The mother hen is a creature possessing certain leadership abilities that can be emulated by leaders in any venture of life. Amidst several attributes traceable to this wonderful creature, we will be considering five notable qualities. Worthy of note is that this fascinating bird is female. It will help to shift our perspective of leadership as a male-dominant subject. In actual sense, leadership is at the heart of human life. First of all the attributes to be considered is her ability to incubate potentials. The hen is the female fowl with an innate ability to procreate. At the fore of its leadership instinct is its ability to incubate its eggs to live chicks. This quality is what every leader should cultivate i.e. the ability to observe and identify potentials in your followers while you see to it that such potentials translate to possibilities.
Second among her peculiar characteristics is the protective instinct she has. The mother hen understands that her wings are not just given her to flee from perceived danger and hurt which of course it can do. Leaders ought to understand that their resources, abilities are not just for personal development rather the same can be employed to help others just as the hen deems it fit to use her wings as a protective covering for her young ones. She rightly understands that the chicks are young, immature which makes them vulnerable and susceptible to attacks by predators. Leaders should understand that it’s their responsibility to use whatever they are and have to defend the cause of their followers. It breeds unreserved loyalty.
Thirdly, the mother hen has a foresight instinct; she is able to foresee the roving of predators while the chicks are yet to identify the looming crisis about to erupt. Immediately she swings into action by positioning herself in a stable manner to accommodate without fail all of her chicks. This is an exceptional attribute that every leader should emulate.
Fourthly, the mother hen has an ability to accommodate all of her chicks. Each chick usually has a coloration which can be different from the mother hen’s dominant outlook yet she does not segregate or relegate some as inferior. This quality is an exceptional attribute of the hen. Every leader should know how to accommodate people of different status, personality and opinion. While it is a social tendency for a leader to be attracted to people with similar character traits, a good leader should know that diversity is not a threat but a unity advantage. It offers the opportunity for divers and multifaceted opinions and input necessary for a robust impact and influence of any organization.
Last on our list of lessons is the hen’s ability to mobilize her chicks for security and protection. Worthy of note is the fact that the hen positions herself while she beckons to all her chicks who in turn respond to the apparent body language. She maintains and retains her stance of stability and advantage while she mobilizes the straying chick under the protection of her wings. Leaders must know that leadership is the ability to rally men around a common purpose. One of the core responsibilities of leadership is how to mobilize men around a common purpose. However, in the hen’s case the purpose is protection.
Every leader can glean wisdom from these five attributes as we progress in our leadership development and experience.
muchtreasure 