Just around the corner

One of my alternate routes to work takes me on a path through a sizeable green space behind my house. I need a few extra minutes if I’m taking this path, but I try to set the time aside at least once a week.

Last week, the route took an extra hour, rather than the usual 15 minutes. I had to stop every few steps to take another picture (my favorite feature of my new phone). It was astonishingly beautiful, with wildflowers blanketing the meadow and trees in bloom. I even saw a deer wandering through the trees – a very unusual sight in these woods. By the time I whipped out my phone to take a quick picture, he had sauntered back off into the woods.

I’ve been watching for change particularly closely this spring. Our winter was long and harsh. The trees were just big, barren sticks far into the usual season of new growth. But when spring finally arrived, the transformation seemed to happen right before my eyes. Leaves filled out the undergrowth first, then slowly appeared on the oaks and maples, starting as a light green haze and then, within days, expanding to vast canopies of leaves.

I’ve been looking for signs of spring in our business, too. I’ve noticed how just a little change creates a dynamic cycle of growth. Sometimes we seem to spend a lot of energy with no results; then it blossoms into a period of growth and success.

The take-home lesson for me is simply this: our work isn’t wasted. Sometimes it is preparing the ground for the coming period of rapid growth. Sometimes it’s a matter of tending that growth so that it doesn’t overwhelm us. Often, like in nature, we need the right combination of elements to converge before our efforts will yield visible results.

If you feel like your marketing efforts, for example, are not taking you anywhere, think about the spring. Add in an upturn in the economy, more optimism on the part of prospective clients, and you may see your company experience a spring-like growth spurt, all because of the work you continued to do, even during what feels like the dormant season of no results.

Springtime in nature requires several elements to spur the growth. What we see as the results are stunningly beautiful. I have confidence that the springtime in this business cycle is just around the corner – and the results will be spectacular.