For an ‘Ohana in Business, work on Role, Behavior, and Consequence

When we speak of being an ‘Ohana in Business, one of the things that is critically important for a company’s visionary clarity and the execution predicating success, is answering this question:

In an ‘Ohana in Business, how does a manager

“conduct oneself with distinction” (Ho‘ohanohano) with both

the personal intimacy and unconditional acceptance of family values (‘Ohana),

AND the professionalism and growth potential of Alaka‘i (great management and leadership)?

In short, by working on these Constant Goals of Behavioral Consistency:

a) ROLE: Everyone’s role (role, not only “job” to be done) must be clear, and accountability in those roles must be clear.

b) BEHAVIOR: There must be exceptional modeling of “living and working with aloha” by top level managers before there can be any “managing and leading with aloha” at all.

c) CONSEQUENCE: There must be consequences for poor, mediocre, and status quo performance and desirable rewards for great performance. In other words, good enough CANNOT BE good enough!

These are constant goals. I am certain I can find work to be done on these three goals in every single company on the planet, even in those that are exceptionally successful, for change will happen for them too.

What these three things have in common is clarity in expectations. In the work I do as a workplace aloha coach, something becomes more and more apparent to me every day: Great leaders must be obsessed with making all expectations clear, with roles, jobs, decisions, communications, measurement, results, time – with virtually everything you can think of.

Be a broken record of the right messages. Err on the side of repeating yourself. Ask questions that help you figure out if there is clear understanding, and make it safe for people to give all answers – the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. Don’t spoon-feed; challenge thinking and then verify that you have arrived at the same best answer. When there is any communication breakdown, be adamant in following up to discover the root cause so it doesn’t happen again. Never blame; coach for “the next time” and expect improvement.

Pursue clarity relentlessly in roles, behavioral expectations, and performance consequences, and you will leapfrog significantly no matter what the rest of your strategic goals might be.

Comments

[Priscilla Palmer]

You have been tagged for The Personal Development List (See my site for details), I would love to have you participate.

[Rosa Say]

Hello Priscilla, thank you for visiting; that is quite a line-up of talent you have assembled at your site!

Dear MWAC readers,
I understand I have Joanna Young of Coaching Wizardry to thank for this honor, and you may want to visit her posting as well:
http://coachingwizardry.typepad.com/coachingwizardry/2007/08/removing-the-ch.html

She talks about "Removing the chippings," a thought I like very much. Here is how she begins:

I don't know about you but I have mixed feelings about the term 'personal development'. I know it's a significant motivator for many people, and I know many great writers, teachers and coaches who work under the banner of personal development. But at the same time the words carry a lingering sense of 'shoulds' and 'expectations' - or at least that's how they resonate in my particular map of the world.

I am more attracted to the idea that human beings are already complete, already perfect. And that we do not need to develop so much as unfurl, or blossom. Nick Smith at Life 2.0 had some interesting perspectives on this in the context of psychotherapy. He compares the work of the therapist to the creative power of an artist like Michelangelo, sculpting not to create something new but rather, removing the chippings to what is already there and perfectly formed.

He quotes Michelangelo: "the sculptor's hand can only break the spell to free the figures slumbering in the stone." I love this thought - it makes me wonder about the figures that are slumbering within us, and what happens when we start to wake up...

[Joanna Young]

Dear Rosa, it was my pleasure to nominate you.

As I said to you recently, you have helped me to realise that which I already knew, but did not know that I knew. That to me is the mark of an amazing coach. Thank you.

Joanna