Bee Wise: Leadership, Seasons & Signals from the Busy Hive w Philip Atkinson
A beehive may hold the clearest blueprint for how leaders can sense disruption early, close cycles cleanly, and move an entire organization as one.
In this conversation, Maartje sits down with Philip Atkinson, beekeeper, leadership coach, and author of BeeWise, to explore the concept of Beehive Leadership as a powerful model for modern organizations. Through the lens of Structure & Cycles, they examine how healthy systems operate with clarity around roles, rhythm, and responsibility. What if leadership is about shaping the conditions that allow others to perform at their best? What shifts when teams understand the seasons of their work and recognize when it is time to begin, endure the messy middle, or close with intention?
The discussion moves into Organizational Sensing & Signals and the subtle cues that often precede disruption. Bees detect storms before they arrive. Organizations have signals too, embedded in tone, engagement, and silence. Are you noticing the changes in energy before performance drops? Are you closing projects and meetings cleanly so your team can move forward with focus? At its core, this episode invites leaders to think of their company as a living system that thrives on alignment, shared purpose, and disciplined attention to the cycles that shape sustainable success.
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Beehive Leadership: A New Model for Navigating Business Disruption
03:02 The Beehive as a Leadership Metaphor
05:22 Servant Leadership vs. Command and Control
09:00 Structure and Cycles in Business
13:44 Sensing Disruption and Early Warning Signals
18:22 Purpose and Alignment: Building a Business Superorganism
25:15 Why Bees Matter and Global Impact
Connect with Philip Atkinson:
About the book BeeWise:
ALL proceeds support the charity, Bees for Development.
Books can be ordered on Amazon and all book platforms and shops.
To learn more please see beewisebook.com
You can follow on Instagram and Facebook; BeeWiseBook.
Contact Philip at Philip@Hive-Logic.com
HiveMeet - community of business leaders, learning together | Meetup
Philip Atkinson helps leaders rethink work and lead wisely, drawing unexpected yet powerful lessons from the hidden world of bees. A trusted advisor to global companies like Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, and Publicis, he brings decades of leadership expertise and a fresh, metaphor-driven lens through his book Bee Wise: 12 Leadership Lessons from a Busy Beehive.
Philip Combines boardroom experience with beekeeping insights to reimagine modern leadership and is featured in Forbes, CEO World, Management Today, and on BBC TV & Radio.
Philip is a father of 4 and keeper of over a million bees in the Alsace region of France. His company serves clients globally from its office in Basel.
Connect with Maartje van Krieken:
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Host Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist and decision-making expert who thrives in high-stakes business environments. Combining disaster management training, hands-on experience in global industries, and leadership skills honed as a seasoned sailor, she helps businesses navigate chaos with precision. Whether tackling transformation, scaling challenges, or leadership bottlenecks, Maartje delivers actionable insights to turn turbulence into traction.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
