— To follow is a bullet of wisdom on leadership. It comes from Tom’s rifle, named Shot, who has seen it all. You’ll get the drift by clicking Blog in the menu above. —
AS A RIFLE, I “PICK UP” ON THE TERM DEAD WOODin unique ways. My stock was made from wood, wood dead and no longer growing. Deadwood, South Dakota, in its time sported some very notorious bearers of firearms. All are dead now and some never made out of Deadwood. To many, firearms, in general, are thought of as sources of dying, death, and being left for dead. One more, I recall that Rudy would have his boys clean dead wood from his trees. Why, we wonder.
You see, dead wood can be a problem. If left in a tree, it does not allow eventual winds, some quite strong, to blow through. The tree then could be destroyed or broken, possibly leaving the heartwood exposed. Now, that wood is the tree’s main support, and, if infected, the tree might slowly die. Okay, leaders, have you “picked up” the analogy and the point: However challenging, seek out and clean out the dead wood, or risk both sudden and slow demise. Oh, by the way, a lean, clean, strong tree looks better too. Hmmm.