What Will Your Garden Look Like in Ten Years?

Earlier this spring, I grew vegetables and herbs from seed for the first time.  

I'll be honest — things didn't turn out as I expected. My vegetables had been growing on the dining room table, driving my husband nuts. I moved the herbs outside into a planter and covered it with plastic wrap to keep them warmer and protect them from the cold nights we’ve had in May. I’m still waiting for them to grow, so I’ve gone ahead and bought herb plants from the garden store instead.  

But that experiment taught me something I've been sharing with every client lately: the willingness to try something new, even when it doesn't take root, is exactly what keeps a business — and a leader — alive and growing.

It also brought me back to a question I frequently raise during client discussions: 

• How will your garden have grown in ten years? What will it look like?

Not next quarter. Not at year-end. In Ten Years.

The most stunning gardens — the ones that truly leave you breathless — weren't created for this season. They were planted with the next decade in mind. The gardener who plants an oak sapling isn't thinking about shade this summer. (S)He's thinking about the canopy that will shelter everything beneath it for generations.

Business is no different.

Here's what I know after 18 years of coaching CEOs and executive teams: the factors that will define a business in ten years rarely show up on a dashboard today. They grow underground — slowly, invisibly — long before anyone can see them. 

Culture is the root system. You can't see it, but everything above ground depends on it. The values your team lives by when no one's watching, the standards that hold even under pressure — these take years to take root and achieve real scale . I was just talking to a client who turned away business due to a lack of alignment in values.  

Trust is the slow blossom. It cannot be forced or rushed into bloom. It's built conversation by conversation, decision by decision — with clients, talent, and partners. Ten years of consistent tending create something no competitor can replicate overnight.

Leadership maturity is what you're cultivating in the people around you — so that one day, the garden thrives without you at its center. That's not a loss. That's the harvest.

Reputation is the perennial. It returns season after season, stronger each year, drawing the right clients, the right talent, and the right opportunities — but only if you've tended it all along.

None of this will generate a return during this fiscal year. However, all of my most successful long-term clients will report that this is where true growth occurs.

Growth unfolds over ten years through thoughtful planning. This involves regularly nurturing, evaluating, refining, and, when necessary, replanting to ensure steady progress. 

I spent over twenty years building Slater Graphics before I launched Slater Success. I understand intimately what it means to make choices today whose full harvest won't come for years. You cannot plant in Year Nine and expect to harvest in Year Ten.

So I'll ask you what I ask every client:

What will your garden look like in ten years?

And what are you choosing to grow — right now, today — to make sure it gets there?

I'd love to hear what you're building. Drop a comment or connect with me directly — let's talk about what's possible.