‘Ohana, your business and your community

In my book, Managing with Aloha, you’ll find that I mostly talk about community in the chapter on ‘Ohana. I’d like to share a short excerpt with you before we leave the month of August and our study of this value. A mere month does not do justice to the teachings of ‘Ohana, for in its richness it can add so much possibility to the workplace. It is my hope that this excerpt gives you a jumping off place to hatch some ideas of your own in how ‘Ohana can translate for you, and for your company.

Next month we jump to the teachings of another value, but ‘Ohana is one you can continue to learn in your practice of it every single day, where your personal life in the arms of family inspire you in your professional one.

Here is the excerpt:

The literal translation for ‘Ohana is family, however in Hawaii, within one’s ‘Ohana are those who are family, and those you choose to call your family. As a Hawaiian value, ‘Ohana is a human circle of complete aloha.

Like ‘Ohana, community is a sacred concept in Hawaii. Many believe that a community cannot be created without the foundation of a strong ‘Ohana to support it. Likewise an ‘Ohana can only get stronger when its connections include the embrace of the community that surrounds it. ‘Ohana and community are considered intertwined.

History helps us understand this, for Hawaiian families traditionally belonged to an ahupua‘a, a land division that was more than town or village. The ahupua‘a extended from the mountains to the sea, for in our volcanic island environment, different types of sustenance came from these varied elevations. Your ‘Ohana was responsible for stewardship of the land you occupied, and thus the entire ‘Ohana was bonded in work as well: Yours was a family of fishermen, or farmers or tradesmen. You were expected to share the bounty of your harvest or craft with all in the ahupua‘a, as they would share theirs with you, making the entire community healthy and strong. The community needed the ‘Ohana to care for the land that sustained them; the ‘Ohana needed the community’s reach over the entire ahupua‘a if they were to enjoy the best possible life.

As with the family connections to neighborhood, and sense of place, there is so much good business sense in making community connections.

For one thing, it’s terrific marketing. Let’s face it—customers are more inclined to spend a buck with you if they feel you are caring and socially responsible, and often the best way to demonstrate your caring is via community involvement. In addition to corporate initiatives, as a business we must promote and support the volunteerism of our employees within the community as Little League coaches, soccer moms, soup kitchen volunteers, companions for the elderly—wherever their own values drive them to be giving. As Mea Ho‘okipa they thrive with these additional expressions of their Aloha for others.

Often there are many rewards we gain back indirectly, such as their continuing education, their recognition of good service practices in other organizations, or their participation in fun and social outlets that de-stress and energize them. We may also gain the opportunity to lead and influence community changes that are healthy for both the community itself and thus for our business climate as a whole.

This is all part of ‘Ohana, the human circle of complete Aloha.

‘Ohana helps us see the tremendous worth held within community. A business cannot be all things to all people, and community is there to fill the pukas (the holes, the opportunity) and bridge the gaps. Community involvement promotes inclusiveness, open-mindedness and the willingness to seek a better way to live with each other harmoniously, teachings that are all promoted by an ‘Ohana.

Establishing healthy community networks that include your business concerns can counteract the fear of evolutionary change that neighborhoods are destined to go through. ‘Ohana is the most secure and comfortable support we have for facing truth, for ‘Ohana never loses hope. And with community involvement in particular, the lines between benchmarking new ideas, networking with divergent groups and education in general can become very pleasantly blurry; they all seek more knowledge. Knowledge brings hope, and ‘Ohana promotes it.

Community involvement also gives prospective candidates the opportunity to interact with your employees in a neutral environment. The reality of any job market is that the employees you really want to work with you are probably already employed. You need not resort to tactics aimed at stealing them away when they initiate the effort to seek you out because you have offered evidence to them that you can deliver great job satisfaction. The evidence? Your present employee, the one active in the community who is happy and speaks well of you and your business goals and ethics.

Are you taking the same risk by exposing your staff to other companies in your support of their volunteerism? Only if your own house is not in order. Only if your own company is not a healthy ‘Ohana in business. If it is, what they will see is how good they have it working with you; all they will feel is your support, your Aloha. They won’t give that up.

--- Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

A full index of this month’ articles:

1. ‘€˜Ohana, Community, and The ‘€˜Ohana in Business
2. How Strengths and Performance Coaching Intersect with Managing with Aloha
3. The ‘Ohana in Business is a Place for Business Partners
4. The Purpose-Finding of Ho‘ohana and Wabi-Sabi
5. Sunday Mālama: A Beginning
6. Every employee a Business Partner? Yep.
7. How good do you feel about working in business today?
8. 4 Things Managers Can Do to Bring Managing with Aloha to their Company Culture
9. An expression of Ho‘ohana: The Plastic Spork by Shawn Chambers
10. Sunday Mālama: Aug12'07 Spirit Spilling
11. Branding fame, the ability to provoke, and degrees of follow-up
12. Living the value of ‘Ohana in a disaster
13. MWA Success Stories! The Daily Five Minutes®
14. Coaching Debrief: Do with, not for, not instead
15. Sunday Mālama: Aug19'07 A Ma'alahi Persuasion for Calm
16. Blind Faith is not part of Unconditional Aloha in an ‘Ohana in Business
17. For an ‘Ohana in Business, work on Role, Behavior, and Consequence
18. Sunday Mālama: Aug26'07 Morning Pages, Artist Dates and Rhythm
19. ‘Ohana, the value of Family, and Hānai interpretations for Business