What is "Say Alaka‘i" all about?
By Rosa Say
Aloha mai kākou! I am happy to be here, joining the Honolulu Advertiser’s hui of bloggers to write for you twice each week on management and leadership, the action-packed disciplines which we in Hawai‘i collectively know as Alaka‘i. To start us off today, a bit about why I write and do the work I do, and why I am hoping you will read, talk story with me, and begin to Say “Alaka‘i”
Work and Energy: Learn more, get more
The good-to-great practices of management and leadership combine into the intentional work I love; I refer to them as my Ho‘ohana (purposeful work). It is an honor to be sharing what I know about these noble and empowering efforts with you, so that we can learn even more about them together. We can BE even more: Our professional work can become what we think of as our personal worth in serving others well, for these are service disciplines, services we give our fellow human beings.
You’ll discover that ‘Ike loa (the Hawaiian value of seeking knowledge and wisdom) is a core value for me, one I will often rely on to help us. Our continuous learning is important so we can achieve the greatness we are capable of:
My Mana‘o (what I believe to be true)
I believe that great leadership creates positive energy, and that great management channels that energy into the best possible results, delivering healthy, meaningful and fulfilling work to people in the process.
This creation and channeling of work-connected energy is something you can do for yourself; management and leadership isn’t only imposed upon you —unless that’s all you choose.
You’re the manager, and you’re the leader. Yes, you
Whatever job you now are in, whether you have an employer or are self-employed, work for hire or volunteer, chances are that you are managing and leading to some degree every day. We must self-manage our behavior, and we self-lead well first, for doing so best comes before we can have any degree of credibility or success with these disciplines managing and leading others. Further, I want to help you learn to do so eagerly recognizing the rewards that managing and leading deliver: I believe we need more management and leadership, and not less.
My approach here will be to treat management and leadership as specific actions and energy creators, not jobs, titles or positions on an organizational chart, for I think to do so would be far too boring and limiting — we can have more than that. We need more than that.
For those who may already be familiar with my writing, the workplace philosophy I call Managing with Aloha presents the case of management as a calling and a profound responsibility. However we’ll challenge my own MWA insistence about that within this blog, for I do believe that everyone can be a manager and everyone can be a leader IF they choose to be, and IF they have good intentions within their motivations.
The beliefs of a calling can be learned, accepted and internalized; we do so by aligning them with our values. The resulting opportunity appears everywhere, and it can be seized. Yet make no mistake about it; the responsibilities of the management and leadership callings remain profound ones. We’ll talk about that too.
I have a mission with writing here. What is yours in the reading?
My personal mission is to reinvent the very nature of work as we know it, for our time devoted to work (hana) consumes so much of our lives. To simply punch a clock and go through the motions of a routine day is such a waste; far better to make every effort an intentional and purposeful effort. Apathy, boredom and mediocrity have no place in a fulfilling and energetic life. You were meant for better.
Now I’m no Pollyanna; there are two sides to this picture aren’t there. We know that management and leadership can be really good, or they can be really bad. I’ll bet you have personal experiences to offer up in evidence of either case. Unfortunately, the bad and downright ugly can tip the balance scales way too often. Say “Alaka‘i” will seek to change that, tipping them the other way of the good.
Management and leadership are disciplines: Like so much else in life, the critical variable is the human element— it’s us. We’re both the good news and the bad news, for the disciplines of management and leadership are like lumps of clay in our hands: What will we shape them to be, and why?
And what about that thing we call ‘worth?’ Will our results simply be documented and archived away in a binder on a shelf, or will they become part of our ongoing work culture, banishing mediocrity forever? Will they be our history, or will they be our ever-evolving story, with the greatest chapters still to be written, and the book a resource never closed? Can our worthwhile work today become our greatest legacy tomorrow? Where does the ‘in-service’ part come in?
Say “Alaka‘i” and talk to me!
Exploring those questions will be what I write about here, and I will be asking you to talk back and not just read. I am hoping that Say “Alaka‘i” will become a dialogue between us; a place we talk story about what management and leadership can deliver to us in Hawai‘i when they are done right. I am exceptionally grateful to the Honolulu Advertiser for giving us this forum of positive expectancy.
We have incredible sense of place to draw from. As I wrote in my book, and speak about constantly to spread the message best I can, I believe that Hawai‘i is optimally suited to lead the world in modeling values-centered work, I truly do, for we live with something good and right by its very nature: Aloha. How incredibly blessed we are to have Aloha as the rootstock of all our values, all our strengths, and all our collective mana‘o (beliefs and convictions). Aloha constantly challenges us to be better.
Ho‘ohana Kākou: It takes all of us to reap the good and make it better; will you join me?
There may be a third day of posting for Say “Alaka‘i”
I say there may be because a third day, Sunday, will depend on you.
I will blog here each Tuesday and Thursday. We will add Sunday as the day I respond in more detail to any dialogue we’ve started in the comment boxes, or I can answer specific questions you write in about, so email me at any time. BE Alaka‘i to start, by leading me to the writing you feel you will benefit from the most.
Mahalo for reading today, and I hope to welcome you here often.
Say “Alaka‘i” and we will Ho‘ohana together.
Start our talk-story today!
Leave me a comment and share your aloha, would you? What are your questions about management and leadership? Give me your expectations; what are you hoping I will write about?
Say “Alakaʻi”
November 18th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Rosa,
I wanted to be the first to say how glad I am that you are writing at this site! I hope many will take advantage of your wisdom and experience.
Reinventing work is easier to write than accomplish. One of my recent experiences (or management failures) was attempting to automate many annual procedures. Regardless of effort, each year, the same questions returned. I developed a procedure manual, provided training, but these did not seem to help as much as I desired.
So, my first question is what is the most effective way to streamline business so that leadership is more free to create and innovate?
Next, somewhat related, how do you introduce change into a stable, traditional system?
Mahalo dear friend!
November 18th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Aloha, dearest Rosa, and congratulations on this newest part of your journey! I look forward to what you write here, as I look forward to what you write everywhere. Every bit of you, including your words, has a gem-like quality.
For those of you who are new to Rosa, you are absolutely in for a treat. You may have noticed in her writing that she's wise, focused, dedicated to her mission, and unfailingly generous and gracious. Getting to know her (whether you ever interact with her--and I suggest you do--or not) will broaden your horizons and teach you new, glorious, and valuable things.
And so it begins....
November 18th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Rosa
It is wonderful to see your wisdom shared in a new and different location. I hope your readers become dedicated followers as have so many other online readers become your friends.
Congratulations from the other side of the Pacific
Chris (Melbourne Australia)
November 18th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Aloha Rosa, and congratulations on your new position here. It's great to see you connecting with a new readership and also exploring some new dimensions of the timeless themes of the values of aloha.
Values, purpose and intention can make such a difference to the way that we feel about 'work'. Even the word 'work' can make us feel heavy, deadened, burdened whereas if we shift to the focus on what we're trying to do, and why, and how it connects with our core values, what we're about (and yes, where we come from) it starts to feel like task, a project, a challenge that we can approach with more vigour and energy.
Well that's how I tend to feel after spending some time in your (virtual) company anyway!
November 18th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Aloha Rosa!
Alaka‘i!! I'll be here to read. I start my new job tomorrow and this came just in time.
Love and ALOHA,
Auntie Lynn
November 18th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Aloha Rosa, This is wonderful, a way to share with more people your message of aloha in leadership. I look forward to following and joining in on the discussion. Mahalo for all the good work you do to make this world a better place.
November 18th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Rosa,
I wanted to wish you all the very best in your new adventure. It will be inspiring to see you pursue this new adventure and your dream.
You have given us so many insights over the past few years, I'm sure this new blog will be a great success.
You are a great model for leadership and 'leadership using values' so I'm sure you will have a great deal we can learn.
Best Wishes,
Bob
November 18th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Dean, you’ve started us off with some great questions, and I will defer them to another post – and soon!
Mahalo Stacy, way to set some big expectations! I do like how you signed off though, for we will fulfill them together, so yes, “and so it begins.”
Ah Chris, you have given me another idea! We should talk about ‘followership’ in regard to new global friendships; Alaka‘i does give us good guidance in that; a time-honored value for new digital connectivity in these M/L service disciplines.
Good intentional words shared about ‘work’ Joanna. Here is the way I like to define it: —what I intend to do for me, myself and I. When I “work on something” I am working on something useful or important to me in some way. As you said, “we can [then] approach [our work] with more vigour and energy.”
Ho‘omaika‘i ‘ana Auntie Lynne – Congratulations on the new job! We shall look forward to the talk story you share as we put Alaka‘i to work with you.
Mahalo nui Susie. I love blogging for the synergy that is created in these conversations, and I am so honored by your intention to be a part of our talk story here!
Thank you for your encouragement Bob! Like Aloha, Alaka‘i has wonderful integration with the other universal values of Hawai‘i and we will indeed explore those connections.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
“Alaka‘i” Rosa, the readers of the Honolulu will greatly benefit from your exuberance and wisdom. You are truly Hawaiian at heart and easily connect to your audience. I continually learn from you.
All the best in this new adventure.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Centering our "attention and intention" consciously to our values has a centering effect that I have found heals, empowers and invigorates me.
It all begins with with awareness. I think Hawai'i is uniquely positioned to spearhead a revolution in work exactly because Aloha is the root stalk.
Go Hawai'i!
November 18th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Aloha Rosa,
I believe we have witnessed the success of values-centered leadership in the election of our 44th President, born here in the land of aloha.
To quote you:
"I believe that Hawai‘i is optimally suited to lead the world in modeling values-centered work, I truly do, for we live with something good and right by its very nature: Aloha. How incredibly blessed we are to have Aloha as the rootstock of all our values, all our strengths, and all our collective mana‘o (beliefs and convictions)."
And I would add, we are now blessed to have a leader who has shown us that we can and do bring this aloha to the world, "yes, we can."
me ke aloha, Ka'imi
November 18th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Robyn I think the blogging platform has been such a gift, in that it enables that audience connection you mention, making it so easy. The best stuff happens in these comment boxes!
Greg, you are singing my song! Well said, and I would add, Go world! for we’re all in this together, kākou.
Aloha e Ka‘imi. I would agree that our President-elect Barack Obama has done a magnificent job of making leadership compelling right now; as a result we are charged with possibility-thinking in that energy I mentioned here. I too love his “yes we can” mantra; for I will coach managers to understand that when someone says “I can’t,” what it probably means is that “I won’t” —they need to dig deeper for the reason why.
When he gave his election night speech in Grant Park, I was pleased to hear Mr. Obama set his expectations for our service and sacrifice, and allegiance to each other as people. Now it’s our turn too: There is leadership potential in all of us.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Aloha, Ms. Say ... congratulations and best wishes! I look forward to reading ... and learning!
November 20th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Aloha Mike, thank you. I look forward to your sharing here as well, for Alaka‘i-inspired work thrives there at your Pacific Monarch Hotel! We will learn more together.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Aloha, Rosa. I've been a subscriber, follower and "lurker" of yours for a few years now, ever since founding my own real estate brokerage on the Big Island. I have found your words of wisdom both inspirational and comforting and wanted to say Mahalo nui loa during this week of Thanks-giving for all that you have given and continue to give to those of us who hold hope that business can still be transformed in this country. Thank you.
I am hoping you will have some ideas for us who wish to counteract all the negative talk out there with positivity - without sounding "Polyanna"-ish or like I'm out of touch with reality. I'm tired of hearing all the complaining and the finger-pointing - our worldwide economic situation is as it is, so how do we get on with it and start creating a different reality?? The agents who work for me are dying on the vine and I want to do everything possible to give them hope to hang on and to know that what we're experiencing now will not be forever. Mahalo for your guidance, I look forward to following you here.
Warmest Aloha - Katie Minkus.
November 24th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Aloha Katie,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. You will find that the article I have ready to post tomorrow morning (Tuesday, 11/25) will begin to address your concern; I so agree with you that “our worldwide economic situation is as it is,” and so we must “get on with it and start creating a different reality.”—well said. [The article will be called Leaders Don’t Wait for Any Cycle.”]
I think we are in a time where we are all craving action. Please don’t stop your positive voice – we need the optimism, however I think the best way to not sound like we have our heads in the clouds is to attach our optimism to some concrete actions which get detrimental situations to shift in a more positive way. In other words, we need to match the talk with action which others can respond to by thinking, “Okay, I see what I can do now too.”
I think we also need to feel better about confident incremental actions and not just the big radical ones (or bandaids like bail outs!) We’ll talk about more ideas for sure; and not just mine. One of the reasons I am most excited about Say “Alaka‘i” is so that we can create more collaboration between us; there are a lot of good ideas out there just waiting for a forum for them, and for people like you to take up the charge! Mahalo nui loa Katie.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Aloha Rosa,
I am so glad to still be able to find your encouragement, humor and ideas. I refer back to your past newsletters for inspiration and to reconnect with my Ho'ohana on a regular basis. I started out this year trying to find positivity and you are definitely a source for that. My very best wishes for you and this new medium.
Mahalo
Dawn
February 26th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Aloha Dawn, how wonderful to be found again in such a joyful way! Thank you for your good wishes, and I do hope we hear more from you on these pages, for I know how much you have to share within the Aloha-sensibility of your mana‘o. You are a leader we can all learn so much from.