Leis for Community, Learning for all of us
My monthly Ho‘ohana™ was started back in August of 2003 when I left corporate life and decided to start my own business. It started as little more than an on-going personal update, for after years building up a professional network I didn’t want to lose touch with people, even if they were no longer connected with my business. They’d been connected with me, and they were important to me.
From those humble beginnings, readership of the monthly Ho‘ohana™ e-letter has grown by leaps and bounds, forwarded to many new friends by older ones, and now almost daily by subscriptions on my websites. As for my business community, some unanticipated connections have happened in the most magnificent way, and I have to give credit to this forward-thinking medium we call the blog.
I have written about the reinvention of the business community before and how bloggers are doing a couple of different things.
We are reinventing competition by competing with ourselves first and foremost. We stretch and grow to make ourselves new, and what we compete against are our former selves.
We are reinventing assets and currency, by adding priceless intangibles that cannot be assessed dollar amounts; intangibles such intellectual currency, emotional engagement, permission and attention.
We are reinventing our very attitudes about work, banishing the 9-5 attitudes and entitlement mentality that can sink promising human enterprise. We are creating business partners within our own companies, and in global neighborhoods.
We are reinventing what it means to “get involved.” Community members challenge mediocrity, yet positively propose solutions and freely exchange ideas — whining, complaining and commiserating are not tolerated.
We are reinventing benchmarking and networking, by creating global relationships that cross industries and cultures. If you have an internet connection you are invited to participate. The choice is yours; there is no old boy’s network making the decision.
More on this is in The Reinvention of the Business Community.
Business communities are being reinvented both online and offline. Online, I truly feel the bloggers of our Ho‘ohana Online Community are the leaders in this movement, and that is why I am so proud to feature them on Talking Story. Look to the right at the listing called Lōkahi: featuring our Ho‘ohana Community and you will see just a small sampling of what can happen in our new virtual communities. Perhaps the biggest benefit has been in ‘Ike loa, the seeking of knowledge and wisdom. We have learned so much from each other.
This month the giving of May Leis continues to celebrate the online community we have become outside Talking Story, and I am so pleased to be your hostess. I will point you to them all month long.
Leis are Hawaii’s most visible symbol of May Day, however there is much more to this special day. Most islanders believe that the sole purpose of May Day is to engage in random acts of kindness, to practice being Mea Ho‘okipa, and to celebrate the Aloha spirit. Why restrict such wonderful intention to just one day? In honor of the entire month of May, our Ho‘ohana this month will be to share the spirit of May Day and the gifts of May you are able to give.
— from this month’s Ho‘ohana™ May Day Gifts of Aloha
Visit Bren at Slacker Manager today. He has given a May Lei to Kevin Eikenberry of Kevin’s Blog. Leader that Bren is, he starts us off with our Ho‘ohana Community May Gifts of Aloha with a terrific profile for Kevin, explaining why those links to the right to Kevin’s Blog and to Slacker Manager are so click-worthy.
Related Posts:
The monthly Ho‘ohana™ Newsletter.
The Reinvention of the Business Community.
Join the Ho‘ohana Online Community of Bloggers.
Where we started: Introducing the Ho‘ohana Online Community.
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