The Power of Pruning

Most leaders don’t fail because they lack passion. They fail because they lack pruning.

Jesus said in John 15:2 (NLT), “He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”

That verse doesn’t describe punishment—it describes progress.

Pruning isn’t God’s rejection; it’s His preparation.

In leadership, pruning looks like this: God removing what’s good so He can make room for what’s great. It’s cutting back activity so that health can return to the root. It’s saying no to something that’s working so you can say yes to something that’s worth it.

Every leader eventually faces this tension:

Do I want to be busy or do I want to be effective?

When you first start leading, you say yes to everything. Every opportunity feels like a divine door. But as you grow, you realize that growth doesn’t just come from addition—it comes from subtraction. As Dr. Henry Cloud said, “Ending is necessary for growth.”

John Maxwell often reminds us that you cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything. The more successful you become, the more cluttered your calendar gets, and the more essential it becomes to prune intentionally.

Here’s the challenge: Pruning feels like loss. You’re cutting back something that once bore fruit. A ministry, a system, a relationship, an idea that used to work. But just because it worked in the last season doesn’t mean it will in the next.

You can’t keep every branch. You can’t nurture everything at once. And if you try, you’ll drain the life out of what matters most.

That’s where The Pruning Checklist comes in.

This simple but powerful tool helps leaders make clear, prayerful decisions about what needs to stay, what needs to shift, and what needs to go. It’s designed to help you identify three key areas:

1. Prune what’s dead.

   These are projects, programs, or habits that no longer produce fruit. Stop watering what God has already cut off.

2. Prune what’s diseased.

   These are areas of compromise, dysfunction, or unhealthy culture. If left unchecked, they’ll infect everything else.

3. Prune what’s distracting.

   These are good things stealing energy from great things. Just because something has value doesn’t mean it has priority.

The Pruning Checklist will walk you through a series of reflection questions to help you discern what’s ready for pruning—both personally and organizationally.

As Patrick Lencioni writes, “The greatest cause of mediocrity is not a lack of ambition—it’s the failure to make hard decisions.”

Pruning is that hard decision. But it’s also the gateway to a healthier, more focused, and more fruitful future.

If you’re ready to grow again, you’re ready to prune again.

Download The Pruning Checklist and take an hour this week to reflect, review, and realign. Because sometimes, the most spiritual thing you can do as a leader isn’t to add more—but to cut back.

📥 Get The Free Tool: The Pruning Checklist

Because growth doesn’t come from doing more—it comes from pruning well.

If this helped you lead with greater clarity, share it with another leader who needs to grow through pruning too.

P.S. Don’t be afraid of the pruning—God only cuts what He intends to grow. This season isn’t about loss; it’s about making room for more. 🌿