Fall Playbook, Part 2
What the trees are about to remind us about letting go
A few weeks ago, I shared my fall playbook — the harvesting, the clearing out, the planting for next season.
Since then, I've been watching the trees outside my window start their own version of that same work. There's one more lesson the season has for us, and it might be the hardest one: practicing letting go.
The trees don't fight it. They don't try to hold onto every leaf a little longer than they should. They release — fully, visibly — trusting that what's coming next depends on it.
Leaders could learn something from that.
Here are three things worth letting go of this fall.
1. Let go of doing it alone.
Asking for support isn't a sign you're not handling things well enough — it's the opposite. A partner can see the whole system and help carry the work of developing your people.Who could see your team's blind spots better than you can from the inside?Where have you been carrying something that was never meant to be carried solo?
2. Let go of needing to have the answers.
What moves teams forward isn't one more answer from the top — it's the right questions, asked consistently.What question, asked well, would help your team's real priorities surface on their own?Where could "let's figure this out together" replace "I should know this"?
3. Let go of needing something brand new.
Fall doesn't ask the garden to become something else — it asks it to release what's spent so what's already strong can be harvested and multiplied.What's already working that simply needs more attention or resourcing?Before adding something new, what could you double down on instead?
What this looks like for your organization
This is exactly the kind of work I partner with organizations to do — helping teams identify what to release, what to ask, and what's already worth multiplying through coaching, team development, or broader leadership initiatives.If you're ready to keep building your fall playbook — or start looking ahead to 2027 — I'd love to be your thinking partner. Let's find time to connect.
