The Royal Jelly of Rotary Clubs

A chronicle for leaders who do not yet know they are “queen bees” in the making.

When a beehive loses its queen, it is not just one bee that is gone. It is the axis around which hope turns. It is the breath that keeps the collective machinery of a greater purpose alive. For a while, the hum of the organization fades, missions become scattered, and the colony itself exists only by inertia.

In service clubs, and in Rotary it is no different, we too sometimes become hives without a queen. Or rather, hives that have lost the glow of their natural leaders. Those who do not lead through titles, but through presence. Who do not reign, but inspire. Who do not impose, but create space for life to flourish.

Yet, as bees teach us, the solution never comes from outside. It lies within. And it begins in a surprisingly simple way: by looking around, recognizing dormant potential, and choosing to nurture it.

Nurturing Is Mentorship

In Rotary, it is necessary to nurture new leaders without placing rules, spreadsheets and statutes heavily on their shoulders. It is essential to offer them our royal jelly: time, listening, empathy, spaces for experimentation, and generous doses of trust. It is vital to allow Rotarians and Rotaractors to grow not through imposition, but through encouragement.

Is about asking with intention: What cause truly moves you? How would you like to make a difference with your talent?

In this way, every project or action becomes a practical classroom. Every meeting becomes a laboratory of autonomy. And every club becomes an incubator of leaders.

Leadership Is Not Born Ready. It Is Prepared.

The leaders who, year after year, will allow Rotary to be reborn in more vibrant, inclusive and intergenerational clubs will not emerge with golden badges or rehearsed speeches. They will be shaped by the culture we choose to cultivate, by the stories we tell, by the space we allow for constructive error and thoughtful boldness.

To achieve this, certain practices in management and human development can become true catalysts:

Create genuine welcoming rituals.

It is not enough to introduce a new member. It is necessary to discover who they are and what moves their heart.

Establish natural mentorships

Pair a veteran with a new member. Not as a formal tutor, but as a companion on the journey.

Offer projects, not just tasks.

Allow them to lead small initiatives. To experience the art of mobilizing. And to feel pride when results appear.

Encourage active listening and collaborative meetings.

A club that listens grows. A club that silences ideas stagnates.

Work from causes, not merely obligations.

Clubs that inspire do not demand attendance. They cultivate belonging.

The New Leader Will Not Be a Copy of the Previous Queen. And That Is Excellent.

Perhaps they will speak less and listen more. Perhaps they will bring new ways of mobilizing, more digital, more visual, more connected to the present era. And that is perfectly fine. The role of leadership is not to repeat the past. It is to prepare the future.

And the most beautiful part of the beehive metaphor is this: the queen is not genetic. She is a decision. She is environmental transformation. She is the result of a collective that chose to invest, believe and nurture.

If we want living clubs that attract new members, we must stop waiting for “ready-made people.” We must form possible people. And that is done through example, through care, through patience and through real opportunities for protagonism.

In Rotary, everyone has the potential to become a “queen bee.”All that is required is that we feed them with what we have most noble: our time, our faith in one another, and our vision of a better world.

In the end, the crisis that seemed like an ending was merely an invitation.An invitation to renewal. To the blossoming of new leadership.And to the silent rebirth of an entire hive.

By Patrícia Leal

Rotary Club of Nova Iguaçu Leste