Managing with Aloha: Ho‘omau Kākou

By Rosa Say

This column for Ke Ola Magazine’s Business Feature section began with the January/February Hawai‘i Island issue of 2013. We have cycled twice through the 19 Values of Aloha presented in Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii’s Universal Values to the Art of Business, one value per issue. Now, we embark on Series 3.

The values of our Hawai‘i are timeless beliefs and convictions; they are wise, relevant and exceptionally useful to us, and I am very thankful to the ‘ohana of Ke Ola Magazine for allowing me to share them with you.

We who live and work in Hawai‘i are her stewards, a privilege we in business do not take for granted, and a responsibility we must not take lightly. Our privilege and responsibility aren’t burdens, they are gifts which motivate and inspire us, and make our businesses flourish with creativity and lifelong learning adaptations.

In Series 1, we concentrated our conversations on “Why values?” and “Why we seek to ‘manage with Aloha.’” Our values drive our behavior: well-chosen values will function as the drivers of healthy workplace cultures and prosperous business missions.

To manage with Aloha is to manage and lead our workplaces and businesses with the signature value of Hawai‘i, as we simultaneously honor our sense of place. That value is Aloha, and we express it with the Aloha Spirit which resides in each one of us innately.

In Series 2, we named our Managing with Aloha practice of value alignment our “Aloha Intentions.” Value alignment is the diligent practice of assuring that we are true to our values—we make sure that the actions we take (i.e., our behaviors) match the values we claim to be the primary drivers of our business missions and all of our future-forward decisions:

“Your mission is what you do best every day. Your vision is what the future looks like because you do your mission so exceedingly well.”

With each value presented to you in Series 2, I encouraged you to verb your practice of value alignment in five expressions of meaningful and worthwhile work: living, working, speaking, managing, and leading—all with Aloha, and as your “Aloha Intentions.”

These verbs are personal, and aligning them with the value coaching of Managing with Aloha is designed to make the personal professionally noteworthy as well: you work on becoming an Alaka‘i Manager who conducts themselves with Ho‘ohanohano distinction.

In Series 3 we Ho‘omau Kākou. As we have learned:

—To Ho‘omau is to continue with the goal of renewal: it is our value of perseverance, wherein renewal fortifies our strengths despite any adversity.

—Kākou is to work together in ways which make us even stronger: it is our value of inclusivity where we share unconditionally, and with the Language of We, knowing life and business are not solo propositions!

We will experience more of the good coaching inherent in the 19 Values of Aloha, talking about specific value alignment practices you can weave into being Alaka‘i—being the best manager and leader you can be by merit of your Aloha Spirit. Some of these practices came to be in my own history as a manager and leader, and others have been shared with me as your best practices, thanks to my Managing with Aloha workplace coaching practice.

Series 3 will focus on our work’s detail, specific to management. All business owners and leaders must be savvy managers—and compassionate bosses—first and foremost. We work on work, fully understanding how important that is: the work we devote our time and attention to will spill over into every other aspect of our lives. It’s personal, and it’s pervasive, so we work on making it good.

To make it ‘good,’ we create it, and we practice it with Aloha. As we do so, we honor each other as human beings born of Aloha and meant to share its spirit.

I hope you continue to join me.

I’ve mapped out our value alignment in Series 3, however, as all good managers know, future plans are always works in progress—we’re humble enough to know they can always be enhanced and improved. Therefore, if you feel you have a best practice which specifically aligns your business with one of our 19 Values of Aloha, please contact me via rosa.say@managingwithaloha.com. I would love to hear more about it, and showcase your good work in a future column. ❖

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Next issue: We launch Ke Ola Series 3 with the value of Aloha.

Contact writer Rosa Say at RosaSay.com or ManagingWithAloha.com