You know when we talk about having to have all skills in a team to make it perform at its highest standards… well, I was reminded of this lately.​

I’ve been having a new garden built. I drew up the plans and then hired a gardener to work with me.

Those of you who know me know that I’m a big‑picture girl… I like creating concepts, I see the whole before the parts and I often move at pace!!

The gardener I chose was quite the opposite. He’s created a wonderful canvass for me to start planting, however, I feel ashamed to say that our differences led me to being a little wound up at times because we were SO different!!

He was asking me the whole time to zoom in where my natural instinct is to zoom out!​

​And it got me thinking…​

​We say we value diverse strengths. We say we want people who think differently. We say we want teams with complementary skills. But the truth is complementary skills are brilliant in theory but can be quite uncomfortable in practice!​

​Working with someone who sees the world differently can feel slow, frustrating, or even challenging – even when that difference is exactly what the work needs.

My gardener’s attention to detail elevated the whole project. But it also pushed me into a space I don’t naturally operate in. And that’s where the tension lives.​

​Here are the leadership lessons I’m taking from it:​

​🌸 The people who stretch us are often the ones who strengthen the outcome.​

🌸 The friction we feel isn’t a sign something is wrong, it’s a sign that diversity is doing its job.​

🌸 High‑performing teams aren’t built on similarity. They’re built on respecting the value of difference, even when it rubs.​

​If we want teams that truly perform, we have to get better at sitting with the discomfort that comes with complementary strengths. Because the magic isn’t in the overlap. It’s in the gaps we fill for each other.​

​And in my case… the garden looks a whole lot better for it 🌸😊