Growing your forest

Chad Kulas

At a recent Midway Chamber event, we were joined by Priya and Vikas Narula. They are a married couple who created Neighborhood Forest, a nonprofit organization who gives kids trees every Earth Day, and led a presentation titled “Your Organization is a Forest: Make it Thrive.” The presentation was one of the most thought-provoking I’ve seen and I believe people can use the tips from it in both their personal and professional lives.
The nonprofit was started in 2010 to give back to the community. Vikas had learned about nonprofits who give trees away to kids and had started one while in college. He thought of the idea again when their kids were in school and started the program at their elementary school. Today, the nonprofit has partnerships with over 2,000 schools, libraries and youth groups in all 50 states and in six Canadian provinces.
The lesson could be as simple as finding a way to give back. After starting a successful business, they wanted to do more and what better way than starting a nonprofit? But the story is more than just finding a passion that gives back.
In the presentation, Priya and Vikas talked about trees and how they can “talk” to each other in their own way. There are also hub trees, connectors and seedlings and all play important roles in the health of a forest. The parallels between trees communicating and humans are very interesting, and they talked about the dynamics of a workplace. Who is the hub? Who are those who connect and who are the seedlings who we think can grow?
In addition to thinking about the hub, connectors and seedlings of a particular group, the presentation talked about the importance of being a part of many networks. They referred to a study which found people with different friend networks show more dynamic brain activity than those with only close-knit social circles. Meeting and building connections with different people from different backgrounds can help you grow as a person and greatly helps in the workplace. The presentation referenced a study in the Journal of Corporate Finance which stated a CEO with a diverse social network can have a direct impact on the success of an organization both in terms of business opportunities and innovation. According to the Harvard Business Review, “Public companies with greater diversity in management are more likely to have better financial returns.”
Are you up for a challenge?
Consider meeting new people in the next month and actually get to know them.
Find people from different backgrounds than yours (maybe who vote different than you?) Or if you know people like this, get to know them better. Unlike in many places, we are fortunate to be in a neighborhood with density and a mix of people who are lifelong residents and those who moved here in the past year. Expanding your network can help you grow too.
If you focus too much on the tree, you might miss the forest around you.