Me Thinks

 

The Chinese bamboo tree is planted after the earth is prepared, and for the first four years, all of the growth is underground. The only thing visible above the ground is a little bulb and a small shoot coming out of it. Then, in the fifth year, the bamboo tree grows up to eighty feet.  Principle centered leaders understand the metaphor of the bamboo tree. They know what it means to pay the price to prepare the ground, to plant the seed, and to fertilize and cultivate and water and weed, even when they can't see immediate results, because they have faith that ultimately they will reap the fruits in the harvest. And what wonderful fruits they are!
(Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill, First Things First, pg. 265)