To Bee or Not to Bee

That is the question.

Bees have an interesting social dynamic. 

Queen Bee 
There is only one queen per hive. Fertilized eggs become female (worker bees) and unfertilized eggs become male (drone bees). When the queen dies or becomes unproductive, the other bees will "make" a new queen by selecting a young larva and feeding it a diet of "royal jelly". 

Worker Bee 
Worker bees are female bees that are not able to reproduce. Nearly all of the bees in a hive are worker bees. They feed, bath and guard the queen, tend to the nursery, collect food, etc. Worker bees live from 6 weeks to a few months, they actually work themselves to death. 

Drone Bee 

Drones are male bees.They are kept only for mating. Because the drone has a barbed sex organ, mating is followed by death. Drones still alive in the autumn are expelled from the hive.

In Bee culture, the whole hive centers around the Queen Bee, all others are there to serve her and the hive. Unfortunately there seems to be a Trend these days toward the Queen Bee Syndrome.

The problem with this scenario is that we are not bees - we are human beings and we should act humanely and treat others with mutual respect. 

We should not look at what others have to offer us but rather, what do I have to offer this world! 


First blogged 2/19/12

Don't be a Crab

They say that when you put a bunch of crabs in a bucket to go to market, there is a very strange dynamic that happens. If one of the crabs starts to climb the side of the bucket to escape, the other crabs will pull that crab back down into the bucket with them. Sort of a one for all and all for one concept even in the face of doom.

My mother has done very well in her profession and is a national leader in her field. She has always told me - there are two kinds of women who rise to the top. One kind steps on other women to get there and the other pulls other women up with them as they go. She is the second kind of women and that is the kind of woman I have always aspired to be as well.

So what I say to women is Don't be a Crab.

There is not a limited amount of leadership positions or success slotted for women. We do not have to compete with each other for it. We do not have to put each other down, vie for attention, or sabotage each other to become a success. By doing so, we are just continuing to perpetuate the small leadership numbers and low morale among women in today's workforce.

Your success can be others success as well.

Set the pace. Pave the way. Be the first one to change the dynamic in one of your tense female coworker situations.