Day One Essay for August 2008: Alaka‘i, Chiefs and Indians

I find myself thinking about leadership an awful lot lately. Yes, our upcoming state and federal elections have a lot to do with it. So does the less-than-healthy economy, so does the war in the Middle East, so does global warming and our energy crisis, so does the quality of education that I realize my children (and yours) are getting (or not getting) in their colleges as 21st century teachers struggle to reinvent their curriculum and their methods.

However these are just the biggies that we all hear about and grapple with daily. There are a myriad of smaller reasons too. They are ‘smaller’ in that they don’t make the headline news as frequently (if at all), but they are not small in their importance.

For instance, there is the need for ethics as the right thing to do versus the politically right strategic advantage.

There is the need for bravery with innovation, and the need for new advancements in science.

There is the need for societal coping with increased aging, with more support for new family structures as we all live longer and with increasingly varied interests.

There is the need for more individualism and less conformity, more youth-infused change, and more senior-respected knowledge brokering.

There are the needs which can be addressed by exponential growth in social entrepreneurship and non-profiteering.

There is the opportunity for healthy, collaborative competition, where those competing to unveil the next big idea are working on the greater good of our populace and our planet.

There is, there is, and there is not.
Opportunity for caring and courageous leadership is spreading like wildfire.

I find that I am thinking about leadership an awful lot because to be perfectly blunt, I miss it terribly. Remarkable leadership would make me wildly jubilant (buzzwords are fascinating, aren’t they?) however I must say I’d do cartwheels and sing out loud for more basically sound leadership too. I crave new heroes for our modern, right-now world, heroes who inspire the rest of us to be better than we now are. I crave for heroes everywhere, and I want lots of them.

When I have cravings like this, cravings which cause me to yearn for better answers to my frustrations, there is a place I know to look deeper into. That place is this sweet spot where my personal values match up to the most touch points with the values of Managing with Aloha. Therefore, our value for the month of August is Alaka‘i, the Hawaiian value of leadership. It is time.

This month, you will find that my Tuesday Essays will primarily talk about SELF-LEADERSHIP.

Sure, we need to elect the best leaders we can, and I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the platforms of each leader you select in any forum, and each politician you will vote for: Be part of an enlightened, well-informed electorate wherever you may live, and please, please, exercise your right to vote. Be articulate and vocal: Voice your opinion so that those you support will clearly understand they are elected to represent you and the constituency you share residency within.

However if you crave exciting new leadership too, you know that is not enough, don’t you. We need generously large doses of self-leadership, and we need it everywhere and in everyone, for when we work together, we get pretty profound results. We are unstoppable.

I want unstoppable.

I want to be a new hero, and I want you to be one too. There is a lot of opportunity to go around, and I’ve never been one who subscribes to the belief that there can be too many Chiefs and not enough Indians, at least not when both Chiefs and Indians are working with great values, and leading with Ho‘ohana and ‘Imi ola-generated intention and passion. Good leadership has very little (if anything) to do with titles, positions, or power; both Chiefs and Indians can have it. The only question is if they call upon it and use it.

So call yourself Chief, call yourself Indian- BE the leader you want to be. This month, we can learn to lead together right here on Managing with Aloha Coaching with Alaka‘i: I do hope you will join me.

There are four Alaka‘i Tuesdays ahead of us this month: Mark your calendar and be here for the learning. Last month we discovered just how much learning can do for us, and learning leadership in the value-alignment of Alaka‘i will create new energy for you, something that great leaders need for the propulsion they are destined for.

To prepare, do spend some time between now and Tuesday reviewing the chapter on Alaka‘i in Managing with Aloha; it spans pages 169 through 180. Then sit and write down your Ho‘ohana connections – what learning this month will be most meaningful and useful to you? (Review M.U.H. here: Learning as a process: Beginning, Middle, and End.)

Meanwhile, how about we talk story a bit? I said, “There is, there is, and there is not. Opportunity for caring and courageous leadership is spreading like wildfire.” And I gave you some examples of opportunity which have been on my mind recently. What opportunities for great leadership have been on you mind? Get us on board as part of your informed constituency: The comments are open.

Let’s talk story; we Ho‘ohana together, Kākou.
Hoping to hear from you!

~ Rosa

Comments

[tim]

Rosa:
One of my favorite posts that you've ever written is the 12 RULES FOR SELF-LEADERSHIP. I keep it on my cell phone and pull it out to read on occasion. It is some timeless advice. I hope that you will include a link to that for your readers this month.

One of the FIRST things that I coach, teach, and mentor student leaders on is LEADING YOURSELF FIRST. This sets the tone for every other type of leadership that one is involved in. I look forward to your posts this month and join you in waving the banner for being the best leader of ME that I can be.

[Rosa Say]

Aloha Kakahiaka Tim, so good to hear those 12 rules have been helpful for you! Yes, you will see them this month, refreshed for new commitments to our own growth, for what you say is spot on - we must lead ourselves first before we presume to lead others. Your students are blessed that you learn with them and do not just teach at them.