The Type of Leader I Am: Tree Leadership

I didn’t start writing about leadership because I wanted to teach it.

I started writing because I had survived it.

Since 2013, I have worked under leaders who inspired me—

and leaders who slowly hollowed me out.

I have watched people bloom under care

and wither under control.

I have seen trust built carefully over years

and destroyed in a single meeting.

I have been the leader who did the right thing—

and the leader who has caused harm.

Both have taught me how seriously leadership shapes people.

Over time, a quiet question kept returning to me:

What kind of leader do I want to be?

That question is what grew into my leadership model.

I call it Tree Leadership.

Why a Tree?

Because leadership is alive.

It grows.

It reacts to seasons.

It reveals what’s happening below the surface long before anything is visible above ground.

And like a tree, leadership can either provide shelter and nourishment—

or cast long, damaging shadows if it grows warped or neglected.

Tree Leadership is not about charisma, authority, or performance.

It is about formation, presence, and care.

Roots: Leadership Begins Below the Surface

Roots are the unseen foundation of a tree.

They determine whether the tree can stand, grow, and weather storms.

Roots represent formation—values, truth, emotional honesty, and the courage to look inward. This is where leaders learn to tell the truth to themselves, receive correction, and remain grounded.

A leader with strong roots does not need to dominate, manipulate, or perform. They lead from identity and honesty.

Leaders with strong roots:

• Know who they are and what they stand for

• Can receive feedback without becoming defensive

• Tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable

• Lead from identity, not insecurity

  
  

Without roots, leadership becomes reactive.

With roots, leadership becomes steady.

Great leaders are not those who rush to speak—but those who are grounded enough to listen.

Trunk: The Strength to Hold Weight

The trunk is what people lean on.

It represents presence, emotional maturity, and steadiness under pressure.

It is emotional maturity.

Steadiness under pressure.

The ability to stay calm without becoming cold.

This is where I learned the most painful lessons of my own leadership—about boundaries, restraint, and the cost of leading from urgency instead of wisdom.

A strong trunk does not react impulsively.

It listens.

It pauses.

It absorbs tension without transferring it to others.

A strong trunk:

• Holds discomfort without escalating it

• Responds rather than reacts

• Sets boundaries with calm clarity

• Creates safety through consistency

  
  

People don’t trust leaders because they are brilliant.

They trust leaders because they are safe.

This is how a leader shows up when things are hard, unclear, or tense.

Branches: Strategy That Serves People

Branches are where leadership becomes visible.

They represent strategy, systems, decisions, and influence.

This is how leadership reaches outward and shapes outcomes.

But here is where many leadership models fail: they build branches disconnected from roots.

Tree Leadership insists that strategy must be connected to formation.

That growth must be supported by stability. That expansion without care eventually breaks.

Branches exist to extend life, not drain it.

Healthy leaders ask:

• Does this structure support the people within it?

• Are our systems helping people thrive?

• Does this decision honor both outcomes and dignity?

• Are we growing wisely—or just quickly?

Tree Leadership insists that strategy must be humane.

That systems must support people, not exhaust them.

That growth must be sustainable—not just impressive.

Branches exist to extend life—not strain it.

Leaves: The Experience of Being Led

Leaves are what people feel every day.

They are the tone of meetings.

The way feedback is given.

The way conflict is handled.

The way people are acknowledged—or ignored.

You can tell the health of leadership by the emotional climate of a team.

When leaves are healthy:

• People feel seen

• Questions are welcomed

• Effort is acknowledged

• Trust grows quietly but consistently

  
  

This is where leadership becomes visible.

In my writing about acknowledgment, I named what I had seen over and over again: people do not need grand gestures. They need to be seen.

They need to know their presence matters.

When the leaves are healthy, people breathe easier.

They collaborate more freely.

They stay longer—not because they have to, but because they want to.

This Is the Leader I Am

Tree Leadership is the leader I became after watching too many people be harmed by ego, fear, and unchecked power.

It is the leader I strive to be when things are unclear.

When conversations are hard.

When truth must be spoken gently but firmly.

It is leadership that tends instead of controls.

That listens before it directs.

That grows people—not just results.

And most of all, it is leadership that remembers this:

People are not resources. They are living beings. And leadership is the sacred work of care.