How to plug into the hive without losing yourself

Who even am I?!

On one hand, you want to be part of something bigger - to contribute to the collective intelligence of a strong leadership team. To move fast, stay aligned, and speak the same language.

On the other, there’s a risk of losing track of what you actually think.

In high-performing environments - especially where there’s pressure, pace, and strong personalities - it’s easy to defer to the group without even noticing. Over time, you stop checking in with your own judgment. You filter what you say through what you think will land well. You adapt so efficiently that your independent perspective starts to fade.

The thing is, distributed consciousness only works if each person brings their full self to the table. The quality of the group’s thinking depends on the range and depth of the individual inputs. When everyone’s too attuned to each other, too shaped by the same culture... not good.

So the challenge is this: how do you stay connected to the hive without becoming interchangeable worker bees?

For me, it’s been about carving out space to think alone before stepping into the room. Not just reviewing the slide deck or the numbers, but asking:

  • What do I see here? What don’t I see?

  • What feels good? Off?

  • What would I say if I didn’t care what anyone else thought?

Trusting bodily signals helps. Your intuition can be picking up on things before your thinking brain can name it. Don’t ignore that.

Staying grounded isn’t about resisting the group - it’s about making sure your contribution actually adds something to it.

Until next week, take care of yourself and others

Madeleine

I help accomplished professionals untangle difficult career questions so they can thrive in work and life.

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Madeleine Shawleadership, thinking, distributed consciousness