Rosa Say's Blog: Managing with Aloha, page 6

Sunday Mālama: Debrief to Recharge your Aloha Spirit

I read a Raptitude posting by David D. Cain recently which really resonated with me: Wise People Have Rules For Themselves. In it, he talks about our self-imposed rules for better living.

One of the first examples he gave was, that “Financially effective people tend to hold themselves to certain rules about money.” and it immediately brought our current work on financial literacy to mind, however he continued with other examples about “Fit, energetic people,” and “Productive people” and arrived at these nuggets (my bolding):

“These uncommonly capable people have figured out something that should be obvious: your quality of life improves when you set clear standards for how you live. You gravitate back towards ‘so-so’ in any area where your standards are unclear. It works—both ways—like magic.”

“Self-imposed rules aren’t constraints, they’re good decisions made in batches—they’re behavioral boundary markers you get to position yourself, through your own experience and wisdom. A good personal standard clarifies and simplifies, eliminating what would be countless painful decision points. You’re free from having to stop and negotiate with yourself for the hundredth time on the same issues.”

All which got me thinking: What are the self-imposed rules I have with Managing with Aloha?

It was a meandering question to answer in regard to the philosophy itself; our coaching has some consistent themes to it, as with our value-alignment insistence, and unrelenting reminders about conversation and the Daily Five Minutes, however, coaching is encouragement for individual ownership; it’s not really an imposition of rule-setting.

To be sure, our ethos is about making wise choices for yourself, not following rules someone else has imposed on you, however well-meaning they might be in doing so.

The conversation is always interesting when the subject of family rules comes up as compared to workplace culture (for both stem from foundational values).
—Values are Shaped by a Heritage of Doing.

Reflecting on values brought me full circle, back to individual ownership —Kuleana, and to the individual approach with seeking one’s best life —‘Imi ola, and to this, as connects to our ethos with self-managed/self-led choice-making:

Self-imposed rules give you consistency with already-made choices.

Then the question was easy for me to answer.

While we dabble in the stuff of productivity here, I don’t recall that I’ve talked story with you about my favorite productivity habit. To be sure, it is the queen of all the self-improved rules I have on a personal basis: Debriefing.

Debrief to Recharge your Aloha Spirit

My habit with debriefing started with setting appointments: As an operations manager of some sort in most of my career, my daily calendar got filled pretty quickly with interviews, assorted vendor/supplier and network/peer-group appointments, and one-on-one coaching meetings with my direct reports — and with my own bosses.

I soon realized that I could not schedule them back-to-back: Even if I took copious notes or recorded the appointments (which most people are understandably uncomfortable with, ceasing to speak freely), my follow-up with whatever we had talked about was far less effective than it could, or should have been—it was clearly unwise to move on to the next thing too quickly..

On the other hand, I was much, much better following up, when I took the time to debrief myself —to just sit quietly and reflect, jotting down notes that would answer;

“Okay, what just happened?”

“What have I just learned, or better understand?”

“How did he/she feel when we ended our conversation?”

“What questions do I still have, that I now realize I failed to ask?”

…and always—“What must I do about all of this?”

Suggested Reading in the Archives:

Lost in Internal Monologues

How can you be sure to hear the other person, and listen to yourself too?

Since then, my self-imposed rule has been to debrief everything which happens to me —and I mean everything. Appointments. Huddles and Meetings. Events. Workshops. Conversations. Arguments! The Daily 5 Minutes. My handwritten debriefings—handwriting my thoughts seems to stick with me better—take up the bulk of the moleskine journal I always carry with me, and I sometimes save a snap of my debrief-in-progress in Evernote privately, or on my Instagram;

My debriefings are the precursor to most of the agreements I make, because I know I have taken the time to know issues well, sleeping on them if I have to.

This self-imposed rule has worked so well for me, that I now incorporate Debrief Coaching as a feature of nearly everything I do with customers and clients via Say Leadership Coaching:

“Everything I do comes with some kind of debrief coaching for the managers involved: I encourage them to follow-up immediately and with confidence, giving them suggestions based on my past experience in team dynamics and organizational culture”

—More in the left column of this page, if you are interested.

What about you?

What are the self-imposed rules you live your best life by?

Rebellious Writing; shared by Amy Palko

Reading which might trigger more thinking on this for you, in the Archives:

12 Rules for Self-Management and 12 Rules for Self-Leadership:

Better Person, Better Manager, Better Leader. Alaka‘i Batch 24.
You are Your Habits, so Make ‘em Good!
If your workplace isn’t on board with a value of the month program, create one for yourself. Be Alaka‘i, and lead by merit of your own good example: Value Your Month for One — You.
This Worthshop event debriefing turned into a blog post:

In “Being Human” we Relate with Aloha
To Manage with Aloha is to Hack Behavior.

And do check out that Raptitude posting by David D. Cain: Wise People Have Rules For Themselves.

Sunday Mālama has been when I will share my off-the-workplace-highway scenic route kind of posts. Not as a normal weekly feature, but whenever they seem to be writing themselves. As the embedded links and archive suggestions above attest to, Sunday Mālama can also beg leisurely reading time, romping through a few of our older lessons-learned. These posts can also seem a bit unfinished, inviting you to finish them up for yourselves as you will.

You can access the Sunday Mālama archives via this category link, also residing with my site footnotes.

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Talking Story with the Ho‘ohana Community.

Preview the updates in Managing with Aloha, Second Edition, just released Summer, 2016

Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Conceptualize Your Financial Literacy

Preface: This article relates to our OIB tenet on financial literacy:

2. Everyone employed, works ON the business as well as IN it, recognizing that both of those engagement attentions are necessary. All financial information is shared and discussed, with financial literacy pursued as learning crucial to effectiveness in these engagements.

—See all 10 Tenets of an the ‘Ohana in Business model here:

The Alaka‘i Benefactor: Sharing in the ‘Ohana in Business

Conceptualize Your Financial Literacy

Are you aware of the Conceptual Index on ManagingWithAloha.com? If not, take a quick look here, bookmark it for your future reference, and come back (that click will open a new window for you).

Our Conceptual Index is the keeper of the Language of Intention of our Ho‘ohana Community of MWA practitioners (hopefully, that includes you!) —Language of Intention is Key 5 within our 9 Key Concepts, which are ready-and-waiting for you, as the 9 key intersections of the OIB, the ‘Ohana in Business model. Remember this?

Each one packs quite a punch, thus our curiosity and challenge in learning them, yet each can be reduced to a certain kind of personal exploration, the sum of which will define ‘IMI OLA, the best possible life of our own creation. They are all important in a good life, and that means they are fully worth our time and attention:

In Key 1 we explore our SPIRIT — our source of well being.
In Key 2 we explore the WORK we’ll devote ourselves to.
In Key 3 we explore our VALUES — we practice value-mapping.
In Key 4 we explore our ROLE — as chosen, not as assigned.
In Key 5 we explore our VOICE — how we communicate.
In Key 6 we explore our assembly with others — how we COMMUNE and SHARE.
In Key 7 we explore our individual assets — our human TOOLBOX.
In Key 8 we explore our PLACE(s) and sense of belonging in them.
In Key 9 we explore the GROWTH possible for us.

The best way to attain a healthy workplace culture, is to be sure you have healthy and happy people. It really isn’t any more complicated than that.

—Excerpted from The 9 Key Concepts — Why these 9?

So… You are eager to be an Alaka‘i Benefactor, and you are ready to take your first steps treating your staff as true business partners: Where do you start?

My suggestion, is that you conceptualize your financial literacy —define it as a subgroup of the Language of Intention you anticipate your team will use going forward. As it says on our Conceptual Index here;

“When we say, Speak with Aloha, we mean, Get the values of Aloha into your language and all your communications. Talk the talk.”

Financial literacy is very similar: Get the knowledge associated with financial literacy into your language and into your communications. Talk the talk of your business partnership.

Not biz speak, but your insider’s talk, connected to what you feel is the key knowledge you will associate with the financial literacy of your workplace.

Draw your “financial talk” from your Business Plan

Let’s recall the difference between business model (the OIB in Managing with Aloha) and business plan, and why both are so necessary to business prosperity:

There are commonly two reasons a business will fail to achieve their vision and existential health:

One, they get distracted with other details, the ‘stuff’ every business is riddled with under the general category of operational complexity. These details are a combination of what you’ve outlined in your business model—the mechanism through which your company generates its profit—and the day-to-day busyness you’ll fall into as your how- to routine.

Two, they don’t have a business plan constructed with the financial acumen to support service-giving as mission-critical, non-negotiable, and never subject to budget cuts. A business plan complements your business model, by outlining your company’s strategy and expected financial performance over time.

Designing model and plan in a complementary manner, is what we refer to as ‘business savvy’ in Managing with Aloha. Without their harmony and strategic business sense, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to afford your mission and vision, no matter how passionate you might be about them.

Your business plan must be able to afford your business model.

Your business model must contribute to business plan growth.

Briefly then:

—Your business MODEL outlines your basic how-to (mission and vision contribute the details with why, when, where, and who.)

—Your business PLAN outlines the financial acumen which will power your business model as the engine of production and service delivery it must be.

Draw that “financial acumen” from your business plan, and articulate it —transform it into the talk of your financial literacy. Make it the vocabulary of the conversations you will have with each other as business partners.

One of the basic expectations involved with USING a company’s business plan, is that you have to be able to explain it, and converse about it. Readily understood vocabulary is essential—it’s the primary tool of communication. Literacy is the ability to read and write with that vocabulary, thus the phrase we use in the OIB, of “financial literacy” as the essential skill of a business partner.

This may sound daunting at first, but it really isn’t. If you have a business plan, you likely have the financial statements that go with it, and the best place to start is with clarifying those statements and simplifying them so they are as useful, and as mutually beneficial as they can be.

Isn’t it high time those financial statements and reports you receive became more useful, and stimulated more conversations among you?

Subscribe for our weekly newsletter:

Talking Story with the Ho‘ohana Community.

Preview the updates in Managing with Aloha, Second Edition, released July, 2016

Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Our value immersion study for the months of July and August 2017:

The 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

Mad Respect for Competence

In this article: The ‘Ohana in Business (OIB) of Managing with Aloha will relentlessly pursue professionalism via their competence, and the sequential progression of competency toward expertise.

—You’ve decided to have an OIB: The ‘Ohana in Business Starts with “Why?”

—You’ve decided to be an Alaka‘i Benefactor: The Alaka‘i Benefactor: Sharing in the ‘Ohana in Business

—You are completely willing to work on your business model and business plan as necessary: ‘Ohana x2 and the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

You don’t have a ‘family-owned’ or ‘family-run’ business, yet you definitely want to have the OIB— an ‘Ohana in Business (or you may have, and want both).

You agree with my coaching, that ‘Ohana can successfully and prosperously reframe what a ‘business family’ is all about, and yet…

Despite how much human beings love family, and will even claim it to be one of their core values, history has saddled family-anything businesses with a certain negative connotation.

That connotation? That the “unconditional acceptance” of being part of a family, means you need not be qualified to work there, just related in some way.

Helping you shake off this connotation, is why I will normally coach OIBs to adopt a relentlessly dedicated respect for competency as one of their primary missions.

In quick definition, think of mission as the logical step-by-step accomplishment timeline with achieving your business vision. More at: The Mission-Driven Company.

When you deliver the results of competency, people perceive and acknowledge your professionalism.

Mad Respect for Competence

We all share a commonly held positive regard for competence.

We consider competency to mean our service providers are knowledgeable, and that they are unquestionably qualified. We look to them, to answer questions about an area of competency we ourselves may not have, or may not work with as frequently and as successfully as they do.

Details do not escape competent people; they intrigue them. We often see, and appreciate the passion and focus connected with what highly competent service providers will do.

We readily assume, that once a person achieves their core competency in a certain line of work, they will target expertise next in continuing their work. We are confident they consistently work on achieving that expertise, and we feel assured we are in good hands.

Digital Natives by Juan Cristóbal Cobo on Flickr

What is Core Competency?

Thus, if you’re an Alaka‘i Manager in an OIB, you will be sure your people have the core competency your guests and customers rightfully expect.

Turn those expectations above, into these 7 necessary deliverables— that’s how competency makes its impact and gets perceived as professionalism:

Your people will be knowledgeable. (Think ‘Ike loa, and how we “Know well.”)
They will be qualified. (Think Kuleana in skill-building, and strength-building.)
They will be confident when answering questions about what they do, and they can readily teach others through their desire to share their Ho‘ohana. (Coaching People Who Do Good Work)
They will have their own curiosity about the ins and outs of their work, leading them to learn even more in a spirit of seeking adjacent possibility.
They will thrill to the details of the work itself—they will not tolerate mediocrity in themselves or in others.
They will display focus and passion with what they do—no boredom, no apathy or complacency. (Talk about work ethic again. Bring it into your workplace conversations, and say what you want it to be about.
They will strive to be experts, feeling that competency was a beginning, but it isn’t enough. (Think Kūlia i ka nu‘u: “Excellence is never an accident: It is always intentional, and it always demands more than the norm.”

Related Reading: Do not confuse competency with dysfunction.

Within the 10 tenets suggested for an ‘Ohana in Business, this was primary within the ‘Ohana of its structure;

1. Everyone involved with the company—not just those employed by it—is considered both stakeholder and business partner in the “human circle of Aloha” the business identifies with.

To achieve such a partnership, is so much easier when you are assured of the core competency and professionalism of everyone involved. Make that competency, professionalism, and quest for expertise what your OIB becomes known for.

Subscribe for our weekly newsletter:

Talking Story with the Ho‘ohana Community.

Preview the updates in Managing with Aloha, Second Edition, released July, 2016

Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Our value immersion study for the months of July and August 2017:

The 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

Let’s Talk Compensation

Preface: This post continues our value immersion with ‘Ohana. If you are newly joining us, I suggest you start here: ‘Ohana x2 and the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business.

“I ask you to compensate people well, and consider those people your partners.”

—The Alaka‘i Benefactor: Sharing in the ‘Ohana in Business

In this article:

1. Inequitable pay is socioeconomic disadvantage.

2. What is a “living wage?”

3. Let’s not shy away from morality.

4. What you can do.

A ‘day’ for unequal pay

Yesterday, July 31st, was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. The day ‘commemorates’ the awful fact that black women make only 63 cents on average for every dollar a white male is paid—July 31st marks the number of days into the next year that Black women on average ​would need to work to earn the same amount their white male counterparts made in the year prior.

“It means that single black mothers will remain socioeconomically disadvantaged and so will their children.”—Bethany S.

“It’s worse for Latinas, who are paid just 54 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men… The wage gap varies by state and congressional district, but spans nearly all corners of the country… On average, women employed full time in the United States lose a combined total of more than $840 billion every year due to the wage gap.”

—April 2017 Fact Sheet: America’s Women and the Wage Gap

This is discrimination, both gender and racial, and it creates flagrantly condescending inequality. This is not ‘Ohana, Kākou or Kuleana (the 3 core values in our OIB model) and certainly not Pono, the Hawaiian value of balance and rightness.

Pay inequality is wrong, and make no mistake: It also hurts all of us directly, for it creates a society which does not function as well as it could be.

We can do better friends, and business must lead the way. Our Managing with Aloha Alaka‘i leadership in this regard is long overdue.

Let’s Talk Compensation

If you’ve ever had an in-person conversation with me about business models, you know my pet peeve about them, is when there is a lack of equitable compensation factored into their feasibility. To me, running a business without compensating people adequately is simply not Pono—it’s not right.

Negligent. Presumptuous. Condescending. Preposterous. Foolish. Those are a few of the words which come to mind for me, when I learn that a business of any kind abuses those whom they employ, the very people who champion their mission, vision, and prosperity!

Yes, inadequate and unreasonable pay is abusive. It is abuse when we expect good work and its accompanying time commitment for inequitable pay.

If you expect someone to work for you, and perform well, especially with the complete value alignment ethos we talk about in regard to Managing with Aloha, you should pay them, and pay them well. If they work for you on a full-time basis, they should be paid a living wage. Part-time work and casual or contract work should also be factored to that full-time equivalent.

A “living wage” is defined as “1. a subsistence wage, 2. a wage sufficient to provide the necessities and comforts essential to an acceptable standard of living.”—Merriam Webster. In Hawai‘i, most calculators set the living wage at $17.00 per hour.

This is something I get very passionate about, and I find I must often bite my tongue and restrain myself when the current arguments and debates crop up in regard to minimum wage legislation, gender inequity, and unpaid internships. Frankly, there is no argument I am willing to listen to.

What bothers me most about these arguments and debates, is that the loudest and most indignant voices against paying a living wage —or even a minimum wage— come from those in business, the very people who are capable of making it happen.

How can they make it happen? By adjusting their business models and business plans so they can afford it (our game-changing value-alignment study earlier this year). If their bottom-line decision is that they cannot make the adjustments they can afford, and they can’t remain in business, so be it —clear the way for those who do make it happen, for their rising tide of being savvy, Pono employers will lift us all into a better functioning society.

That may seem to be a hard line taken, however that is our more prudent reality. A sound and reasonable, sensible and equitable business model is required for an ‘Ohana in Business. Furthermore, it’s required of any decent, ethical, moral business at all.

Let’s not shy away from morality.

Let’s own up to our moral duty, and do what is right.

“The bigger issue is moral, not economic. Is it not an employer’s civic and moral duty to pay a living wage? How can it be pono for a business to profit while its staff, the human beings who make up the business, do without basics? It is an illusion for a business to put such burdens on workers, ignore the massive cost to society and government, and claim to be successful.”

— State Sen. Russell Ruderman, It’s Time For a Living Wage in Hawaii, Civil Beat, February 2017.

I completely agree, and I encourage you to read his full essay.

“It’s just better business to pay people fairly.”
—David “DHH” Heinemeier Hansson, Basecamp

The truth is that when economic elites like us say “We can’t afford to adopt these higher standards,” what we really mean is, “We’d prefer not to.” We like to frame our claims as objective truths, like the so-called “law” of supply and demand, but what we’re really asserting is a moral preference. We are simply defending the status quo.

—Nick Hanauer

What can you do?

Become a champion of equitable pay in your organization, whatever your circle of influence might be.

Understand that Speaking with Aloha is about creating necessary conversations.

1. Learn as much as you can about compensation as a workplace issue. Benchmark case studies (here’s one, and here’s another), and identify the initiatives and strategies which may work for your company as well.

2. Ask for full transparency with your company’s compensation policy—what does it cover and include? If you don’t have a compensation policy as part of your business model, demand one: Volunteer to co-author it with Human Resources, and be an advocate of complete clarity within the policy which results. (Read this example: How we pay people at Basecamp.)

3. Make some noise —talk about it, and don’t stop talking about it until changes are made. Be a voice of reason, and stand up for the values of an ‘Ohana in Business. Get the “living wage” and profit-sharing vocabulary into your workplace conversations—the currently proposed minimum wage of $15.00 is just a starting point in the OIB.

Own your Kuleana:

—If you are in a leadership role, and you recognize that you should be addressing areas where you fall short in your compensation policy, bring these needs to light and entreat your peers to get real about their pressing priority— you know how setting priorities works in all the strategic initiatives which are undertaken.

—If you are in mid-management, initiate changes you know you can take in your own circle of influence and engagement, and don’t take no for an answer: Commit to your WHY, though you may need to compromise by entertaining a HOW-TO different from your own ideas. (Why/How-to alignment is very similar to value alignment.)

—If you are “just a regular employee” stand up for yourself by understanding what your talent, skills, and knowledge is really worth. Help your employer to empathize with you, by getting them to engage with you more than they might presently be doing—don’t keep them at arms length; involve them so they can better see how your true equity is in being their business partner.

Inequitable compensation has desecrated and demoralized our workplaces for far too long. Be Aloha, and be ‘Ohana: Please fire up this conversation with me, and demand action.

Let’s make change happen, where equitable compensation is the unquestioned basic starting point of all business models.

“I believe that we in the American political and economic elite face an extraordinarily inconvenient but undeniable truth: Our country will not get better until our fellow citizens feel better; and they will not feel better until they actually do better. And this is the hard part for many of you: The American people will not do better until they are actually paid more.”

—Nick Hanauer, To My Fellow Plutocrats: Pay Your Workers a Decent Wage

Subscribe for our weekly newsletter:

Talking Story with the Ho‘ohana Community.

Preview the updates in Managing with Aloha, Second Edition, released July, 2016

Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Our value immersion study for the months of July and August 2017:

The 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

The Alaka‘i Benefactor: Sharing in the ‘Ohana in Business

Preface: This post continues our value immersion with ‘Ohana. If you are newly joining us, I suggest you start here: ‘Ohana x2 and the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business.

Sharing in the ‘Ohana in Business

When you first read through my 10 Tenets for an ‘Ohana in Business (reprinted for your review below) it is quite clear that I am asking you to share your business in ways you have never shared it before.

I ask you to compensate people well, and consider those people your partners.

I ask you to minimize your ‘executive decisions’ in favor of more transparency and inclusion.

I ask you to consider your business model and business plan to be works in progress, works subject to a team approach.

I ask you to share your financial information for increased learning and engagement, and to work toward some form of profit sharing.

To sum these up more precisely, I ask you to let go of your ownership, control, and direction more than you presently may do so.

Employees readily welcome the OIB model, feeling they should indeed reap these benefits as fruits of their work, their commitment, and their loyalty as company ambassadors.

However, I do understand that deciding their business will be an ‘Ohana in Business is a more weighty decision for those who are founders, owners, and business executives. They see this as sharing their intellectual property —and it very well may be.

They also see the creation of an OIB as ignoring the sunk costs of the dues they’ve paid—shouldn’t they have, and keep having more? Don’t they deserve to be where they are?

If you find yourself thinking those thoughts, let me first say yes, you probably do deserve the earnings you’ve worked hard to attain, as do we all—everyone deserves the fruits of their labor.

Therefore, please focus on what you now have as your truly noteworthy earning: You have earned the right to lead this charge, and become a benefactor.

The Alaka‘i Benefactor: Sharing in the ‘Ohana in Business

From Alaka‘i Manager to Alaka‘i Benefactor

The decision to have an ‘Ohana in Business is a recognition that, “This is an attitude change,” and it is therefore a conscious willingness to change, knowing that, “It’s an attitude which must start with me.”

The ‘Ohana in Business requires the attitude of Lokomaika‘i generosity, sharing one’s business ‘in good heart.’

loko = heart;

maika‘i = good;

Lokomaika‘i = the Hawaiian value of generosity

One’s attitude must shift, from keeping the rights and privileges one has earned, to genuinely wanting to share them for the good of the business itself, while elevating the earnings of everyone involved —BOTH are indeed possible; the OIB is not an either/or decision, but one of inclusivity.

This is what Merriam Webster says about benefactors:

Definition of benefactor

Someone or something that provides help or an advantage :  one that confers a benefit a benefactor of humankind; especially :  a person who makes a gift or bequest

“His endowments … placed him high among the benefactors of the convent.” — Jane Austen

“A benefactor may be involved in almost any field. One may endow a scholarship fund; another may give money to expand a library; still another may leave a generous sum to a hospital in her will. The famous benefactions of John D. Rockefeller included the gifts that established the University of Chicago, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Rockefeller University. Many benefactors have reported that giving away their money turned out to be the most rewarding thing they ever did.”

The Alaka‘i Benefactor who establishes and shares an ‘Ohana in Business is indeed a philanthropist, “one who makes an active effort to promote human welfare.”

Sense of WorkPlace delivers true Wealth

We commonly consider benefactors and philanthropists to only be those who are wealthy in terms of their monetary assets, however this is but another attitude limit we’ve placed on ourselves—we fail to see how wealth can more fully be defined.

We’ve spoken of this previously in terms of sense of place.

From A Sense of Place Delivers True Wealth

“Alaka‘i Managers know that this is what every single workplace represents: The wonderful opportunity to create a special place. They seize the opportunity to co-create that place with those who share it, and then they’ll shepherd it. This is their joyful work, their HO‘OHANA — how could it not be?

A managed with Aloha workplace delivers:

1. An ALOHA-inspired place of comfort — Wealth in safe-haven sustenance

2. A sense of personal belonging — Wealth in co-authorship

3. ‘OHANA community and connectivity — Wealth in partnership

4. Practical usefulness and relevance — Wealth in worth

5. Benefits in the promise of learning — Wealth in knowledge.”

These are the objectives of culture-building we all commit to as Alaka‘i Managers who have adopted Managing with Aloha as our professional practice.

These objectives also illustrate the way an OIB run by Alaka‘i Managers is inherently inclusive (Kākou) from the get-go: Our culture-building is already shared by all in Alaka‘i attitude, and it is not only the responsibility (Kuleana) of founders, owners, and executives.

5. ‘Ohana completes a powerful values trifecta with Kākou and Kuleana.

Our OIB model has its own inherent set of 3 core values: ‘Ohana, Kākou, and Kuleana. It is almost impossible to talk about ‘Ohana in a meaningful way without talking about the other two, and appreciating what they deliver to our “human circle of Aloha.”

—The ‘Ohana in Business Starts with “Why?”

If Managing with Aloha was your first choice, the OIB can be easily thought of as your second choice. Your next step, from Alaka‘i calling (The 10 Beliefs of Alakai Managers) to becoming an Alakai Benefactor is only a decision away.

The reality of the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business is that they happen progressively; step-by-step, a little at a time via business model tweaking, and not overnight. Decide what you will share first, and where you will start, but know this will be your constant:

“This is an attitude change.”

“It’s an attitude which must start with me.”

There’s really no other way, for your partners will quickly sense any hesitancy or insincerity you may feel.

The ‘Ohana in Business is for the ‘you’ who wants to be an ‘us.’ The owner who once was a courageous maverick can begin to share ‘Ohana and become a generous benefactor. Let that be who you decide to be.

Previously: The ‘Ohana in Business Starts with “Why?”

We Ho‘ohana kākou (we work with intention, together), for ‘Imi ola—seek to live your best possible life.

Rosa

The 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

10 tenets are suggested for an ‘Ohana in Business: It’s a business model wherein cash flow must be kept constant, as is the challenge of all businesses. Revenue streams are actively and intelligently pursued to firmly support these minimum requirements as the ‘Ohana of its structure;

1. Everyone involved with the company—not just those employed by it—is considered both stakeholder and business partner in the “human circle of Aloha” the business identifies with.

2. Everyone employed, works ON the business as well as IN it, recognizing that both of those engagement attentions are necessary. All financial information is shared and discussed, with financial literacy pursued as learning crucial to effectiveness in these engagements.

3. The work culture’s trifecta is that it is values-centered, customer-focused, and mission-driven, with Ho‘ohana as a unifying value-driver. Therefore, the worthwhile work considered crucial to company Vision is the bar raised in all professional mission statements—it’s the Ho‘ohana sensibility of the trifecta.

4. There are baseline value-alignment requirements for each and every value articulated within the Value Statement the business upholds as its Ethos.

5. The worth of Alaka‘i management and leadership is understood and valued, yet organizational hierarchy is kept as flat as feasible. Employees’ interests are valued as highly as those of shareholders, and this fiduciary accountability extends to its board of directors.

6. The dignity and Aloha Spirit of each person is highly respected, and their talents and strengths are fostered, however the key sustainability target of the company pursues a thriving, healthy culture, regardless of the individuals working within that culture.

7. The ‘acid test’ of the workplace culture is Kākou communication: Everyone involved speaks up, and speaks freely regardless of their title or position. Problem-solving and cross-functionality are programmatically designed into this model for continuous improvement, fresh ideas, and dynamic energy generation.

8. Equitable compensation is defined similar to a ‘living wage’ i.e. high enough to maintain a normal standard of living as defined by the geographic Sense of Place the business identifies with as its resident community. Cost of living increases factor into the model as well.

9. Business reinvestment is made annually—not just in ‘good years’—whether the business is publicly or privately owned, and whether profit or nonprofit. Baseline reinvestment will include maintaining safety, adequate purchasing for operational competitiveness, research and development per industry standards, and providing all stakeholders with continuous training and education.

10. A paying-it-forward element gives back to the community the company operates in. In a for-profit model, there will be profit-sharing offered to employees as well as shareholders.

Would your company make the cut?

Read more at RosaSay.com: The ‘Ohana in Business

Subscribe for our weekly newsletter:

Talking Story with the Ho‘ohana Community.

Preview the updates in Managing with Aloha, Second Edition, released July, 2016

Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Our value immersion study for the months of July and August 2017:

The 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

Sunday Mālama: Stretching your 8 Hours

Image courtesy of How to do nothing, by Jenny Odell.

When Samuel Gompers, who led the labor group that organized this particular iteration of the 8-hour movement, was asked, “What does labor want?” he responded, “It wants the earth and the fullness thereof.” And to me it seems significant that it’s not 8 hours of, say, “leisure” or “education,” but “8 hours of what we will.”

—How to do nothing, by Jenny Odell

When I happened upon the image above, I immediately thought about Ho‘ohana, our value of worthwhile work. You may remember this, which I had written for Ho‘ohana in Managing with Aloha:

A job or your life?

Once your school days are over and you enter the working world full-time, you will literally devote a full third of your life to the job. There are 24 hours a day. Mindful of your health, you’ll spend about 8 hours of that day asleep —that’s one third. With a full-time job, you’ll spend another 8 hours working —that’s another third. That leaves you with only 8 hours left to do what you want to do.

Now we both know that you don’t really get all of that remaining 8 hours. After all, you have obligations to fulfill, promises to keep, and well, stuff to do. You’ve got to feed the dog, take out the trash, grab some groceries, finish the laundry, service the car, pay the bills, have your teeth cleaned… the list goes on and on. Let’s call these the “Being a Human Being” hours. When all is said and done, exactly how much time do you really have to do the things you want to do?

Well, I don’t know how you feel about this, but a measly third of my own life left for me and my personal wants and dreams is just not enough — especially when I come to realize I don’t even get the full third! So how can I recapture more of it?

I continued, to focus on the working 8 we can transform into our Ho‘ohana, encouraging you to “Redefine the word WORK and make it yours.”

I’m not changing my mind about that, for there is immeasurable goodness in committing oneself to their Ho‘ohana, yet there is also truth in the old adage that, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” (…and Rosa a dull girl…)

“8 hours of what we will.”

Odell’s How To Do Nothing essay is a long-read, a 45-minute transcript, with pictures, of a keynote she’d given. I encourage you to take that time for yourself and enjoy it. If you read it before your next weekend, I can confidently guarantee you’ll spend more of that weekend observing, taking notice, and wondering about things with heightened curiosity.

These days, we are often advised to take digital breaks and get away from our screens, whether handheld or desktop, but we have also gotten to the point of feeling an unease with that disconnect: Like every addict, we need to ‘come down,’ and decompress.

It’s somewhat embarrassing, even when we’re all alone with our own introspection about it, but we can find we need help answering the most basic of questions — “Now what?”

“Doing nothing teaches us how to listen…I mean it in a broader sense. To do nothing is to hold yourself still so that you can perceive what is actually there. As Gordon Hempton, an acoustic ecologist who records natural soundscapes, put it, ‘Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything.’”

—Jenny Odell

What works for me, is to immediately get outside, even if only to walk through the yard around my own house. One reason this works for me, is because I’ve become a ‘let them all live’ kind of gardener… a weed can be pretty enough to capture your attention when you don’t tell yourself it’s a weed.

Melon flowers and tendrils. One of the helpful rules of composting is not to put seeds in it, for you will then be pulling unwanted volunteers out of your garden patches. It’s become a rule I happily break, for I’ve yet to discover a compost volunteer I didn’t want. After all, our kitchen scraps came from the foods we like to eat.

“Outside Lies Magic. Get out now.”

“GET OUT NOW. Not just outside, but beyond the trap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many people…. Go outside, move deliberately, then relax, slow down, look around. Do not jog. Do not run…. Instead pay attention to everything that abuts the rural road, the city street, the suburban boulevard. Walk. Stroll. Saunter. Ride a bike, and coast along a lot. Explore…. Abandon, even momentarily, the sleek modern technology that consumes so much time and money now…. Go outside and walk a bit, long enough to forget programming, long enough to take in and record new surroundings…. Flex the mind, a little at first, then a lot. Savor something special. Enjoy the best-kept secret around—the ordinary, everyday landscape that rewards any explorer, that touches any explorer with magic…all of it is free for the taking, for the taking in. Take it. take it in, take in more every weekend, every day, and quickly it becomes the theater that intrigues, relaxes, fascinates, seduces, and above all expands any mind focused on it. Outside lies utterly ordinary space open to any casual explorer willing to find the extraordinary. Outside lies unprogrammed awareness that at times becomes directed serendipity. Outside lies magic.”

—John Stilgoe, Outside Lies Magic

On my more fortuitous days, I even stretch my 8 hours of whatever I will, by grabbing found pockets of time from my own Ho‘ohana—gasp!

For instance, on a recent trek to Hilo for a business lunch appointment, I made sure I had kept the rest of the day commitment-free so I could do several roadside stops on the drive —Hilo is 90 miles away from where I live.

Methinks too much.

There is a difference between being in the moment, and being still. We may physically be still by all apparent appearances

The ‘Ohana in Business Starts with “Why?”

Preface: This is post no. 3 in our current value immersion.

If you are newly joining us, you may want to start with;

1. ‘Ohana x2 and the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

2. About our Practice of Value Immersion

Naming your initiatives is important, particularly when they aren’t just experiments or pilot projects, and you’ve high hopes they go the distance.

So why did I choose to call our Managing with Aloha business model OIB—the ‘Ohana in Business?

These were my five primary reasons, and I am happy to say that each has been continually reaffirmed as Managing with Aloha has progressed.

Managing: Learn how to ask “Why?” (Archive Aloha, June 2012)

1. ‘Ohana is a value-driven way to look at ‘form and function.’

‘Ohana is rather unique in our complement of Hawaiian values, in that it can be so variable yet adaptable —‘Ohana can actually be thought of as a who (family), a what (the family construct), a why (the human circle of Aloha), a when (when in association with certain people), and even a where (home). ‘Ohana is, and must be purposeful: It can be both form and function. ‘Ohana can be chosen, and thereafter assumed evermore—you are my family if and when I say you are, and you remain my family unconditionally.

That said, all values need intentional work to be strong, and no family is perfect. Thus…

2. ‘Ohana can refine our feelings and conversation about ‘family.’

I did see ‘Ohana as a challenge, when it came to reinventing what it meant to work within a family-owned or family-run business: What incentive did professionals have to work with these companies, if they weren’t family members as well? What happens when a family grows to an unwieldy number over successive generations, and geographic moves challenge sense of community? What happens when family rights and privilege complicate business conventions, e.g. a felony conviction, or terminating for just cause? There are numerous complications, and the best possible with Aloha answer became obvious: Treat everyone as hānai family from their Day 1 date of hire— hānai is ‘adopted child.’

Related Reading: Start with two words: “with Aloha”

3. An ‘Ohana in Business would require meaningful partnership.

One of the defining characteristics of MWA’s OIB is that we consider employees, vendor suppliers and other key liaisons to be business partners, and we treat them that way. Employees are not referred to as associates or colleagues, employees or staff—we call them “business partners” to constantly speak our Language of Intention. We recognize, and want to affirm, that all who are involved with our business in direct connection with the work of their livelihood and Ho‘ohana have a stake in our business; they play an important role. They should never be taken for granted, and we should never fail to involve them and/or their concerns in our decision making and strategic initiatives.

“There are natural times people check in, and

there are also times people naturally check out.

With ‘Ohana, they are virtually guaranteed to check in.”

—What does ‘Ohana mean to you? (Archive Aloha, March 2014)

4. The generosity of ‘Ohana was a great way to deal with money.

There are businesses of countless variety, but they all have one thing in common: They necessitate the handling of money and financial transactions. In MWA we spoke a bit about that “my guests shouldn’t have to pay me” attitude of the Mea Ho‘okipa, and that’s but the tip of the financial iceberg. Whether you are profit or nonprofit, public sector or private, money and your business model factors into nearly everything you do. Currency however, is your means to another end, and the lokomaika‘i generosity (‘of good heart’) of ‘Ohana would constantly remind us of our business vision and mission.

One of the key gifts an ‘Ohana in Business delivers on to our business partners, is the gift of financial literacy packaged in respect, transparency and trust.

“Visions, mission-driven objectives, and Ho‘ohana strategies may differ, however all companies pursuing business enterprise have two structural necessities in common: They need a sensible and viable business model, and an overarching ‘big picture’ business plan which is realistic and doable.”

—‘Ohana x2 and the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

5. ‘Ohana completes a powerful values trifecta with Kākou and Kuleana.

Our OIB model has its own inherent set of 3 core values: ‘Ohana, Kākou, and Kuleana. It is almost impossible to talk about ‘Ohana in a meaningful way without talking about the other two, and appreciating what they deliver to our “human circle of Aloha.” As the value of inclusiveness, Kākou defines the way we communicate with each other—healthy communication is essential in any business, but particularly with the increased intimacy of the values-driven one. Kuleana addresses both the responsibility of the individual and responsibility with sense of place; it powers engagement, and it demands accountability.

Related Reading: In Culture-building, Start with Communication

Now that I’ve shared my Why? with you, read over the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business (a new tab will open for you) once more. Do they pass the form and function test for you? I welcome your feedback,

Rosa

Subscribe for our weekly newsletter:

Talking Story with the Ho‘ohana Community.

Preview the updates in Managing with Aloha, Second Edition, released July, 2016

Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Our value immersion study for the months of July and August 2017:

The 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

About our Practice of Value Immersion

Back home in Hawai‘i on her college break, my beautiful, fun-loving niece Brookie posted this summertime photo on her Instagram…

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Groovy Girl Summertime Dip

…and one of her friends commented, “Why are you in a blow up pool when you live on an island with an ocean 30 ft away?”

Look through Brookie’s full gallery, and you’ll see she spends a good amount of time in the warm waters of our ocean too. Point is, that Brookie has a range of different choices, and she chooses what she needs or wants at any given time.

That’s the way it works for our value immersion practice as well.

About our Ho‘ohana Community’s Practice of Value Immersion

To immerse yourself in your work, is to “involve oneself deeply in a particular activity or interest.” ‘Deeply’ however, can be a matter of varying degree.

We use the phrase “value immersion” for our current value studies because of the easily achieved benefit to be gained from simply telling ourselves what we’ll pay attention to during any given time, and choosing to actively do so.

We focus.

We fixate.

Often, we suddenly see connections between a value and our work that we might have missed seeing before. We decide to latch on better, and learn more. We might choose to tweak something, or we might choose to just leave it alone and move on.

We align, to bring to agreement, and to achieve better harmony in our work.

We align, so work is sensible, reasonable, and feels right to us.

That is the immersive experience I am wishing for you every two months, when I write a new essay for one of Managing with Aloha’s 19 Values of Aloha (as just done with ‘Ohana for July & August).

And it’s always your choice. Sink into it, taking better notice of what you now notice, or plunge in and wallow in it for a while. Dip into a shallow pool of immersion, and find it’s enough and just right, or take a swim in a larger ocean of possibilities and cast a wider net to explore more, and question more.

Our #AlohaIntentions keep us aware of at least 5 different value-verbing possibilities;

The great thing about value immersion, is that you don’t lose yourself in it —by the very nature of the values’ ethos, what actually happens, is that you will find more of yourself.

Let’s take a quick review of our value study vocabulary. This is a good place to review our Language of Intention, pertaining to what we do with values around here: Values are our ALOHA-packed value tools of choice:

Our Value Alignment Toolkit:

1. VALUE ALIGNMENT

Frames our key objective — To align the actual behaviors of a workplace culture with the values we say we believe in from an intellectual and convicted point of view: We believe in this value deeply, and therefore, this is what we consistently do, or aspire to do; this is how we will behave. Alignment is agreement, and value alignment agrees on both intention (why) and execution (how to, what to, where to, and who with).

[VALUE ALIGNMENT defined in the 9 Key Concepts, and as Key 3 category.]

2. VALUE MAPPING

Names the process [of VALUE ALIGNMENT] — We map out how we intend to achieve our objective, much in the same way we map out objectives like mission and vision, and all our strategic initiatives. Visualize a map: The values we select and work with, act as guide and compass.

[VALUE MAPPING tagged for learning.]

3. VALUE VERBING

Puts the process of VALUE MAPPING into the everyday language of workplace culture. We transform our VALUE ALIGNMENT intentions into executable actions via highly active, next-action verbs. We create our talk, so we can then walk that talk.

[VALUE VERBING tagged for learning. This is the post you will want to start with: Next-stepping and other Verbs.]

4. VALUE IMMERSION

Immersion means to go ‘all in.’ When you choose a value for your workplace culture, you align it completely — in everything you do. VALUE IMMERSION is flexible and adaptive when it has your constant attention: When confronting change, you realign and audit your value integrity in every strategic juncture. Remember: You can change your values too, growing them as your culture grows.

[VALUE IMMERSION is the primary objective of a Value of the Month program: Value Your Month for One — You.]

5. VALUE STEERING

VALUE STEERING is similar to VALUE MAPPING, but it is specific to project work, and refers to projects, pilot programs, and experimental initiatives. A value or pairing of values will be chosen to steer a project as primary value/conviction criteria: Those choices are the values which encapsulate the over-riding WHY a project is taken on to begin with, and they will do the steering necessary, as project work tends to wander — as it should, exploring and testing options, contingencies, and useful rabbit holes.

[In our storied history, ‘steering’ also refers to the Lesson of the Six Seats, found within chapter 9 of Managing with Aloha, on the value of KĀKOU.]

Jump in, for the water’s refreshing.

I know this seems like a lot. As with any language, it gets easy once you use it deliberately and consistently, as a toolbox. You a) talk the talk, so b) you can walk that talk. It actually becomes less, in that magic way that a language of intention will zoom as a culturally invented, and always reiterated-to-improve insiders’ shortcut. And believe me, this has gotten to be fun for the Alaka‘i Managers who deliberately and consistently are building a “with Aloha” culture of their own design.

Now stop reading, open up our toolbox, and go do something in your own value-aligned way. As always, reach out and let me know if I can help,

Rosa

Subscribe for our weekly newsletter:

Talking Story with the Ho‘ohana Community.

Preview the updates in Managing with Aloha, Second Edition, released July, 2016

Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Our value immersion study for the months of July and August 2017:

The 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

Red, White, and Blue Virtues

Preface: The original version of this post was published on my Talking Story blog in 2006, and given the atmosphere of 2017 I thought it was a good time for a look back and fresh edit. Much has changed in these past eleven years, and often, the best way to go forward, is to look back and remember what you wish would live on, so you take those purposeful actions which must be taken. Wishing and hoping has never been the best strategy: We Ho‘ohana kākou (we work with intention, together),  for ‘Imi ola—we seek to live our best possible lives.

At the time this was initially written, our value of the month was Lokomaika‘i, the Hawaiian value of generosity, and within our value immersion we worked to illustrate and reap the benefits generosity delivers to us. There are far more values in the Hawaiian culture than the 19 featured in Managing with Aloha, and Lokomaika‘i has been one we have revisited often, for it fortifies our Aloha Spirit exceptionally well.

Admittedly a few of these virtues seem to be on shaky ground in 2017, but they have been challenged within our history before. As I read back on this, the character of generosity woven throughout it comforted and encouraged me, and I hope it delivers a measure of comfort and encouragement to you as well. I do believe we need more generosity of spirit today, seeking to be more inclusive (Kākou), more caring and compassionate (Mālama), and more understanding and cooperative (Lōkahi). When we live these values as our passionate beliefs and as the gifts we work on giving to others, everything improves, and we become better.

Rosa

Came across this cigar box while cleaning the deeper recesses of our hallway closet, a craft box I had put together back in 2001 after 911 — do you remember everyone wearing these patriotic ribbons in the aftermath of the tragedy? I am going to recycle these bits into some new crafting projects in optimism of our brighter, better future.

Red, White, and Blue Virtues
Independence. Patriotism. Freedom. Democracy.

All are fiercely passionate ideals, yet perhaps we need to be reminded of our gentler nature today, and the large capacity we have for being lokomaika‘i, generous and “of good heart” as we reflect on them.

Our ancestors fought courageously for these ideals, and today they are gifts we enjoy with very little time spent actually thinking about them. Even this time surrounding the 4th of July holiday, can become more about the time-off holiday bonuses of picnics, roadtrips, and other 3-day weekend pursuits.

This is a day and time it’s important to remember we have freedom of choice. We choose our values, we choose our ideals, we choose our actions.

These are choices we can make thanks to the freedoms we enjoy. When we keep our values in mind, they give us good counsel and direction. Our freedom does not give us right or permission to infringe upon the freedoms of others. Freedom is meant to be shared unconditionally and inclusively.

Beyond the values which serve us so well, there is something else which serves to strengthen them at their foundation, and that something steers us to interpret our chosen values in ways that are for good. They are virtues, and “Within virtue, we set our hearts free.”

I have written of virtues before, defining them as the character-building hallmarks of our “moral excellence.” A good concept to apply to this day we celebrate our country’s independence, don’t you think? Let’s give it more thought…

Imagine these as our Red White and Blue Virtues: Adopt them with me.

Freedom. A lokomaika‘i connection to giving and generosity if there ever was one! When we fight for freedom, whether in America or elsewhere, we make a statement that freedom is something everyone should have; not just the victor. Every person, and every heart is to be set free.

Hope. When we have a sense of independence, we have hope in ourselves, and our own capacity to fill our free moments with learning, with creativity, and with more bravery for unseen futures. We are unshackled, we are encouraged, and we feel nothing can hold us back, so we tell ourselves to forge on, becoming more confident and more courageous.

Humor. Ah, the great balancer! Humor keeps us humble, and keeps us learning in our exuberant patriotic zeal. We are always reminded how young we are as a country, stumbling in our naivete and adolescence. Critically important, humor tempers our tempers! The ability to laugh at ourselves serves us well as it keeps arrogance and hubris in check; we share our soapboxes and our spotlights.

Prayer. We have shied away from prayer in our efforts at political correctness, and I am often quite thankful for my age when I recall how I learned American History when in school. No teacher of mine ever left the religious influences out of the lesson, and there was a very liberating feeling about having everything taught to me uncensored. To pray for something, is to choose it, and to expect it as you also respect and revere it.

Vitality. There is such vibrancy within independence, patriotism and freedom. Each stokes such passionate fires of belief and conviction, and the causes we associate with them and rally behind become bigger than we humans are. They come to life, and they give us life. Passionate intention is never dull and boring; it is charged with energy and positivity.

Wonder. The story of America’s independence may be one of the greatest epics ever. Here we are, 241 years later, and our story still inspires us and challenges us. We wonder at the glory of it all, we wonder at the incredible belief we had in ourselves, and we wonder at all the possibilities still before us.

Trust. In our youth as a country we still have abundant trust in who we are and the democracy we stand for. We have never stopped believing, and tough as things might get, I honestly can’t imagine that we ever will. In God we trust, and in us we trust. We must. Trust in ourselves gives us the ability to make hard decisions. Trust in each other, gives us the knowledge that our efforts to evoke change or protect our constants will always be worth any struggle.

Faith. Like our trust, our faith never falters and never wavers. We have faith that ours will continue to be a land of plenty and opportunity, and that as long as we work hard enough, and smart enough, our faith will surely be rewarded. Faith is not solely religious; we can have faith in science, we can have faith in evolution, and we can have faith in the future.

Grace. Ah that we can have more charm and grace, and be kinder, gentler, and always with the Lokomaika‘i “of good heart.” It will be this virtue of grace that helps us to mentor and coach, and with the fine partner of humor, grace keeps our humility at the forefront of all our efforts to be as strong a country as we can possibly be. It is grace which keeps our doors open, so we may welcome newcomers and invite them to live among us, and thereby strengthen us with what they offer.

Gratitude. There is bountiful reason that America the Beautiful will be joyously sung throughout the country today. We have much to be thankful for, and we have far more to learn about demonstrating our appreciation more than we now do. Gratitude has been called the greatest healer, and that is a reputation gratitude has earned by merit of countless repeated experiences.

Joy. When all is said and done, this is what hard-earned freedom has delivered to us; joy. Happiness seems to be something we work on, whereas joy seems more of a resultant feeling which permeates us much as the Aloha Spirit does, and sometimes, it comes to us unexpectedly. When we allow our hearts to step in, joy gets revealed in countless expressions, and there are no limits to our enthusiasm, optimism, and energies. Joy radiates, and is thereby shared so easily and naturally.

Peace. The harmonious virtue of Lōkahi (harmony) and Pono (rightness) we can never, ever stop aiming for. If we were all lokomaika‘i, of good heart each and every day, perhaps we would better understand how fighting others for peace is so misguided. Aloha is a far, far better way.

Postscript, reprinted from The Twelve Aloha Virtues:

About Virtue:

Virtue is not a word we hear all that much; it’s not a thought that crops up in the regularity and routine of our days. Well, let’s propose that we revive virtuous living as a wonderful new habit to keep within our practice of ALOHA. You may find that its warmth appeals to you too… after the year I can imagine we’ve shared, you deserve this. We all do.

What is Virtue? From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

“Virtue is the habitual, well-established, readiness or disposition of man’s powers directing them to some goodness of act. Virtue is the moral excellence of a man or a woman … as applied to humans, a virtue is a good character trait.”

How can you not like that, and want more of it?

Your character emerges from the deep inner weaving of your values, your spirit, and that emotional well-being which is quite instinctual for you: It is flushed out and propelled toward others on the vibrations of your good intentions. Indeed, the virtues you choose to practice were in fact chosen by your “moral excellence.”

Once he saw a youth blushing, and addressed him,

“Courage, my boy; that is the complexion of virtue.”

—Laertius Diogenes

Diogenes encourages courage. Why? Morality can be a tough thing to get our arms around at times, for we are living in an age where we tend to play it safe. We can get reticent when talking about virtue and morality unless we are in the comfortable arms of our family and closest friends, or taking the leap in teaching our own children. I cannot separate my own faith from my list, and my effort in this writing, is to package virtue for us a bit in some ready-for-right-now goodness we can all share more openly.

“Values are what is important to you. Virtues are your good points.”

— Kuji; Values or Virtues? Both!

You can visit the Wikipedia entry on Virtue if you’d like more background on the four classic Western or Islamic “cardinal” virtues and so on. I present to you my writing, admittedly taken with full liberty present in my wanting, my faith, and my leap of faith in you even if I can’t say I know you. This is the “moral excellence” I know is undeniably me, and I shall focus on building it ever-stronger within my own character.

Source: Twelve Aloha Virtues.

Subscribe for our weekly newsletter:

Talking Story with the Ho‘ohana Community.

Preview the updates in Managing with Aloha, Second Edition, released July, 2016

Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Our value immersion study for the months of July and August 2017:

The 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

‘Ohana x2 and the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business

“I was a long time coming

I’ll be a long time gone

You’ve got your whole life to do something

and that’s not very long.”

—Songwriter Ani DiFranco, Willing to Fight

I betcha DiFranco wasn’t thinking about business models when she wrote those lyrics, however I was when I heard them.

That phrase, “a long time coming” kept popping into my head earlier this year, as I finally sat down at my writing desk to draft the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business for the Managing with Aloha philosophy, subject of our value immersion for July and August.

*If you are new to Managing with Aloha, we embark on a Hawaiian value immersion every two months, working together via the Aloha Intentions of my weekly Ho‘ohana Community newsletter— Join us!

*Want to know more?

January 1, 2017 Kākou Kick off: The Values that Matter: Yours & Ours.

A Long Time Coming

As previewed in this past Thursday’s newsletter:

“Like the 9 Key Concepts, the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business represent our evolution since Managing with Aloha was actively embraced by the Ho‘ohana Community and transitioned from the way I would personally manage, to a shared workplace philosophy.”

We have worked on each one of these 10 Tenets over the past 15 years to test and validate them, years which included the harsh, albeit necessary lessons of the Great Recession and our still wobbly recovery: “Our greater laboratory of work had to happen for me to publish these OIB Tenets comprehensively… Similar to producing my 2nd Edition of MWA last summer, it has been educationally and practically useful to apply each of these Tenets to different industries beyond our roots in Hawai‘i’s travel, tourism, and hospitality business.”

Visions, mission-driven objectives, and Ho‘ohana strategies may differ, however all companies pursuing business enterprise have two structural necessities in common: They need a sensible and viable business model, and an overarching ‘big picture’ business plan which is realistic and doable.

Thus, the economic, political, and generational cycles we’ve lived through in recent decades have been very instructive, for all experiments get tested with variables. As a culture-building business model, the ‘Ohana in Business of our Managing with Aloha philosophy also had to take finances and its resulting environs into account, just as all profitably sustainable businesses must do.

However, it’s time to compile our experiments to date, even though I know full well that the march of time may challenge and change them, a healthy process in all evolution. As Any DiFranco’s lyrics continue to coach us, “You’ve got your whole life to do something and that’s not very long.”

Thus, over the next two months time, we’ll cover all 10 OIB Tenets as our value immersion cycles to the value of ‘Ohana. We have prepared well: This should prove to be a logical and practical continuance of what we’ve done with Ho‘okipa By Design business modeling during May & June.

In Managing with Aloha, the pineapple is symbol of the Ho‘okipa hospitality it is universally recognized as, and for ‘Ohana in Business sustainability and succession.

‘Ohana x2

Let’s step back for a prelude. This time, we will not dive into several diverse application possibilities of ‘Ohana, as the exploratory value immersion which is our normal m.o., but on the specific inspiration ‘Ohana created within the MWA philosophy: The business model we call “an ‘Ohana in Business.”

‘Ohana is one of Hawai‘i’s universal values wherein ‘family’ turns into an extraordinarily meaningful verb of intention. As such, it is covered in Chapter 7 of Managing with Aloha as our “human circle of complete Aloha.”

In Managing with Aloha as an in-practice, healthy culture-building workplace philosophy and our business operating m.o. (whew, say that 3 times!) ‘Ohana refers to two specific concepts:

1— ‘Ohana as the value we call our “human circle of complete Aloha” and,

2— The ‘Ohana in Business as our business model and financial steerage.

We have worked on number 1 since the inception of Managing with Aloha, and we have referred to number 2 as “Key 6” of our 9 Key Concepts, talking about the OIB as it intersects or gets woven into our other values.

In July & August of 2017, we will assume number 1, our value alignment with ‘Ohana, and work more intently on number 2, the ‘Ohana in Business as our business model and focus of our financial attentions:

Key 6. THE ‘OHANA IN BUSINESS MODEL:

The best form for your life CAN be the best form for your ‘Ohana in Business® as well, where the objectives of each will support the other — they need not be mutually exclusive. A business can be more than self-sustainable and profitable: It can thrive in perpetuity though key people will come and go. In Managing with Aloha we learn a values-based business model and organizational structure simultaneous to learning productivity practices which drive ROI (return on investment) and ROA (return on your attentions). There is art and science in business, and we love it all: Business modeling is never boring in an MWA culture, and we value financial literacy in the complete education of sustainable modeling.

Site category for Key 6: The ‘Ohana in Business Model

Aloha Intentions: July & August 2017

As usual, you will find my Ke Ola Magazine essay to be a one-page feature for the magazine, with the 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business listed in necessarily brief form. I will expand on each one in the weeks to come, via this blog and our weekly newsletter.

Take advantage of the list brevity:

As you read them, use your journal to capture your questions and first impressions.
Ask yourself, what must I learn about my company and/or my workplace financial concerns?
Challenge yourself and your team! What tweaks do you feel are possible?

With no further ado…

Click over to RosaSay.com to begin:

The ‘Ohana in Business (a new tab will open for you).

“Support the 19 Values of Aloha

with a comprehensive business model.”

Learn to ask Why: Future blog posts will address why the MWA business model was so named “The ‘Ohana in Business,” and that our model has its own inherent set of 3 core values: ‘Ohana, Kākou, and Kuleana.

Mahalo. Thank you for continuing to manage with Aloha with me and our Ho‘ohana Community as you do.

We Ho‘ohana kākou (we work with intention, together),

Rosa

Subscribe for our weekly newsletter:

Talking Story with the Ho‘ohana Community.

Preview the updates in Managing with Aloha, Second Edition, released July, 2016

Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

Our value immersion study for the months of July and August 2017:

The 10 Tenets of an ‘Ohana in Business