Leadership Lessons from a Mango Tree: Embracing Diversity to Build Stronger Cultures

Leadership Lessons from a Mango Tree: Embracing Diversity to Build Stronger Cultures

Every organisation wants to thrive. Every leader wants results. Yet, many miss a quiet but vital truth: great outcomes don’t come from uniformity. They come from difference—nurtured, respected, and aligned toward a common purpose.

A mango tree taught me this.

Each morning, I walk through my garden. I pass by a mature mango tree that has been growing silently for decades. It does not speak. Yet, in its stillness, it teaches. Every leaf, though bound to the same trunk, is distinct. Some are young and red. Others are fresh green. A few have matured into dark, sturdy forms. Their shapes vary—slender, curled, flat, wide. But they all belong. They all draw from the same roots. The same sun. The same soil.

And they all serve the same purpose—sustaining the tree and bearing fruit.

This, I’ve come to realise, is what healthy leadership and culture look like.

Chasing Uniformity in the Name of Efficiency

In organisations, we often value sameness. Leaders unconsciously reward people who speak like them, think like them, work at the same pace, or come from similar experiences. Hiring managers lean toward “culture fit” as a safe choice. Performance metrics flatten people into comparable templates. Standardised training seeks to make everyone lead, communicate, or solve problems in one way.

While well-intentioned, this chase for efficiency can erase the very richness that powers innovation and resilience.

Teams begin to echo the same opinions. People suppress their natural working styles to fit in. The young are told to “wait their turn.” The experienced are labelled “old-school.” And slowly, the roots begin to dry.

Peter Drucker once said,

“The most important task of an organisation’s leader is to anticipate crisis. The second most important task is to build an organisation that can anticipate and survive it.” (Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, 1973)

But no organisation can survive crisis without diversity—of thought, of pace, of perspectives. Homogeneity weakens adaptability. It blinds leadership to blind spots. And it dilutes the human spirit that underpins all sustained excellence.

The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Diversity

Imagine an organisation where only one kind of person rises.

They may be brilliant. They may be articulate. But they will never be the whole picture.

Leadership will skew toward one style. Culture will become monocultural. Meetings will turn into echo chambers. Hiring will become self-reinforcing.

In time, creativity shrinks. Employee engagement fades. People stop offering dissent. Not because they agree—but because they no longer believe they’ll be heard.

That’s when culture starts to die.

Culture does not die with scandal or attrition. It dies quietly—when people stop feeling seen.

And the cost? Innovation slows. Trust erodes. Attrition rises. But perhaps worst of all—people bring only a fraction of their potential to work.

A mango tree with only one kind of leaf cannot bear fruit. It may grow tall. But it will not nourish.

In the same way, organisations that prize uniformity may look strong on the outside. But their ability to flourish is compromised.

Psychologist and management thinker Adam Grant reminds us,

“Originality is not a fixed trait. It is a free choice.” (Grant, Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, 2016)

But people will only choose originality when they feel safe—when the culture honours difference.

Nurture All Leaves. Nourish Every Root.

What, then, can leaders learn from the mango tree?

First, that sameness is not the goal. Wholeness is.

Every individual in your team is at a different stage in their professional journey. Some are new, filled with unshaped energy. Some are in their prime, balancing speed with depth. Others bring the calm maturity that only years of failure and learning can teach.

These differences should not be levelled. They should be celebrated.

A wise leader does not impose a single blueprint. Instead, they build a culture that respects where each person is, and connects them through shared roots—common values, a collective mission, and an unwavering sense of purpose.

Second, that fairness is not treating everyone the same. It is giving each what they need to thrive.

The mango tree does not distribute sunlight equally. It allows the sun to do its work, and the leaves to respond in their way. Some reach higher. Others soak it in quietly. But all are nourished. None are left behind.

This is what inclusive leadership looks like.

It means adapting communication styles to suit different personalities. It means mentoring the young without patronising them. It means honouring the wisdom of experience without resisting change.

It means asking: “What does this person need to thrive?” Not: “How can I make them like the others?”

Third, leaders must foster connection across difference.

Diversity alone is not enough. Inclusion is the bridge. And belonging is the destination.

Create spaces where introverts and extroverts both feel heard. Design meetings that allow for reflective input, not just vocal spontaneity. Build cross-generational teams. Rotate roles. Let people shadow each other. The goal is to create an ecosystem where each leaf feels part of the same living whole.

Finally, remember that culture is not a statement. It is a practice.

Daily behaviours. Small decisions. Who gets promoted. Who gets listened to. Who is invited into the room.

Each of these shapes the invisible roots of culture.

And like the mango tree, it is the unseen roots that determine whether the fruit will come.

As a leader, you must ask yourself: What am I nourishing? Who am I recognising? Whose voices am I ignoring—not out of malice, but out of habit?

A tree cannot choose its leaves. But it can nourish them all. A leader can.

The mango tree does not rush its growth. It stands tall by honouring every leaf, every stage. Leadership, too, is not about control or conformity. It is about connection.

It is about cultivating a culture where diversity is not just acknowledged—but deeply valued, and wisely woven into the organisation’s living fabric.

In a world chasing performance, pause and ask: Are we building tall trees, or are we helping them bear fruit?

Let your leadership, like the mango tree, become a living metaphor for growth through diversity.

“A wise leader sees their team not as a forest of equals, but as a tree of differences—each part vital, each part valued, and all rooted in a shared purpose.” — Subramaniam P G

Reflections and Action

Two questions for reflection:

1. When was the last time I truly listened to someone in my team who thinks or works very differently from me?

2. Have I unintentionally created a culture where only certain personalities or styles are valued?

Two actions you can take this week:

1. Identify three people in your team who represent different stages—early career, mid-career, and experienced. Schedule short one-on-one conversations with each. Ask them what helps them feel supported and included.

2. Review your next team meeting plan. Ensure that it includes multiple modes of engagement—visuals, quiet reflection time, and open conversation—to allow diverse thinkers to contribute.