As summer begins, nature comes alive with vibrant colors, blooming flowers, and the buzzing activity of bees. Among these industrious creatures, the honey bee stands out for its remarkable work ethic and intricate social structure. Honey bees are not only essential for pollination and the health of our ecosystem, but they also offer profound lessons in leadership and community dynamics.
In my 2013 book, Survival of the Hive: 7 Leadership Lessons from a Beehive, we explored how the organizational skills, team-building abilities, and innovative development of honey bees can inspire stronger organizations, initiatives, businesses, and teams. One of the key insights from our study was the queen bee’s pheromone system, which influences the behavior of all the other bees and ensures the hive's success.
As you build trust within your team and community (from last week’s post), you develop a distinctive presence and essence affiliated with your leadership style. People start to recognize this and might say, “That’s the [Your Last Name] Way of Leadership,” as you consistently demonstrate your leadership capabilities. Understanding the parallels between the pheromones of a queen bee and the qualities of effective leadership can provide valuable insights into how to lead with purpose and influence.
One key insight was the queen bee’s pheromones system, which influenced the behavior of all the other bees. The queen’s pheromones ensured her leadership provided the hive with a sense of her presence (the footprint factor), an adequate number of bees (the resourcing factor), assurance to the hive (the calming factor), and a common purpose and community (the unity factor).
All leaders have certain essences or pheromone factors that profoundly influence a community, organization, department, or team’s success. These attributes—or their absence—shape the entire culture of a community.
Footprint Pheromones: As leaders, it’s crucial for us to be visible and engaged—what is often called “management by walking around.” We are the generals of our armies and should be seen in the daily efforts of our workers. Leaders often fail to communicate effectively during times of change. They neglect to visit departments and volunteer teams to explain the reasons for change and the vision for the future. This lack of a “footprint” leaves people stressed about the change, imagining the worst, and susceptible to negative projections from resistors. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article, team leaders who check in weekly increase their team members’ engagement scores by 77% and reduce voluntary turnover in the following six months by 67%.
Resource Pheromones: A good leader understands the importance of providing adequate resources for the community. The queen bee is responsible for resourcing her hive with enough bees to produce the needed honey, laying up to 2,000 eggs per day. Community leaders should ask themselves whether they are providing sufficient resources to get the work done or constantly expecting people to do more with less. Under-resourcing can place the community at great risk, while over-expending can cause financial strain. Careful resource planning is imperative, especially during tough economic times. Leaders need to consider the long-term impact of resource decisions and the associated risks. Are we leaving ourselves vulnerable? Are we overburdening our high performers to the point where they may leave?
Alarm Pheromones: Leaders must be judicious about what alarms are communicated throughout the group or organization. If everything is treated as an emergency, soon no one will pay attention. Interestingly, as the beehive illustrates, there are offensive and defensive alarms. Leaders need to be proactive in addressing external threats and defensive in protecting the community. Are our proactive efforts focused outside the community, or are employees attacking each other within? Bees never attack each other, only threats outside the hive. They are also careful about how many resources they use to respond to a threat.
Calming Pheromones: In today’s world of constant change, the calming factor may be one of the most important for leaders. Acting like “Chicken Little” only creates anxiety and confusion. During turbulent and chaotic times, the best leaders maintain a steady hand, focus on the horizon, and exude confidence in themselves and their hive.
Unity Pheromones: The unity pheromone fosters a culture of excellence and community, creating a unified sense of purpose. It’s not about being the most feared or commanding leader but rather one who can unify the community or organization around a common goal and galvanize it into positive action.
Effective leaders leave a footprint, resource correctly, calm others, and unite people around a common purpose. They recognize that alarms are often set off by others and directed toward others, even within the community. A strong leader reminds people, through their daily presence and involvement, that the survival of the hive (or initiative, festival, team, country, business, or organization) is the most important thing.