Lead like a Queen...Bee that is!

Times, they are a changing. We don’t need to look very far to observe that leadership ideas and models that were effective in the past, are rapidly becoming outdated, and insufficient for creating the healthy productive work environments that today’s workforce demands.

The Queen Bee has something to teach us.

The vital role of the Queen Bee in the the health and productivity of the beehive community is both fascinating and vital.

Did you know, Queen Bees:

• Are Leaders, Not Rulers: Unlike human leaders, Queen Bees don’t directly control the hive's activities. Instead, they serve as the engine of reproduction, ensuring the colony's continuation. If Queen Bees spent their time monitoring flight patterns of worker bees, rather than maintaining her focus on HER VERY IMPORTANT JOB, the hive would die, and the workers would leave. Question: As a leader, are you focusing more on managing activities and performance metrics, or are you focusing on the overall health, safety and growth of the company?
• Share Focus Through Pheromones: The queen bee secretes pheromones, chemical signals that influence worker bee behavior. These pheromones promote cooperation and keep the hive functioning smoothly. In other words, she helps maintain social order and a unified focus on the colony's well-being. Note that pheromones aren’t vocal cues or directives, they are signals that are easily, naturally understood by the hive. Question: How are YOU as a leader communicating through your interactional communications: Your emotions, behaviors and nonverbal cues?
• Rely on Community to Determine Her Fate: Worker bees are the ones who raise new queens and can even decide to replace an aging queen if needed. This demonstrates that the power ultimately lies with the collective, and the queen serves at the heart of the community. Question: How much time do you spend evaluating the health and vitality of your workforce as a strategic element of your company stability and growth planning? When was the last time you measured your workforce engagement, needs and satisfaction?

While the Queen plays a pivotal role in reproduction, her success is COMPLETELY dependent on the worker bees who keep the hive running. They are the ones who:

• Gather food
• Care for the young
• Defend the hive

Just as the Queen Bee focuses on her role in strengthening the community by ensuring its future generations, Leaders today would be wise to do the same. In the end, it is the collective effort that makes the hive (company) a powerful and enduring entity.

Lastly, even Queen Bee's need help. Pictured here is a Beekeeper (my husband) whose role is to assist The Queen AND the workers in maintaining a healthy, productive hive that serves nature with it's output: the antioxidant rich, wound healing, delicious sweet honey. Leaders: Don't forget to surround yourself with wise advisors and coaches to help you and your hive thrive!