Driving to Sydney from the Southern Highlands recently, I noticed big chunks of bulldozed land being transformed into new suburbs. As it is International Day of Forests today (as well as Harmony Day) it seems opportune to reflect on what we can learn from trees.

According to Peter Wohlleben, author of ‘The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate’, trees are communal and have evolved to live in cooperative harmony.  Further, they are in constant communication with each other via the ‘wood-wide web’, underground fungal networks that share nutrients, water and information between the forest trees.

Via these ‘mycorrhizal’ networks forests create a collective intelligence that enables them to share information and harvest insights from across the forest.  It’s the old, ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts’ scenario.

Applying this concept briefly to organisations, collective leadership is evolving how leaders and teams can work, built on a foundation of connection that allows the team to operate more as a unit, responding with agility to the influences and demands it is meeting, leveraging the strengths and insights of its participants.

Take a moment to acknowledge the trees today and enjoy International Day of Forests.

David Fudge, Leading Well