Co-Active Leadership

3Co-Active Leader Within

Many years ago, Karen was planting a summer garden with her 6-year-old niece, Christin. They began with the marigolds, tucking the sharp seeds into the rich brown soil. Karen’s job was to plant the seeds and make sure that the rows were straight. Christin was to come along behind her, placing the seed packet with its picture of bright orange flowers onto a Popsicle stick at the end of each row. After a time, Karen noticed that Christin had placed the pictures on the seed packets inward, facing toward the newly planted marigolds. “Christin,” she said, “honey, you need to turn the picture around so that we can see what we’ve planted when we look out at our garden.” “Oh no, Auntie K,” Christin said solemnly. “The marigolds ...