Seed vs. Harvest Thinking

 Leading Beyond Immediate Results
Part 3 of “The Thirteenth Seed” Series
Peter Comrie | Full Spectrum Leadership Inc.
Publisher | WBN News Okanagan & WBN News Winnipeg

There’s a quiet battle happening inside every leader, entrepreneur, and builder:
The tension between Seed Thinking and Harvest Thinking.

• Harvest Thinking demands quick results.
• Seed Thinking invests in future growth, even when outcomes are uncertain.

One is driven by impatience.
The other is driven by vision.

And the kind of thinking we choose, daily, sometimes hourly, defines not only the work we produce, but the legacy we leave.

What Is Harvest Thinking?

Harvest Thinking is the mindset that measures success by immediate, visible output.

It asks:

• “What did I gain today?”
• “What did I close, capture, achieve?”
• “How fast can I see returns?”

It’s not wrong to think this way, t’s natural. We live in a world conditioned by quarterly reports, instant gratification, and endless metrics.

But Harvest Thinking, left unchecked, shrinks leadership to transactions.
It makes meaning subservient to speed.
It encourages short-term gains at the expense of long-term trust, creativity, and resilience.

What Is Seed Thinking?

Seed Thinking is different.
It’s quieter, slower, and exponentially more powerful.

It asks:

• “What am I planting today that may bear fruit tomorrow, or for someone else?”
• “What systems, habits, or relationships am I nurturing, even if the bloom is far off?”
• “Am I building for the next quarter, or the next generation?”

Seed Thinking requires:

• Patience in uncertainty
• Trust in unseen growth
• Courage to work without immediate validation

It is the mindset of mentors, builders, cultural architects, and legacy makers.

Seed Thinkers do not measure success by applause.
They measure it by the roots they cultivate, the ecosystems they strengthen, and the lives they nourish.

Where Leaders Get Stuck

Most of us, myself included, are not purely Harvest or Seed thinkers.
We oscillate.

The danger arises when Harvest Thinking dominates:

• When leadership becomes a series of sprints instead of a marathon.
• When we favor urgency over wisdom.
• When we sacrifice trust for metrics.

In those moments, we must step back and remember:

Not everything that matters can be measured in real-time.

Some of the most important seeds, trust, loyalty, innovation, character, take time to break the surface.

And if we judge our progress too soon, we risk abandoning the work that would have sustained us.

A Leadership Reflection: Plant, Then Trust

Every day, you are planting something:

• A word of encouragement
• A system that outlasts your tenure
• A decision that strengthens future culture
• A client experience that ripples into referrals
• A story that someone will one day tell about the kind of leader you were

And yes, some days, you will need a harvest, you’ll need results to keep moving, keep growing, keep feeding the enterprise.

But never forget:

The harvest is only as good as the seeds planted seasons before.

If we lead only for today’s numbers, we inherit only today’s returns.
If we plant for tomorrow’s world, we inherit a garden.

Closing Reflection: What Are You Planting?

As you move through your week, I invite you to ask:

• What seeds am I planting that I may never see bloom?
• Where am I succumbing to short-term thinking, and where can I choose legacy instead?
• Who is benefiting not just from what I do, but from the way I lead?

Because every conversation, every decision, every standard you uphold or challenge—
is a seed.

And leadership, at its truest, is a sacred trust:

To plant wisely today, so that others may thrive tomorrow.

Let’s Keep Talking!

Peter Comrie
Co-Founder and Human Capital Specialist at Full Spectrum Leadership Inc.
Reach out to me at peter@fullspectrumleadership.com

Or connect with me here to book a call!

Reach me on Linkedin; https://www.linkedin.com/in/petercomrie/

We can also chat on Bluesky: @petercomrie.bsky.social      

Tags: #LegacyLeadership, #RelationalLeadership, #HumanCapital, #TheThirteenthSeed, #LeadershipWisdom, #FullSpectrumLeadership