It takes a colony of bees just seven days of working collaboratively to create up to three pounds of honeycomb. That’s 5,000 bees, working 10 hour days, and converting pounds of honey into beeswax. Time, energy, geometry, and collaboration all go into building the perfect beehive.
To borrow a metaphor, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters have been busy as bees ensuring the voice of the state’s conservation community is heard – on Capital Square and around the state. To mobilize and engage hundreds of organizations and citizens, the League – like bees – has to start with a common foundation.
The League had a strategy, new team members, and new resources to deploy in service to its mission. With that framework already in place, Floricane’s Kathy Greenier and Debra Saneda have been working with the team to connect the pieces into a stronger framework.
When organizations have both individual- and team-based needs, customized approaches are often needed. With the League, Kathy and Debra deployed three tools – Insights® Discovery, Insights® Team Effectiveness, and leadership coaching – to align the perspectives of the entire staff.
The beauty in these three tools is that, like the hexagon shape in a honeycomb, they build on each other. They lead to one shared foundation, not disconnected parts.
The initial Insights® assessment provides individual awareness about communication style, approaches to decision making, and more. It gave the team at the League an opportunity to think about their individual strengths, and what they bring to the table.
The emphasis on Team Effectiveness illuminated how the group works together for a common purpose, and allowed space for a conversation around shared work goals and behaviors.
And, at the center, individual coaching provided key leaders time to reflect on their best approach to helping the organization integrate its work with genuine integrity.
Watching an organization coalesce with energy and purpose around very real challenges facing our community inspires our team to bring its best work to the table.