February 2004: On Aloha - Part 1

Aloha mai kakou,

Last September, I shared with you that I created Say Leadership Coaching (SLC) to focus solely on the part of my prior job that I loved the most: coaching other managers. I had enjoyed my position at the Hualalai Resort, however I'd found that being an executive did not afford me enough time to work with my management staff in the way I felt was most effective and most rewarding, and I felt compelled to clear the clutter from my long list of responsibilities.

Since then, many of you are aware that I started my practice with a few corporate accounts. I've found that news was misleading for some, for on more than one occasion recently I've been asked if I would consider working one on one with individuals and not companies. Of course! That is truly the heart of coaching, and often those I coach are much more comfortable working with me directly versus through their employer. The SLC program I have for this is called A'o Alaka'ina, and new this month is an informal version of the program at reduced rates specifically designed for you, the individual managers who are part of this Ho'ohana network.

It has never been my intent to sell anything to anyone in my monthly Ho'ohana e-letter, and I only include this news here to share (and perhaps clear up) with you what SLC is all about: helping managers be better at what they do, for I strongly believe that to be a manager is to touch another's life in a profound way. If you'd like to know more about A'o Alaka'ina, call or send me an email back and I'll forward an electronic brochure to you to look over (update: now in its entirety on this website) - take this link: A'o Alaka'ina.

So what else is new for February? Here's a better question: what will make it new for you? This year I've resolved to do something - not sure yet what it'll be-for Valentine's Day, for without a doubt it has been the most ignored of all holidays for me, barely a blimp on my radar screen. And besides doing something for my very deserving husband, I've been thinking bigger-not just about red hearts, candy and flowers. I'm thinking about Aloha. Most of you getting this e-letter from me live and work in Hawaii too: how often do you even say the word? In Hawaii, love is Aloha, and it's the perfect month to make it your theme, your guiding light.

Love can be an uncomfortable word for many people, for we associate it with sensitivity, raw emotion, and other touchy-feely concepts that are not easily discussed openly or with much frequency-and in a business environment certainly not with our peers or the employees we manage! Yet ironically love is probably the most universal of all values, of all emotions, and thus the easiest one for others to relate to. Love is a word of complete unselfishness and beauty. Culturally, our freer use of the word in Hawaii is very much a reason I have chosen to raise my children here. When we say "I have Aloha for you", we are saying we have love and the utmost respect for who you are.

Valentine's Day is a Saturday this year: can you imagine if we all gave it the same attention as we did the Superbowl yesterday? You can. Think Aloha.

These past fourteen years of living on the Big Island has greatly shaped the way I view Aloha today, helping me understand the value of sharing it freely-and saying the word openly, without hesitation. My Aloha for you is my unconditional love and acceptance of the spirit that was created within you with your birth upon this earth. Aloha can be literally defined as the breath of the life within. One of my own personal beliefs is that the spirit within people is innately good. Having this belief, Aloha then is the outpouring of my own spirit, freely given to you to receive from me as well. In doing so, I have faith in you, and I trust you to respect and honor my Aloha in return, accepting without question that I have given it to you with nothing but good intent.

So this month, think big: its leap year and besides February 14 you've got a whole extra day on the calendar-how will you use it?

Share your Aloha.

Rosa

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