Pono is A Value you can See

We think of most values as quite intangible. For the most part, we understand them and can describe them, but it can be difficult to think of them in a very sensory way. Responsibility (Kuleana) and generosity (Lokomaika'i) for example, are not values that we associate with things we see, can touch or taste, though we certainly feel their effects, and can hear them in what people might say.

Pono, the value of balance and rightness, is different for me. I do think I can see it in people quite clearly. It is a relaxed ease and comfort, a serenity that pervades their being. Pono is a balance where you don't really have to work on maintaining it, for it just is. When things are Pono they aren't contrived, they are right.

I have a checklist for Pono in Managing with Aloha, one where you learn to recognize it in other people by looking for the signs of their contentment. In the three years the book has now been in print I have had dozens of managers tell me that it is one of their favorite tools I offer them, for when they read the seems-so-simple list it can trigger them into noticing certain influences which affect their staff, both good and bad, that they might otherwise miss. From Managing with Aloha:

Let me bring you back to the word contentment, and away from self-analysis for a moment. Take notice of your staff, your peers, your leadership team and your family, and ask yourself if Pono and the feeling of contentment is the image you see. It should be familiar and recognizable for you. Do you notice that they:

• Have personal control of their lives, easily accepting responsibility?
• Are involved in something meaningful outside of work?
• Are committed to a goal?
• Live within their passion?
• Are healthy, and their lifestyle contributes to their health?
• Don’t go it alone; they actively seek the company of others?
• Have a sense of humor, especially with their own blunders?
• Have values that nurture their soul and their spirit?
• Can openly share all these things and talk about them?

You will find that those who score high on this checklist have a great attitude about things in general. They are optimists, and very happily so, feeling very hopeful about what may lie ahead. They are realistic but involved, and engage in life as willing and active participants. They want to be right in the middle of it.

That's a great way for others to think about you, don't you think?