Lōkahi Teams: The ties that bind are your shared values

I am on Maui this week wrapping up my three-month MWA class series, A Ho‘okipa Summer, and it seems fitting for the last week of our Lōkahi study, as I am staying right on the beach.

Huh? The beach? What’s the connection?

From here I am able to look directly out on the ocean and remember a time I had worked with an extraordinary team. Lōkahi memories flood back with every wave that licks at the shoreline.

You have met this team in my book; they are the watermen (and woman) called the Alaka‘i Nalu of Hualalai. I shared their picture here.

Our association started rocky, just like the outcropping of lava that makes the north end of my Maui beach way less desirable for swimming. There was quite a bit of dissention within the group, always causing me to wonder how they could navigate their canoes with so much ugliness surging inside their heads ... surely they would get swamped! But no: They put aside their differences when they were out on the water, respecting the ocean and the canoe more than anything else. Yet once they were back on shore their “ocean spirit” disappeared all too quickly. We had to work hard to attain Lōkahi, making it even more sweet tasting (and long lasting) once we’d taken our bites of it.

THE MANA‘O OF THE ALAKA‘I NALU ~ ~ ~ “We will LEARN from all who offer their teaching, we will COACH each other and all who wish to learn, we will LIVE these roles with honor and humility.” —the commitment of the Alaka‘i Nalu of Hualalai

People who know of the complete story of the Alaka‘i Nalu will often ask me, “Where did you start?”

The answer will not surprise you dear readers; we started with values, identifying the ones we shared so that the ones we differed on could take a back seat and cease to matter as much. I started by asking them this question:

What is expected of every paddler, no matter which seat he or she may occupy?

The “seat” qualification was an important one for them, for choices are very carefully made in regard to which of six seats a paddler is assigned to. These were their answers, and you will instantly see why they could get along once in the canoe and on the water. The [brackets] are mine for a bit of more explanation.

1. The understanding that there is no room in the canoe for negativity.
2. A focus on the canoe. Feeling for her rhythm. Respect for her and her mana. [her divine power.]
3. Knowledge of the ocean conditions, and of your own capacity. [on a canoe you never fake it, and pretend you can do something you cannot do. However if you can, you do.]
4. The open-mindedness to critique, to learn and grow your technique. You must be coachable [by every other paddler, expert in the seat they sit in. Ultimately, all decisions are made by the steersman].
5. The self-discipline and motivation needed to make a commitment to the entire crew.
6. The commitment and desire to achieve the goal of the crew before your own. [Take notice of how number 5 and 6 are different.]
7. Humility. Know that every race will be a new race.
8. Aloha, and Aloha ‘Āina. [Aloha ‘Āina is love of the land, the ocean, and sense of place.]

This is how their list was eventually translated into the Language of Intention and language of values in Managing with Aloha. Again, they were the authors, I, as their manager the facilitator. This was about their team, and at the time, we all knew I was part of their team temporarily.

• Aloha ‘Āina— Love, thankfulness and respect for this land, for our ocean, for this place.

• Alaka‘i— Leadership. To lead with humility in the sharing of our knowledge.

• Nānā i ke kumu— We look to the source. We return regularly to the wells of life.

• Kūlia i ka nu‘u— Strive to the top. We will always strive to do our best.

• Kākou— Inclusiveness. We are in this together, all of us.

• Laulima— Many hands. The task becomes a pleasure when we do it together.

• Lōkahi— Cooperation. We seek agreement and harmony, and we feel our unity.

Once the Alaka‘i Nalu saw for themselves how strong they were in the beliefs and convictions they shared, in the values they chose to hold, they sought to uphold their own dignity. Pettiness melted away. There were problems we thought we would have to eventually deal with that seemed to magically disappear of their own accord: Stronger values and better intentions replaced them.

If you feel there is any rockiness or dissention on your team, or that our earlier efforts this month with Lōkahi are more challenging than they should have been, go back to your core values. Identify them, for they are your strongest predicators of behavior, and further, they are strengths, not weaknesses.

Values drive behavior. Do you truly know which values are those of your team?