Where do carrot seeds come from? Have you ever wondered?

My good buddy Julie is an organic farmer in West Virginia, and she taught me one of the most valuable leadership lessons I’ve ever heard.

Carrot seeds. Where are they? Have you ever seen them? How does a carrot reproduce? Here’s the deal…

You can plant a carrot seed, and in one season, that seed will become a fully formed carrot that you can pull from the ground and eat right then and there. Instant gratification. But that’s the end of that seed.

But if you want carrot seeds, you have to leave that carrot in the ground, let it overwinter, and wait. In the second season, the flowering stalk will shoot up and produce seeds. Now, you not only have a carrot; you have a reproducible carrot.

One good carrot can develop in a season. Perhaps even a great carrot. But if you want a carrot that can live beyond itself, you have to be twice as patient. Instant gratification does not produce reproducible carrots. You’ve got to let that carrot lie in the cold, dark, hard ground for a long time.

Maybe you feel overlooked. Maybe you feel like you are in a cold and isolated place. Maybe you feel like you have served your time for far too long. You have stood by as others have been picked before you. You’ve been passed over while others have been picked. Is that unfair? Or is it possible that you are being groomed for a much greater purpose?

Maybe you are a good carrot. Or even a great carrot. But if you want to be the kind of carrot that is reproducible, that can multiply your influence more broadly, you may have to stay in the ground and trust the farmer to know when the time is right. Because being a reproducible carrot isn’t just about your ability, it’s also about your potential. Don’t short-circuit your potential  by being too eager to come out of the ground.