Managers, Take Note: Why ‘Pistachio Leadership’ Leads To Employee Burnout
It sounds harmless but this oddly-named management style is quietly driving your team to exhaustion.
shironosov | Canva You cannot improve what your leader can’t. Often, it’s about capability, not will. We feel like they don’t listen, but actually, they don’t understand.
They can’t envision the impact or consequences. Then, by chance, you find your proposal archived in an old Excel file. Leaders often seem more open to talking about salary than ideas.
For a decade, average annual U.S. pay raises have hovered around 4%. Inflation has averaged around 2%. But just as water doesn’t flow uphill, extra money doesn’t flow into wallets on its own.
Someone needs to flex the muscles and pour it in. Leading salary negotiations is the next skill waiting for endorsement on LinkedIn.
Managers, take note — here's why pistachio leadership leads to employee burnout:
Pistachios don’t innovate
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Do you know how long a pistachio tree survives without any water? Multiple years! That’s why many call it the nut tree of the future — an obvious choice in times of climate change. But even the nut of the future eventually needs irrigation, or it dies.
Pistachios make billions today. But tomorrow? They’re farmers’ million-dollar baby. But groundwater levels are falling. Pests spread through massive plantations like mold in a moist house. Looming tariffs haunt even the most industrious growers.
Still, the number of pistachio trees grows faster than ever. If that sparks your inner agronomist — great! You may have found your destiny.
Others might wonder whether this isn’t contradictory. Leaders often ignore the issues of tomorrow’s business. Instead, they focus on the problems of today. And it’s not surprising. Just look at your bank account. I bet it gets more views than Google Patents.
I don’t know any better metric for innovation power than the number of granted patents. On average, 300,000 U.S. utility patents are granted each year. A huge number. However, it’s been moving nowhere for a decade.
The number of U.S. patent grants has stagnated. New products fuel our economy and require numerous patents.
For example, bringing a new drug to market involves an average of 71 granted patents. While this varies by industry, one thing’s clear: the next big thing needs many ideas.
Is it healthy if salaries grow by 4% a year, but innovation remains flat? Will the average company soon face growth issues?
No one is permanently stuck. Not even the greatest leaders can prevent industry decline or force consumers to shout “Wow!” about the latest product. Greatness has its limits. Clinging to a great leader might limit you.
Before I left my first serious employer, I had my worst sleepless nights. It was my career beginning. Back then, the purpose of my life was blurrier than a ski trail in heavy snowfall. I said goodbye, as I witnessed:
1. Weak innovation
We made 0.05 patents per associate per year. I now know the next big customer was light-years away. One product consumes dozens of patents.
Further, before attending conferences, I felt like applying for an expedition to Antarctica.
I patented on my own, increasing the count to 0.1 patents per employee — not really making the cut.
2. Customer overweight
They made 80% of their business with one customer. For sure, the added value was real. The customer injected more and more money. But relying on one partner is like orbiting a red giant.
You’re the sweet, blue, lovely planet.
Until the red giant swells — and swallows everything.
3. Low personal growth
Even after three years in my role, I had no idea how to develop — other than becoming the CEO (ha!). My manager had been in his position for 20 years.
In one-to-ones, I regularly found myself digressing into Once Upon a Time in the West.
He was a great and balanced man. I just couldn’t read his mind.
4. Disengagement
Every idea needs a challenge. Take Google. The ‘captain of moonshots’ Astro Teller supports innovators. He leads an entire department to rigorously test wild ideas.
In my former company, one barely empathetic mastermind decided whether an idea lived or died.
Crushing ideas kills engagement.
5. Disconnection
Once, I opened up. I said we needed our own flat. My wife was expecting our first baby. Real estate prices were skyrocketing. I knew my boss couldn’t give me a raise, so I asked for loan support.
Response: ‘I have never heard of that. Sorry. Impossible.’
Crushing personal needs disconnects.
Skipping almonds and planting pistachios on drought-stricken land seems like an innovation. But it’s not. Nor is planting more and more of them. It’s an obvious move — and less future-proof than it seems.
Pistachio leadership neglects tomorrow.
Too many companies mix up stretching wallets and being innovative. Real value comes from new products. New products come from real ideas. Innovation is without alternative. The obvious is average.
To outsiders, big success looks like a surprise. To the average person, it’s incomprehensible. But to you, it was planned. You didn’t follow the obvious path. You abandoned it. You aren’t average.
Chris Skupsch is a writer, tech lead, and physicist. He regularly writes on Medium and for the Substack community, The Why Worker, uniting those who seek meaning in work.
