Leadership doesn’t always look like boardrooms and strategy sessions. Sometimes, it looks like standing in the middle of a preserve, knee-deep in mud, adapting a restoration plan because a seasonal creek rerouted overnight.

Land stewardship—the hands-on work of managing, restoring, and protecting landscapes—is full of unexpected lessons. And as the team at Sequoia Riverlands Trust knows firsthand, the skills required to care for land are often the same ones that shape resilient, thoughtful leadership.

From patience to flexibility, collaboration to long-range vision, here are 5 lessons stewardship teaches that every leader could stand to learn.

1. Patience Is More Than a Virtue—It’s a Practice

Norm Crow looking for a pipeline at Blue Oak Ranch Preserve

Native grass doesn’t grow faster because you want it to. Oaks don’t take root overnight. And invasive species? They’re not easily discouraged.

Land stewardship requires a deep trust in the long game. Results often unfold across seasons—or even years. That kind of delayed gratification is a challenge in today’s fast-paced, metrics-driven culture. But it's also a powerful reminder that meaningful change takes time, and that consistency is often more impactful than speed.

It’s not unusual to spend years battling a patch of invasive thistle or nurturing an area only to have it wash out in a flood. The work demands faith—in the process, in the land, and in the people around you. And when the wins come, they’re hard-earned.

2. Adaptability Beats Control

No matter how carefully a plan is written, weather patterns, plant behavior, and community needs can change it in a moment. A heat wave can derail planting schedules. A broken irrigation line can force rerouting an entire restoration area.

In early 2023, after a major flood on Carrizo Creek, Sequoia Riverlands Trust’s Land Management team stood in front of a dense, 60-acre patch of yellow star thistle—a notoriously tough invasive species—and faced a hard truth: their best-laid plans to control it had fallen through. Without funding to spray or mow, and no support from traditional partners, they were out of options.

Or so it seemed.

That moment—a closed door—led to an unexpected conversation with a CAL FIRE forester. “Have you thought about Cultural Fire?” he asked.

That question shifted everything. Within months, Sequoia Riverlands Trust had built new relationships with CAL FIRE and the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe (ytt Tribe), leading to a 200-acre prescribed burn and a series of opportunities no one could have predicted.

“What began as a closed door turned out to be the start of something much bigger,” Ben Munger, Sequoia Riverlands Trust’s Director of Land Management and Mitigation, puts it. “Cultural Fire was the spark that lit up a whole series of new possibilities and opened every door that followed.”

It’s a powerful reminder for leaders in any field: sometimes the best results don’t come from sticking to the original plan—they come from listening, shifting, and staying open to what emerges.

3. Collaboration Isn’t Optional—It’s the Only Way

Jonathan Vaughn, Camdilla Wirth, and Katie Panek at Jenks Pond

Stewardship is inherently collaborative. It requires input from ecologists, landowners, government agencies, Indigenous communities, and volunteers. On any given day, a team may be coordinating across jurisdictions, working on shared land boundaries, or navigating long-standing relationships.

That same culture of interdependence makes leadership stronger. True collaboration, like a healthy ecosystem, depends on trust, shared goals, and diverse perspectives.

The story of Cultural Fire in Carrizo is a blueprint for this kind of collaboration. It brought together fire professionals, Tribal leaders, and restoration staff around a shared vision of healing land through Indigenous knowledge. The ripple effects have been profound: new training opportunities, expanded burn plans, a Landback project, and even a multiyear fire strategy covering thousands of acres.

Ben says, “It brought people together, reconnected us to the land, and showed us what real partnership can look like.”

4. Leadership Happens at Every Level

The best field crews don’t wait to be told what to do—they take initiative, ask questions, and look out for one another. That culture of empowered leadership creates stronger, more resilient teams.

At Sequoia Riverlands Trust, the ripple effect of one conversation led to staff attending cultural fire trainings, forming new burn associations, and pursuing advanced wildland fire certifications. The work didn’t just grow—the people did, too.

Whether it's a crew member teaching a safer way to operate equipment, or someone proposing a more efficient system for tracking seed dispersal, stewardship shows that leadership isn’t always top-down. It’s built through trust, mentorship, and shared purpose.

5. Connection to Purpose Builds Resilience

In land stewardship, the setbacks are real—floods, wildfires, delays, and detours are all part of the job. But so is the purpose.

The mission of restoring ecosystems, supporting biodiversity, and honoring cultural practices is what keeps people going. As Ben reflects, the turning point in Carrizo wasn’t just about controlling thistle—it was about building something more meaningful. A community of practice. A deeper relationship with land. A sense of direction rooted in history and hope.

Leaders who cultivate that kind of purpose—who remind their teams why the work matters—can weather more storms. Literally and figuratively.

Final Thoughts: Leadership That Grows Like a Landscape

Stewardship doesn’t just build healthy landscapes. It builds strong leaders. And in a world that desperately needs both, the lessons from the field—patience, flexibility, collaboration, empowerment, and purpose—are more timely than ever.

Whether you're managing land or leading a team, it’s worth remembering: growth takes time, and the roots matter just as much as the results.

Lessons from the Field: What Land Stewardship Teaches About Leadership