Let’s choose one of the values in Managing with Aloha as a pretty representative example of what you will read in my book.
‘Ike loa is to seek knowledge. The manager who adopts this value and incorporates learning and teaching into his or her daily practice demonstrates the Aloha of good intent. By investing in the learning of his staff, he shows them how much he believes in them and in their capacity for greater things. He shows them he cares.
This is an excerpt which starts on page 135.
The value of learning
‘Ike loa is the value that my managers have told me “turns you into an absolute fanatic” and I suppose that’s true. It is one of my favorites, for it is all about learning and seeking more knowledge, something I am very passionate about. Gaining more knowledge equates to having more confidence and belief in one’s ability and capacity to learn, and having more of that self-belief empowers you, liberates you and releases a creativity you may not have even realized you possessed. You constantly give birth to new possibilities in this creative process; you create your own destiny seeking your best possible life.
You are sure to feed your body each day, aren’t you? Well, new knowledge is the food for mind, heart and soul. Without it, you are not providing nourishment for your overall well-being. We grow as we learn.
To a business, knowledge is the asset of intellectual capital. Great managers have intellectual capital in good supply, and they work at refreshing it and keeping it well-stocked.
I stand firm and unmoving in my belief that someone who calls themselves a manager of people must be a learner, and they must dedicate themselves to non-stop, sequential and consequential learning. Sequential in that it builds upon previous lessons learned, and it takes you through a process where you question instruction and do not always accept what you are taught at face value; you polish it like a gem in your mind until something about it rings true for you. Consequential in that it is worthwhile stuff; it makes a difference for you, and you aren’t simply collecting lessons on some scorecard. There’s some personal take-away in it for you. Now that you know it, you’re going to use it.
Personally ‘Ike loa will naturally come to mind for me whenever I speak with others about Kuleana and one’s personal sense of responsibility. I had once seen this quote attributed to Jan Carlzon, former CEO of Scandinavian Airlines Systems: “… an individual who is given information cannot help but take responsibility.” It was easy for me to nod in agreement with those words for I’ve experienced it so many times within my own experience, and as a manager it became an employee ownership strategy for me. The wonderful thing is that with learning you are not just passing out information: You are teaching people how to think.
The chapter continues with a few real stories on how ‘Ike loa is entered into a business plan and in daily practice, and it shares what I believe is one of the most effective learning and managing tools a manager can employ; The Daily Five Minutes.
‘Ike loa is the chapter where I share more on my own love of books, and one of the add-ins at the end of Managing with Aloha is an annotated reading guide with eleven of the books that have made a profound impact on my own learning.
Postscript:
Next week Managing with Aloha will be featured on the 800-CEO-Read(er), and you will be able to read another short book excerpt on Ho‘omau, the Hawaiian value of persistence and perseverance.
Posted by Rosa Say at April 14, 2005 11:32 AM
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