It is definitely that time of year – time for spring cleaning. Spring has sprung and everybody seems to be out in their yards busy as bees to get it looking good.

Have you been out in your yard working hard to get it in shape after the dormancy of winter? There’s always a lot to do: lawns, shrubs, gardens, trees, patios, decks, outdoor furniture – you name it, it all needs to be maintained.

I discovered a new tool this year. My father gave me his pressure washer. Wow, now that’s a great tool. I had no idea things in our yard were so dirty until I hooked up the pressure washer and started spraying things down.

You might think this is strange, but my pressure washer made me think of new shoes. Have you ever noticed that you don’t notice how bad your current shoes look until you buy new ones? You compare your new ones to the ones you’ve been wearing and you suddenly realize how beat up and nasty your old shoes looked.

As soon as I unleashed the power of that pressure washer on our deck I realized how nasty dirty it really was. That led to the hot tub and cover, which led to the wicker deck furniture, which led to the metal table and chairs, which led to the rattan sectional, which led to the stairs leading to the sliding doors, which led to the patio, and so on and so on.

I was flabbergasted how dirty things were and I hadn’t really noticed. Of course, everything didn’t get dirty all at once. No, it was a slow process that took place over the course of many months. It had all slowly soiled undetected right before my eyes.

Not only the cleaning though, there was pruning to be done, repairs to be made, annuals to be planted, plants to be replaced, soil to be replenished, and all manner of greenery to be fertilized. If we do not tend to these basic elements of maintenance our property and possessions will slowly deteriorate and lose value.

That’s when it hit me: the same holds true for leadership and life.

We must ensure that we maintain our lives, our leadership and our organizations with the same diligence with which a well-groomed property is maintained. There are 7 critical activities we must engage in if we are going to diligently perform the maintenance required:

1. Cleaning – What have you allowed in your life and leadership to get dirty, to lose its luster and brilliance? Do you need to dust off old commitments, values, and vision you once were so clear about?
2. Pruning – What is over grown in your life? What behaviors or attitudes have you allowed to grow out of control? What do you need to prune back – to discipline into alignment?
3. Repairing – What is broken that needs to be fixed? Relationships, processes, plans, programs, emotions, etc.? What have you put up with that needs to be repaired?
4. Planting – What new thoughts, ideas, beliefs, plans, projects, relationship, and endeavors do you need to plant this year?
5. Replacing – What needs to be removed and replaced? What limiting beliefs have you held onto that need to be replaced? What products, processes, programs and people in your organization need to be replaced – you have tried to repair them but they just aren’t working?
6. Replenishing – How are you re-energizing yourself and your team? How are you replenishing your people, your strategies, your finances, your vision, etc?
7. Fertilizing – How are you increasing and encouraging growth in you and your people? Are you providing training, benefits and incentive programs? Are you starving your people of recognition?

If we will diligently engage in the ongoing maintenance required for ourselves and those we lead, we will ensure our value and the value of our organizations continue to grow.

Maintenance is required – it is a fact of life. The question is, will you put the work in to clean, prune, repair, plant, replace, replenish and fertilize yourself and your people to ensure your continued growth and health, and that of your people and your organization?