Believing in Miracles and the Value of Cohesiveness

Our View

Look up any list of the greatest moments in American sports history and you’ll find the 1980 Olympic U.S. men’s ice hockey team’s win over the Soviets at or near the top. The U.S. victory at Lake Placid instantly became known as “The Miracle on Ice.”

The secret of the U.S. team’s success that year was not talent, ability, innovation, creativity or even a perfect game plan flawlessly executed. The difference between success and failure rested on the coach’s leadership ability to transform a collection of independent rivals mired in conflict into a unit of interdependent teammates.

The cohesiveness factor is something overlooked in favor of shinier, trendier promises of improved performance in education. We’d rather believe a clever strategy, a fresh executive or a new building will create energized, cohesive teams. While it’s true those things can add value, they also can distract from resolving conflict within the organization. And any delay in resolving conflict is a delay in building a cohesive team. The cost of avoiding conflict is high.

Conflict is guaranteed. Cohesiveness is a process.

Conflict is not always a sign of problems in an organization. In fact, conflict is present even in the healthiest organizations. Unresolved conflict, on the other hand, is an indication that the health of a team or organization is compromised. Also, the nature of a given conflict is indicative of health or the lack thereof.

If team members are having turf wars over petty issues, it’s a safe bet there’s a systemic issue with conflict in the school or administrative unit. However, if team members are engaged in healthy debate over the best way to accomplish agreed-upon goals, that’s an organization capitalizing on conflict and headed for greatness.

Immature leaders will avoid dealing with conflict or will allow it to fuel immature, irresponsible responses. Mature leaders see conflict as a natural part of a growing organization. Leaders who hold this mindset will model healthy ways to resolve conflict. Over time, conflict resolved correctly will strengthen a team rather than weaken it.

The data tying cohesiveness directly to student performance is so compelling that building cohesiveness should be a high priority for all leadership development strategies. At Organization Health, our Leadership Belief Statement No. 4 says: “We believe we have an obligation to establish and maintain cohesive interdependent teams that have a high commitment to the organization’s mission and goals.” Obligation is a strong word but it is the right word. A lack of cohesiveness will make even the smartest, most talented teams ineffective.

Conflict is the breakfast of champions.

The cohesiveness of any athletic team is going to affect its win/loss record. Likewise, in public schools the leadership of the head principal directly affects the cohesiveness of the school. Regardless of their circumstances or the quality of their teams, principals have an obligation to help create, establish and maintain a compelling winning vision, goals and a “can do” win/win culture.

With more than 30 years of research data and experience in school districts, we can tell you that schools and districts that consistently win (by achieving or exceeding student performance goals) are ones that have learned how to deal constructively with conflict.

The converse is also true. The data and experience demonstrate that schools can have good talent, great plans and adequate funding, but if they are not cohesive, they will not meet their goals. Student performance suffers when leaders mishandle conflict or do not have systems in place for addressing conflict.

Cohesiveness makes everything look miraculous.

Spectators can be quick to assign the term “miracle” to the unexpected victory or an incredible goal achieved. Spectators in the stands are apt to be swept up in the romantic notion that luck or fate played a hand in the results before them. Participants — those who actually play the game — know better. Team members know it’s not the outcome that’s miraculous. It’s the process. The real miracle is the hard work, honesty and humility it takes to achieve team cohesiveness.

Effective leaders choose to have courageous conversations rather than skirt conflict. They lead their teams from a win/win perspective and make decisions based on reliable data. The results that come from that kind of leadership often are mistaken for miracles. Call the results whatever you wish, just be sure of this: Cohesiveness is essential for sustained success.