Rosa Say

  • About Rosa
    • Short Bio
    • Full Bio
    • “Work with an Aloha Attitude”
  • Say Leadership Coaching
    • Values in Healthy Work
    • Ho‘ohiki: We promise
    • How we’ll work together
    • Workshops and Speaking Presentations
    • What’s free, what’s not
  • Rosa’s Blog
  • Rosa’s Books
    • Managing with Aloha, Second Edition 2016
    • Managing with Aloha, First Edition 2004
    • Business Thinking with Aloha
    • Value Your Month to Value Your Life
  • Get in Touch
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • Email
You are here: Home / Speaking Presentations / On Ho‘ohana: People Who Do Good Work

On Ho‘ohana: People Who Do Good Work

May 20, 2012 By Rosa Say

People will quickly point to all kinds of reasons for their dysfunctional workplace culture.

“Who has time for innovation when there’s so much other stuff to be done?”
“We work with equipment harking back to the time of the dinosaurs.”
“Nobody walks by this street corner anymore; our storefront is useless.”
“We can’t afford anything. When will this recession be over?”

And the biggie:
“Our boss is clueless and completely out of touch.”

There are exceptions to the rule, however.

Those exceptions are the people who do good work. They might be working with the same types of dysfunctions in their workplace, and probably are. The difference is that they don’t give in to them. They’re downright stubborn — in the best possible way. They refuse to let dysfunction win in the long-run; they consider a dysfunctional workplace culture to be one thing, and one thing only: Temporary.

You could say, that People Who Do Good Work don’t actually see any dysfunction at all, for any bump in the road, any obstacle or barrier or whatever you want to call it (Excuse? Justification?) is temporary too. They know they can fix it eventually. It may take some time, but it can be done, and they feel they, and the good work they do, are solvers who can get the job done, and will.

Coaching tip:

The Alaka‘i Managers who work with People Who Do Good Work are fully aware of their impatience: They hate to be wrong about their own competency and effectiveness, and if they continually get stymied, they move on. They don’t recognize dysfunction because they refuse to deal with other people’s problems, and they refuse to listen to any whining most of all.

If they can’t fix whatever needs fixing in their own circle of influence and effectiveness, People Who Do Good Work will move on and work somewhere else. They’re impatient because they value their own life, and the quality of that life. They know life is short, and their impatience is simply their constant reminder of that certainty. They may like you, and they may admire you, but loyalty is not going to stand in their way.

The fact of the matter is that they are highly self-managed. They may maintain a partnership with you as a friend or mentor, but they don’t need you to be their boss, unless you can inspire or enable them in a way they cannot find elsewhere.

Good Work is underestimated and misunderstood.

People Who Do Good Work are going to do exactly that: GOOD WORK. Nothing is going to stop them, and certainly not some self-fulfilling prophecy of hopelessness that points a blaming finger at someone, or something else — even if it’s true! It’s temporary.

People Who Do Good Work consider blame to be a foolish waste of time, for the way they see it, blame amounts to admitting the defeat of incompetency, and they are certainly not incompetent! Blame is like saying, “I’m not good enough. If I were, I could rise above this stumble, and get my good work done, but I’m powerless.” They know that’s not true, no matter their company position, and no matter whatever other reason you want to come up with. All temporary.

Power is just another word for effectiveness, and People Who Do Good Work will figure out how to get their self-efficacy back (the belief you can be effective): Self-efficacy is always Job One with them, and they always move on and HO‘OHANA from there.

This attitude that People Who Do Good Work possess, sounds something like this: It runs on a never-ending loop of self-talk in their heads, and that self-talk energizes them, hands, mind and spirit:

“I’m not going to blame anything or anyone, and I’m not going to wait for them either. I can fix this, even if I must learn something, or do something else first, or put myself in a better position of effectiveness, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do, for I’ve got ideas and I’ve got dreams. I have my own good work to do, and no one will achieve it better than me!”

This self-talk is highly effective. It is not wishful thinking. It is positive expectancy.

We call it motivation (KULEANA).
We call it work ethic (the pairing of HO‘OHANA and HO‘OHANOHANO).
We call it self-leadership (ALAKA‘I).
When we manage with Aloha, we also call it courage (KOA) and pure, unbridled rightness (PONO).

Positive expectancy opens doors for your self-efficacy to step through, so you can take off running. If you are an Alaka‘i Manager, get this vocabulary, and this chain reaction into your workplace culture as the best contribution you can make.

Do Good Work. Do your best work.

Be one of those People Who Do Good Work and thrill to the life you can lead as you do so.

Isn’t good work what you prefer to be defined by? No one wants the kind of success that had traded on favor, or could only be attributed to good luck. It’s not sweet enough. It doesn’t satisfy you completely.

Whatever is in your way, consider it temporary. Be impatient in a good way.

Do the good work of getting your self-efficacy back, and you’ll feel powerful again. You’ll have the energy you need to do your good work, for blame is what had drained it away before, and you’ve put a stopper in that drain. Blame is not something you’ll do anymore, for the only thing it’ll do is slow you down.

Good work is the work of personal performance and not of situations others create for you. If they do, consider it icing on the cake. You’re the cake, and you’re quite tasty all on your own. You have ALOHA, and you work on your HO‘OHANA.

  • HO‘OHANOHANO: You conduct yourself with dignity and distinction.
  • KULEANA: You take personal responsibility for the work you have chosen to do.
  • MĀLAMA: You take care of whatever you have to take care of.
  • ALAKA‘I: You are the leader of your own performance, and thus your work, and thus, your life.

You have plans, and you have dreams. Oh, the places you can go!

Leading your life is something you were born for, and meant to do. The good work of making it happen is something you will not relinquish, nor should you: No one gets to be leader of your life but you.

So ho‘o and get on with it.

Key 2. WORTHWHILE WORK:

HO‘OHANA is the Hawaiian value of worthwhile work, and it requires a personal approach. Work with passion, with purpose and intention, and with full joy while realizing your potential for growth and creativity. When you Ho‘ohana you are actively engaged in creating your future; you work on purpose, and make things happen. You create your best possible life and you forge your own destiny, for you have connected your wide-awake intentions to the work you have chosen to do, or to learn more about.

Read more: The 9 Key Concepts of Managing with Aloha

Filed Under: Speaking Presentations

Speaking with Aloha

My current speaking topics are based on Managing with Aloha, and the culture-building work I am presently engaged in. I can offer you formats which include keynotes, 20-minute energizers for your meetings, team facilitation (my specialty!) question and dialogue sessions, half or full day workshops, and sense of place retreats.

My coaching programs are covered in more detail here: How we’ll work together

Portfolio of Current Work

What you see here, is a mix of articles which have spun off into the speeches and workshops I have done, and continue to fulfill requests for (these are not actual transcripts unless noted as such). Most of the articles I publish stem from my work as it happens: They are topics which are active in my coaching business and our learning laboratories, and are grabbing our attention because they are highly relevant to today’s workplaces.

We will work together in Co-authorship

You may have something more specific in mind, so let’s talk about it. As a manager who coaches, a leader who teaches, and a writer who speaks, whatever I do is customized for you, just as I match working with Aloha with the strengths and goals of my staff. This portfolio is here to give you a sampling of what to expect from my expertise and mana‘o (beliefs and convictions) connected to Managing with Aloha’s “sensibility for worthwhile work.”

What you can expect when you hire me

All of my presentations are values-based in their message, and done in a story-telling style. I prefer conversations to lectures, yet I fully realize that the quality of those conversations start with me sharing a message which will inspire them. I’ll turn lectures into animated performances, for they’re more fun for both of us. Everything I do comes with some kind of debrief coaching for the managers involved: I encourage them to follow-up immediately and with confidence, giving them suggestions based on my past experience in team dynamics and organizational culture.

My Books

  • Managing with Aloha, Second Edition 2016
  • Managing with Aloha, First Edition 2004
  • Business Thinking with Aloha
  • Value Your Month to Value Your Life

Subscribe for Rosa’s Weekly Newsletter


powered by TinyLetter

View the Letter Archive

RSS Recent Articles: ManagingWithAloha.com

  • Do it—Experiment! December 18, 2020
  • Hō‘imi to Curate Your Life’s Experience September 25, 2020
  • Kaʻana i kāu aloha: Share your Aloha November 6, 2019

RSS Recent Columns: Ke Ola Magazine

  • Strengths Management with Aloha: Our Talent, Skills and Knowledge January 4, 2021
  • The ‘Ohana in Business Model: 
Our Economy Done Better November 5, 2020
  • A Language of Intention: Our Language of We September 1, 2020

Quick Links:

Say Leadership Coaching || Managing with Aloha || Ho‘ohana Publishing
LinkedIn || Twitter || Instagram

Copyright © 2021 Rosa Say