As we continue our sailing trip around the blog-o-sphere we find ourselves leaving the port of “To-Done,” refreshed and organized for the journey ahead. We wave goodbye to Captain Robinson and the good folks from the Asterisk Islands. The good Captain encouraged us to set sail for the Ho’ohana community, located in the Hawaiian Islands. As he waved, Captain Robinson yelled out, “Ho’ohana is the value of worthwhile work. When you ho’ohana, you are working with passion, with full intention and with definitive purpose. You work to bring meaning to the life you lead. Enjoy your trip.”
With those words we head for open water. The management of the ship gets tricky with many ups and downs. The trip out to Hawaii is a long one taking many days. The crew gets restless. Bickering and fighting break out. Soon the crew is almost ready for a mutiny. The crew leaders of our ship are at their wits ends. “How can we manage these sailors?,” asks Arv Johnson, the Team manager of the ship. He hears no response and wonders if the ship will make it. The fighting from the deck below reaches grows louder and louder. He looks up and gives out a sigh of releif as the Hawaian Islands can be seen on the horizon.
Our ship heads full steam for port. The fighting and grumbling have reached a fever pitch. Arv hopes that land will come before a mutiny. Luckily the sight of the islands calms the sailors and we all prepare for port. As we pull up to the dock we are greeted by Rosa Say the Ho’ohana ambassador. She greets us all with an “Aloha” and listens intently to Arv as he explains the unrest aboard ship.
“I have just what you need Arv,'” she exclaimed and reached into her bag and brought out a large book. She handed the book to Arv and went on to describe her Aloha management system…
Aloha is within all of us, it is something we were born with. It is a feeling; a stirring in one’s soul that begs to be shared; a spirit as real as anything you can physically touch. You needn’t have been born in Hawaii to have it, or to manage with it, but what Hawaii teaches can help you live it.
Managing with Aloha is more than our book: it is the management practice at the core of all our coaching.
Values.
This may be the most over-used and hyped-up word in business-speak today. The intent behind all the discussion is admirable; we must practice better values if we are to improve the quality of the world we live in.Managing with Aloha brings the discussion home for the best group of influential movers and shakers there are: managers in business. This is what the book proposes: Hawaii may be optimally suited to take a leadership role globally in the pursuit of values-centered business, for in Hawaii people live with something good and right by its very nature. They live with Aloha and all it embraces. Where ever you may live, you do too.
Managing with Aloha explores nineteen different Hawaiian values, and how to bring these universal values to businesses today of every endeavor. We explore common sense, everyday approaches to blending the social and economic goals of business enterprise in ways that permeate our organizations and our community, defining a Hawaiian sensibility for the way we work. We learn to become great managers. And we learn to love our work.
Managers get their work done through others; it’s as simple as that. As a manager you have the potential to affect the lives of people in profound ways, something you need to understand and take responsibility for. The best way to manage someone well is to honor their values as you remain true to your own, and given their universal nature it is highly probable many of your values are shared. Our values define our behavior, and in business, consciously working on values becomes synonymous with writing the software that drives effective work processes.
Incorporating the language of values into a company’s culture demands meaningful communication, win-win agreement and long term commitment to excellence: it is a language of intention that helps us walk our talk with integrity. When this is in place, work is conducted strategically, consistently, and successfully. Managing with Aloha helps us see this, and it explains how the arms of Aloha embrace the capacity every manager has to make a positive difference in the work they do.
Both management and leadership demand much from people who choose those roles. Managing with Aloha gives managers and leaders everywhere the assurance that they indeed have the capacity to fulfill those high demands and answer even greater callings.
Every single day, somewhere in the world Aloha comes to life. As it lives and breathes, it defines the epitome of sincere, gracious, and intuitively perfect customer service given from one person to another. It is a phenomenon that managers everywhere must proactively begin to sustain and perpetuate in a manner designed to help us thrive. Managing with Aloha shows us how we can do just that.
Arv took the book in his hands and thumbed through it’s pages. “Will you coach us?” he asked knowing that something had to be done and soon. Rosa responded, “Lets get everyone together and have a discussion. I think we can create a Ho’ohana community right here onboard.”
Over the next few days Rosa coached the ships crew and leadership. She taught them various Hawaiian values and instilled in the leadership a daily 5 minute ritual that opened communication between the leadership and the crew. Things changed rapidly. Soon the chants were happy and joyous. “Aloha” was soon the greeting of choice.
Arv smiled and shook Rosa’s hand, “Your Managing with Aloha book has rescued our ship from the brink of destruction. How can we ever thank you?” Rosa just smiled and said “Pass it on to others who may need it.”
With that our story ends, the tropical winds blowing and the sun setting. Another glorious day in paradise!
