Have you seen any dead pine trees lately? It doesn’t take long to see them everywhere you look…
It’s the South, it’s hot, it’s Mississippi, and the drought last summer has devastated pine trees that once stood strong and full of life up and down our highways and roads. Now, many stand lifeless, discolored, brittle, and unable to fulfill their purpose. The slow, gradual decay… decay reflecting what happens when leadership begins to die, often long before anyone notices.
The Subtle Beginning: Stress and Decline
Drought doesn’t kill a pine tree overnight, incrementally weakening its defenses. The tree struggles to absorb nutrients to thrive; its needles begin to yellow, the bark sheds, and the top branches snap and fall. Neglect, ignoring problems, failing to adapt, and losing sight of vision (that should be shared) are the starting points for dead leadership. Leadership under self-inflicted and/or outward tension may stop investing in their team’s growth, becoming reactive instead of proactive.
The Unseen Transition: Vulnerability to Invasion
Once weakened, pine trees become prime targets for pests like the southern pine beetle. Have you seen what they can do to a tree? These wood-boring tree-killer invaders finish what the drought started, killing from the inside out. Similarly, weak leadership allows toxicity to spread. Poor communication, mistrust, and disengagement take root, eroding the culture from within. Without outside intervention, the leadership structure becomes hollow, a façade…
The Inevitable End: Structural Collapse
“The sky is falling.” No, those are dead pine trees falling. Eventually, a dead pine tree will not be able to stand. The wood dries out and erodes with the right pressure; time takes over. When it can no longer stand, it falls; when it does, it destroys anything it hits. Dead leadership follows the same path. When leadership lacks vision, integrity, and adaptability, it cannot and will not weather storms. Leadership decisions will become erratic and often moody, leading to plummeting morale and collapse, and ignoring certain situations will become all the easier.
But, there are preventative measures… Unlike dead pine trees, there is a chance to restore leadership before it reaches the point of no return. The preparations you would use in a drought to save a pine tree (watering, fertilizer, insecticide sprays) are great comparisons that can be used for leadership; awareness, renewal, and intentional action can bring fresh life. Great leaders recognize stress early, address vulnerabilities, and build resilience.
The question is—are you, in your leadership, a thriving pine or a dead pine tree waiting to fall?
As you step into your role today, remember that you are not just an educator and leader but a shaper of the future. Your actions and decisions profoundly impact the lives of those you guide. Go, be the great educator and leader that our future needs.
Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…
©2025 J Clay Norton
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