“The ‘glue.’ What a simple, clear, and critically important concept. “Glue” is what holds things together. With an object, it’s literally the sticky substance that binds one piece to another. In our lives, on the other hand, the “glue” is the stuff that binds together our families, our friendships, and our intimate relationships. It’s the energetic connection that holds people together in companies, organizations, societies, and countries. The question is: What is it?

The “glue” that initially brings people together might be a belief in what they are doing together. Or it might be a set of values, or a shared experience. Or maybe it’s a strong attraction or admiration that they can’t explain. It’s just there.

However, as time goes on, the project, mission, values, or attraction alone will not be enough. The glue that comes out of a tube and holds an object together eventually dries out and needs to be renewed. And so it is in our relationships, in our families, in our communities, and in our companies. When we don’t pay attention to the “glue” – when we don’t take care of what holds us together – over time, it will begin to dry out and crack. And things will start to break apart.

I often define Transformational Presence with the metaphor of “tending the garden.” It’s about taking care of the culture or environment within which we live and work.

More recently, I’ve described it as “taking care of the Ma.” Ma is a Japanese concept referring to the energetic space within a situation, a project, a relationship, a group or a room. It’s about the quality of the energy that is in the space between people, between people and a situation, between one situation and another, between one group and another group, between us and the environment, or between cultures. Ma refers to the quality of energy of any space, physical or non-physical. And that includes the quality of energy within ourselves.”