What Healthy Soil Can Teach Us About Leadership

 We don’t often think about soil. It’s just there—beneath our feet, under our crops, holding up our roads and buildings. But spend a little time on a farm, and you’ll quickly realize that what happens beneath the surface matters more than what we see above it.

That’s exactly what I discovered during a recent visit to Liberty Trace Farms in Tennessee. I went there to explore regenerative farming, but I left with a deeper understanding of what makes teams, cultures, and organizations thrive—or fail.

The Leadership Lessons Hidden in the Dirt

At the farm, I spoke with Kevin Krause, an expert in regenerative farming and the concept of living soil—soil teeming with bacteria, fungi, and microbes that work together to sustain plant life. He described how healthy soil is self-sustaining, while unhealthy soil—stripped of its nutrients by poor farming practices—requires artificial fixes that only mask the underlying problem.

And that got me thinking: isn’t leadership the same way?

Too often, we focus on short-term wins—hiring a rockstar salesperson, launching a new strategy, fixing a process—but ignore the deeper health of our teams and cultures. We assume that if we just push harder, work faster, or change tactics, success will follow. But without strong foundations, those quick fixes eventually lead to burnout, disengagement, and dysfunction.

This is where Barry Sowerwine comes in.

What Lies Beneath: A Conversation About Leadership

In Episode 2 of Rooted in the Real World, I sat down with Barry, a seasoned sales leader, to unpack how these farming insights apply to leadership. Barry has seen firsthand how organizations either cultivate great leadership—or let dysfunction take root.

Here are three key takeaways from our conversation:

1. Healthy Teams Require the Right Environment
Just like plants need rich soil to grow, leaders need to create the right conditions for their teams to thrive. That means fostering trust, psychological safety, and clear values—not just chasing results.

2. The Most Important Leadership Work is Invisible
The strength of an organization isn’t just in its processes and performance metrics—it’s in the culture, the unspoken expectations, and the way people interact when no one’s watching. Strong leaders don’t just manage performance; they cultivate relationships, develop their people, and build lasting trust.

3. Quick Fixes Don’t Work Long-Term
Just like artificial fertilizers deplete the soil over time, short-sighted leadership decisions can erode a company’s culture. Focusing only on quarterly targets without developing leaders, investing in team health, and aligning people with purpose leads to burnout and turnover.

Are You Leading Like a Regenerative Farmer?

The best farmers don’t force crops to grow. They nurture the soil, remove obstacles, and let nature do what it does best.

Likewise, the best leaders don’t micromanage results. They invest in their people, create clarity, and build strong foundations that allow success to emerge naturally.

So ask yourself:

• Are you building leadership depth, or just managing tasks?
• Do your team’s values and culture support long-term success?
• Are you creating an environment where people can grow—or just reacting to problems as they arise?

If these questions resonate with you, Episode 2 of Rooted in the Real World is for you.

📺 Watch the full episode here: https://www.revenueinnovations.com/Rooted