Ho‘ohanohano: No more jerks for managers

Aloha mai kākou ~ welcome to Managing with Aloha Coaching and the month of March, 2008.

Our value for the month is Ho‘ohanohano, presented in Chapter 13 of Managing with Aloha.

When I initially wrote Managing with Aloha, there was very little question for me about the order that the nineteen values within the book lined up in so they’d make the most sense to a reader as a whole philosophy. They had a chapter by chapter rhythm that was very fitting at the time in just about every way that I would think about them. (I explain the order in a section at the front of MWA called, How best to read this book —I will reprint it for you at the end of this essay.)

However I will often get a different order experience for MWA in the writing of our value of the month program here (and as I have done for several organizations for alignment with their specific value statements). As we studied Kuleana last month, the value that kept talking to me in the background of our discussions was Ho‘ohanohano, and soon there was no question for me that it would be the value we focused on during the month of March. In a way, we are continuing what we’ve begun to speak of in February, and this is the Kuleana connection:

Ho‘ohanohano teaches us to take responsibility for the inner spirit that drives us, creates us and moves us toward the actions we choose to take. When we accept this responsibility, incorporating it into our Kuleana, we begin to think of ourselves as just the stewards of something greater—we treat everyone with dignity and with respect as a way of appreciating our own dignity as human beings, and in a way, getting our own spirit to be better deserving.

Where the connection was strongest for me was in thinking about how this plays out in the role of the manager, and what greater possibilities exist than what many may be accustomed to, thus my title for this, my Day One Essay for March.

A manager’s “jerk” status may be earned at times, but often it is the unfortunate perception of the work that manager gets trapped in delivering —work quite different from what should be the role of that manager.

It doesn’t have to be that way, and Ho‘ohanohano can help.

Ho‘ohanohano Honor the dignity of others. Conduct yourself with distinction, and cultivate respectfulness. ~ Ho‘ohanohano. Honor the dignity of others. Help them find their own nobility. ~ Treat others well in honor of the health of their spirit. ~ Honor the intelligence of others—trust it is there, and they are learners. ~ Conduct yourself with distinction, by honoring your own dignity and self-respect. Act with integrity. ~ Cultivate an inclusive attitude, and seek to demonstrate your respect for others—always.

Learning Ho‘ohanohano is learning to master the personal discipline of Managing with Aloha. It is a self-reckoning of personal behavior wherein you are intellectually honest about how well you do with living and working with aloha, and in conducting yourself with distinction — with aloha distinction. What does that mean?

• Living with aloha is about honoring your own values, and behaving accordingly.

• Working with aloha is about honoring both your values and those you've signed on for honoring in your workplace, behaving well at work too.

How does this connect to the role of the manager? Every company must state their clear expectations of a manager’s behavior, and those in charge must continually coach them in delivering it at every level of an organization. Managers must model the behavior they want everyone else to display, and conducting themselves with aloha distinction means there is simply no room for jerks. Instead, managers become champions of the spirit. Your manager becomes someone you want to be around because of how they bring the best out in you.

Ho‘ohanohano helps by giving managers a mantra of dignity and respect for everyone. It becomes their noble purpose and wholly accepted Kuleana.

I believe that personal dignity is about poise and self-respect first; both qualities are needed if you are to conduct yourself with distinction. Managers must be worthy of the esteem and honor of their position, always conscious of the example they set for others. Correction of their role helps in their self-esteem and confidence with achieving this.

Both management and leadership are highly visible—your visibility is expected, and this is something a manager must continually be conscious of. What you say must match up to what you do. What you teach must match up to what you demonstrate. What you expect from others must be what you expect from yourself. The bigger one’s title, the more behavior must be beyond reproach: It must inspire. Every manager, every employee, must ask themselves how they define acting with honor, with dignity and with integrity, and they must strive to do so daily.

These are the things we will explore this month as a strong, continuous reconstruction to the role of the manager we started to speak of in February.

This March, Value your Month, and Value your Life, right here with us on Managing with Aloha Coaching. If you are a manager, this is the month to adopt your own mantra of dignity and respect. Along the way, you will learn to wear the nobility of your profession, becoming so much more comfortable with the way it fits you.
Let’s Ho‘ohana,
~ Rosa Say

Footnote: As promised, this is the chapter order of Managing with Aloha for those who may not yet have my book (you can buy it here :)

~ Chapter 1 is devoted to a discussion of Aloha itself.
~ Chapters 2, 3, and 4 will explore your purpose, your mission, your goals, and your passion for achieving them.
~ With Chapters 5 and 6 we address achievement, and how it is best defined for you, for your company, and for your customers. Chapter 7 reveals my belief that ‘Ohana (family) is a wonderful form for the practice of Aloha.
~ With ‘Ohana in place to sustain your efforts and gain you community support, Chapters 8 through 13 explore the nuts and bolts of day to day management: we discuss concepts like teamwork, win-win agreements, responsibility, motivation, training programs, communication, and conduct.
~ Chapter 14 introduces you to Alaka‘i, the value of leadership, and it contains a discussion of how management and leadership differ.
~ At this point you’ve learned quite a lot, and in Chapters 15 and 16, Mālama and Mahalo will address how best to take inventory of your assets and care for them.
~ I end with Nānā i ke kumu (look to your source) and Pono (rightness and balance) in the book’s final chapters, for these are values that will help you discover your own source of strength and the essentials that keep you grounded.

Photo Credit: Tolerance found on Flickr by Pulpolux !!!

Comments

[Steve Sherlock]

from your inspiration Rosa, I summarize a sherku: Ho‘ohanohano

begin to think of
yourself as the loyal steward
of something much greater

[Rosa Say]

Thank you Steve! That captures the essence of Ho‘ohanohano so well.

[Rocky]

Your description of Ho‘ohanohano sounds very much like a definition of Character. I think it is imperative that a manager/leader have a very strong sense of character. You wrote in your article:

Honor the dignity of others.
Conduct yourself with distinction, and cultivate respectfulness.

~ Ho‘ohanohano. Honor the dignity of others. Help them find their own nobility.
~ Treat others well in honor of the health of their spirit.
~ Honor the intelligence of others—trust it is there, and they are learners.
~ Conduct yourself with distinction, by honoring your own dignity and self-respect. Act with integrity.
~ Cultivate an inclusive attitude, and seek to demonstrate your respect for others—always.

I think this is probably the best description of character that a leader needs have that I have ever come across. I really like the following quote By legendary coach and leader John Wooden:

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

I get the feeling that Ho‘ohanohano is not pulling the wool over peoples eyes and trying to make them think you are something that you are not. By your definition above Ho‘ohanohano is about being genuine, authentic, and real. 3 great character traits. I am looking forward to learning more as we concentrate on this months Value. Thanks.

[Rosa Say]

Rocky, your John Wooden quote brought something back to mind for me, a favorite metaphor for character that I first saw in a Stephen Covey 7 Habits training. Our class facilitator showed us a picture of a massive iceberg, and she described the portion of the ice above the water's surface as personality. In comparison, she referred to the more massive part under the water's surface as character. Usually only 1/8th to 1/10th of an iceberg is above the waterline. That part consists of snow, which is not very compact. The ice in the cold core is very compact (and thus relatively heavy) and keeps the vast bulk of the iceberg under water. Her point was that personality is as airy and inconsequential to the iceberg as snow, however character is what really defines and shapes us, and who we really are.

I do love the character connection Rocky - mahalo. We'll carry it with us this month!