COHESION 101
Image Credit: David Flores
I want you to notice nature, how geese are in flight and they form a “V” in a leadership role. The lead goose, when he gets tired of flapping his wings, he drops to the back and the next goose comes upfront. Without stopping, without fussing, without whining. He becomes that next leader, he or she, that's what we have to do.
Julia “Judy” Bonds, was an organizer and activist from the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia and has been referred to as “the godmother of the anti-mountaintop removal movement.” She was raised in a family of coal miners and worked from an early age at minimum wage jobs.
She became director of Coal River Mountain Watch, working to end MTR and protect Appalachia and the people who live there. MTR mining requires many permits, often for what many would consider unsafe mining practices. Judy Bonds worked to deny those permits. For her work, Bonds was a 2003 recipient of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, the equivalent of an environmental Nobel Prize. Every year, one person from each of the six continents receives the award. Her 2007 documentary film, Mountain Top Removal, help to spread the word about the destruction of Appalachia.
Judy covers the event that made her an activist, about the impacts that MTR is having on the communities of West Virginia as well as on what they need to successfully stop MTR.
COHESION 101
A genuine consideration and regard for others that makes the group stronger and more resilient.
In science, the term cohesion refers to the mutual attraction of molecules of the same kind, like members from the same team. Cohesive forces create surface tension that naturally resists anxiety, stress, or tension.
Picture a full glass of water. Add more and more drops until it forms a dome-like shape above the rim of the glass—just before it overflows. This dome-like shape forms due to the water molecules’ cohesive properties, or their tendency to stick to one another. When molecules are exposed to air on one side, they have fewer partnering water molecules to connect with and will form stronger connections with the partners they do have. Surface tension causes the water dome to form spherical droplets and allows it to support small objects, like a scrap of paper or a needle, if they are placed carefully on its surface.
Elusive in many organizational cultures, cohesion is that quality where we feel we can lose ourselves in the group for the good of the group (or company). It’s not just that we are willing to help a fellow member of the team; it’s that we are eager to do so. Sacrificing our ability to get ahead so that the group comes along is often a rare event.
When we are willing to do something, we are generally not wholehearted about it. Willingness to do something means we agree to do it. Eagerness to so do something implies some aspect of the task interests, develops, or excites us. Being willing to help a team member on a project that doesn’t have the usual level of high visibility is one thing. Actively mentoring them in so that we can learn a new aspect of the business or increase our partnering/sponsorship/coaching and management skills is another thing entirely.
Cohesion is the ultimate expression of interdependence. Just as “spirit” and “morale” emphasize elements of enthusiasm, it also touches on aspects of cooperation. Cooperation makes individuals better. Cohesion makes groups better.
Cohesion is about consideration, respect, and dignity for others. I believe if world leaders had more concern for others, the problems confronting us today might not be as severe. Problems, trouble, and strife will always be present. But if we lived out our consideration and regard for others, most of our problems would probably be more manageable.
If one part suffers, all the parts of the system suffer with it. An abusive member of a family can consume all of their resources (energy, patience, money, time). A toxic leak impacts the ecosystem around it. A few toxic people in a company can stall an organization’s ability to make progress—on anything. Conversely, when we honor one part of a system with consideration and regard, all the parts are valued. Each team member comprises the whole, and each person is a separate and necessary part of it.
How do we generate or contribute to cohesion?
PRACTICE
List the groups to which you belong (e.g., church, gym, clubs, community, school, work). What role do you play in each group?
Do your current roles best utilize your strengths and natural talents?
COMMIT
[ ] I commit myself to find the best avenue for maximizing my contribution as an enthusiastic member of the team and organization in which I serve.
FURTHER READING/ WATCHING
A Visit with Judy Bonds: A Photo Essay: “Meeting someone like Judy is a motivating thing in life that makes you refocus your work, and I hoped, after spending the day with her, that my work would become more focused and I feel like it has,” says David Flores, a native of Louisville, Ky., and resident of New York City since 2005, who traveled on assignment as a photographer to profile activist Judy Bonds over Labor Day weekend of 2004 in her hometown of Whitesville, W.Va., and the surrounding region.
Coal Country: a film about activism in Appalachian coalfields. It reveals the truth about modern coal mining. The story is told by the people directly involved, both working miners and activists who are battling the coal companies in Appalachia. Tensions are high. It's a "new civil war," as families and communities are deeply split over mountaintop removal mining (MTR). The tops of mountains are blasted away, exposing seams of coal, while debris is pushed into valleys and streams. Residents endure health problems, dirty water in their wells, dust, and grime on their floors. The miners are frightened that, without MTR, they'll lose their jobs and won't be able to feed their families.
New Breed of Lobbyists Hail from Appalachia (NPR) Lobbyists are everywhere on Capitol Hill. But it's not always high-priced professionals that get lawmakers' attention. A cadre of Appalachian residents has come to lobby for environmental protections from coal-mining waste. For many, it was their first trip to Washington, D.C.
In her words…
“In Southern West Virginia we live in a war zone. Three and one-half million pounds of explosives are being used every day to blow up the mountains. Blasting our communities, blasting our homes, poisoning us, trying to intimidate us. I don't mind being poor. I mind being blasted and poisoned. There ARE no jobs on a dead planet.”
“Look, this is hard work, and everybody says and does the wrong things sometimes. Just don’t let it bother you and let it go — like water off a duck’s back.”
“No matter how many times you get knocked down, keep getting back up God sees your resolve. He sees your determination. And when you do everything you can do, that’s when God will step in and do what you can’t do.”
"I knew in my heart there was really no escape. How do you tell a child that his life is a sacrifice for corporate greed? You can’t tell him that, you don’t tell him that, but of course he understands that now."
“Hey Guys, We are the ones We have been waiting for.”
“I want you to notice nature, how geese are in flight and they form a “V” in a leadership role. The lead goose, when he gets tired of flapping his wings, he drops to the back and the next goose comes upfront. Without stopping, without fussing, without whining. He becomes that next leader, he or she, that's what we have to do.”
What we don’t see on the resumes we review or the job descriptions we want is the litany of emotional entanglements we bring to our roles, uninvited, to the team and organizations we work in. Alongside technical skills, people who can master a range of subjective skills are better able to influence, deal with ambiguity, bounce back from setbacks, think creatively, and manage themselves in the presence of setbacks. In short, those who learn lead.
Observing subjective qualities in others past and present gives us a mental picture for the behaviors we want to practice. Each figure illustrates a quality researched from The Look to Craftsmen Project. When practiced as part of our day-to-day, these qualities will help us develop our mastery in our lives and work.