For all the talk of “leadership development,” too many organizations are still waiting for leaders to simply emerge. They promote based on performance, push high-potential talent through workshops, and hope that clarity, confidence, and capability will somehow follow. But here’s the hard truth: leaders don’t grow by accident. They grow because someone designed the conditions for leadership to flourish.
If we’re serious about growing leaders – not just finding them – we have to move beyond talent as a trait and begin treating leadership as a systemic outcome. That means designing organizations where leadership takes root early, spreads widely, and scales sustainably.
The Real Leadership Deficit? Environmental, Not Individual
Every ambitious CEO knows that talent is critical – but the conditions around talent are what truly determine whether leadership will thrive.
You can have all the right people on the team, but if the environment is overly hierarchical, risk-averse, or politically toxic, those leaders-in-waiting stay just that: waiting. The leadership gap we’re experiencing today isn’t a lack of capable individuals. It’s a lack of fertile ground.
In biology, even the strongest seeds won’t sprout if the soil is dry and the climate is hostile. It’s the same with leadership. If we want to scale leadership across our companies, we must stop hunting for unicorns and start cultivating leadership ecosystems. Keith Ferrazzi explains:
[T]he highest-performing organizations … succeed not through heroic leadership but by fundamentally reimagining how teams operate.
The Seed Metaphor: Leadership Is Latent Potential, Waiting for Activation
Let’s think of leadership as a seed. Every person in your organization carries some version of it – whether it’s in the form of curiosity, initiative, influence, or insight. They may be your direct reports. Or the newest intern. But without sunlight, nourishment, and space, those seeds stay dormant and remain scattered through the organization. When we limit leadership to a few chosen people in elevated roles, we squander the forest for the promise of a single tree.
Let’s face it, we’ve all seen teams transform when someone is given just enough trust and support to step up. We want more of this. After all, leadership isn’t a title. It’s a behavior. And behaviors respond to their environment.
So instead of focusing only on who has the “right stuff,” we should ask:
What kind of organizational soil are we offering to those who want to lead?
What’s Coming: A Four-Part Series on Building Leadership-Friendly Organizations
This post is the start of a series: “From Seed to Scale: Why Leadership Growth Starts with Fertile Ground.” In the coming weeks, we’ll explore the four key environments that allow leadership to sprout—and spread.
Here’s a preview:
- Culture as Fertile Ground
How psychological safety, inclusion, and trust form the foundation where leadership begins. - Structure Without Stifling
Why agility, accountability, and clarity allow leadership to thrive without top-heavy control. - Networks That Nurture
How mentoring, sponsorship, and connection build confidence and visibility across levels. - Leadership Everywhere
Moving beyond the idea of “leaders at the top” to cultivate leadership from every chair.
Each article will offer real-world examples, actionable insights, and thought-provoking questions for leaders who want to multiply – not monopolize – leadership.
Creating a Garden, Not a Fortress
As leaders, our job isn’t to gatekeep power. It’s to prepare the ground so others can rise. Just like the best gardeners, we don’t grow the plants—we tend the soil, manage the climate, and remove the barriers. The outcome? Not one towering leader, but a thriving landscape of many.
Nina Nets It Out
The future of leadership isn’t about charisma or control – it’s about conditions. Leaders aren’t born in a vacuum; they are nurtured in environments designed for growth. If we want more leaders (and better leadership – as we clearly do) we must shift our energy from identifying rare talent to creating the systems where talent can lead.