Say No to Resolutions: Choose your Values instead.

In my January newsletter, I talked about Ho'ohana as one way "you can stop with unrealistic New Years Resolutions forever. That's right, forever." On Talking Story yesterday, I shared  another great strategy that Harry is using: Tell me your One & Only: 1 Request = 9 Benefits. Like Ho'ohana, this is another way, directly tied in to the value alignment strategy of Managing with Aloha:

Say no to those automatic-pilot January resolutions you've gotten trapped in before, and choose your 2008 values instead.

We all have values, a whole bunch of them. However the whole list of our individually-held values is not always in play.

• You choose your passion-critical ones individually with Ho'ohana.
• In the workplace, great managers help their teams choose their mission-critical values within strategic planning.

In my coaching, I have a list of 42 different values I use to narrow down a person's hot buttons (their passion-criticals), and to begin our conversations about how different ones will come into play for them in different situations. The January tradition we coach with is a tweak on that exercise. We narrow those same 42 down to four and only four values that will be our focus for the year to come. In practical, operational terms, they are quarter-intense (2nd Qtr, 3rd Qtr, 4th Qtr, hit the ground running with next year's 1st Qtr), but all four values are kept front and center to our attentions the entire year through. As the year proceeds, they help focus us on the essentials of our strategic initiatives (whether for the company's mission or for our training programs), and they flavor the intensity of our behavior in a very intentional way.

That is the core belief of Managing with Aloha: Values drive behavior. So get the behaviors you want by keeping the values you revere front and center at all times.

7. You will best get things done through others by incorporating the values you share with them, values that embrace collaboration, and values that also are fundamental good practices … and Aloha is the most universally held value of them all.

~ from The Core 21 Beliefs of Managing with Aloha

I'll give you an example using my own company, Say Leadership Coaching and Ho'ohana Publishing. These are the four values we have chosen for 2008, with a little explanation for each. I'll start with a 5th which is my carry-over from 2007 to help you see how it has already affected what gets written here! (and the one we've chosen for our first quarter will not be a surprise to you):

1. October - December 2007:
   Ho'omau (persistence and perseverance), specifically with our Ma'alahi (less is more) intentions. Continue with the right things: Those that are conducive to our 'Imi ola, (best possible life) and to the essentials and creativity we want to nurture [defining essentials and creativity drivers was our 2007 focus at SLC/HP].
2. January - March 2008:
   Pono, for a newly designed Rightness and Balance as a solo entrepreneur. My we's will steadily become I's. As I had shared with my SLC newsletter subscribers this past summer, I am transitioning our 'Ohana in Business where every single person becomes a solo entrepreneur, and April 1 is the transition date where everyone is officially on their own. Pono will continue to be my year-long self-reckoning, where I can continually ask myself, "Is this action Pono for me, and is my new business model Pono for my customers and all other stakeholders?"
3. April - June 2008:
   Kākou naturally flows from this, for there ARE other stakeholders to every business, even a so-called "solo" one. I know I will need to work on all my communications (in person, by voice, digital, web presence etc.) in doing my transitions to outsourcing and partnerships which I may not presently have. (Joanna, these are the partnerships I was referring to.) Take note that I have already switched to those I's here, however we did come up with these together, so we can keep our paths aligned, being there for each other as we all go through the same thing, just with a different relationship.
4. July - September 2008:
   Alaka'i, will maintain my focus on leadership. This is something I know I need to do for the continued health and vitality of the Managing with Aloha movement, for our Ho'ohana Community (you are important to me!) and so I can hopefully complete my second book by year-end (The realist in me knows the book will still be my big stretch!)
5. October - December 2008:
   Nānā i ke kumu is authenticity and truth, and by this time I know I will have to look to my source in reflecting back on how I'm doing before I look forward to 2009.

At this point, other Hawaiian words you may recognize as MWA values get woven into my statements because they've been carried over as our language of intention (like 'Imi ola did). I will continue to have 12 values for MWAC - one for each month, but you can expect they will align in some way so I keep my focus squarely leveled on my ho'ohana intentions. For SLC/HP and my personal ho'ohana (I don't separate them), those are the 2008 mission-critical 4 for me: Pono, Kākou, Alaka'i and Nānā i ke kumu.

This is where values simply blow the lid off the boxy emptiness of New Years Resolutions: When you tap into your personal, innately held values, you can trust in them, therefore trusting in yourself and your unbelievable capacity. Your values reveal the all of you, and the all of your aloha spirit.

What will be your values in focus for 2008?

Be brave! Share just one or all four here with us, whether in Hawaiian, English, or another language - our values are universal. You might find that you entice me to write about your value in the coming months, or you might find a partner here in our Ho'ohana Community to buddy-up with in some collaborative peer to peer coaching. After all, that is aloha.
~ Rosa