments of heat. While these moments can be painful, they can also lead to growth. The reality is we expand and grow through difficult and painful times. This presents a challenge because our nature is to run from the pain that can come with the heat. In fact, most of us were taught at a young age not to touch a stove, to keep a safe distance from a campfire, and to wait before trying to consume a hot beverage. Staying close to a source of extreme heat seems counterintuitive to most of us. We often believe that the heat — the pain — is a problem. The reality is that sometimes the heat is actually a necessity for our growth.

I believe our world is hungry for leaders who will be brave enough to stand and face a leadership fire. Leaders who will put people over profits and those who will forgo a paycheck before even considering laying off hourly workers. Leaders who will make decisions rooted in clear, ethical core values while embracing the collective safety of the group over individual advancement. Leaders who understand the impact of their decisions on their people, the economy, and the environment. These are leaders whose actions convey a clear message that in the midst of a crisis they still see and value their people. The leaders I am describing are courageous and know all too well what it feels like to stay in the heat. These leaders do not run from the rising temperature; they face it, they lean into it, and they bravely protect and lead their people through the unknown. These individuals feel the heat of the fire but are never consumed by it.

I know firsthand how difficult this can be. In my work with teams and groups, I often find myself in moments when I need to ask the question that no one else wants to ask, let alone answer. Additionally, there are private conversations with leaders when I need to say the one thing that no one else wants to say. My natural instinct in both these situations is to focus on my own self-preservation which just makes me want to run away. However, over time I have learned to stay present and embrace the heat as a moment of growth for myself and for those I am working with.

Because of the way it responds to heat, the Jack Pine is known as a tree that can be counted on to quickly repopulate an entire forest after the mass destruction of a major fire. Great leaders and good humans, much like the Jack Pine, not only need to survive difficult and heated situations, but they too should be able to inspire growth when a situation seems dire and hopeless. The best people I know expand and grow during challenging times while also finding ways to spark the growth of others. They are able to lead with confidence as they plant new seeds of hope for the future.

The next time a painful situation comes your way and you feel the urge to turn and run from it, ask yourself this: What if I am actually running from growth? What if I am turning my back on opportunities that I am uniquely equipped to handle? What if I need the heat to grow and to bring new life where there is no visible hope? What if there are parts of me that can only be revealed and opened by proximity to heat?

We need leaders who are courageous enough to face the fire, to be opened up again, and to give new life to places that otherwise feel hopeless. If that is the type of leader you want to be, then lean into the heat while trusting that the process of being refined will be a beneficial one. Healthy people know that sometimes they need the heat of a fire to melt away that which is limiting them.

Face the fire but do not be consumed by it.

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