There is something about a field of sunflowers in bloom that is majestic to the eye .
When I see a field of sunflowers, I am often reminded of a phrase I overheard many years ago that has always stuck with me.
“A sunflower doesn’t chase bees.”
In these turbulent times, it is too easy to engage in a race to the bottom, for brands to shout “look at my brand” louder and louder in the hope of winning business.
The race to aspire to, I suggest, is the race to the top. It is an infinite game, one of interdependence and collaboration.
The sunflower doesn’t chase bees. It attracts them. It spends time doing ‘the work’ – unseen, unrewarded in one season – growing to reach its full height so it can prosper in another.
It opens itself up with natural abandon for all to see and offers an abundant supply of that which the bee is seeking.
Not all bees will visit the sunflower, but that’s not the point.
The bees that seek what the sunflower has to offer, do.
The sunflower intuitively trusts that the thing it seeks and needs is also seeking it.
Translating this metaphor into the leadership development training room, I wonder how we might now encourage each other to follow the sunflower’s lead?