Managing with Aloha

[Pua'i Mana'o]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0976019000/qid=1124145744/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-9569705-3783136

Aloha everyone,

Has anyone read this book? I was in Borders this weekend and I saw it on the shelf. My boss' birthday is this week, and she is all about (((personal empowerment))) which is kinda cool sometimes, and a bit much at other times, but that is another post...

[kimo55]

wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

I am guessing you and I had the same first reaction (I for one choke whenever I hear "aloha spirit" this and "aloha spirit" that).

But my boss loves self-help stuff, talks it and LIVES it. Sometimes, its a great aspect of her personality and managing style and it is worth being around. Other times, its a bit too intense for me. I ~hate~ self-help books/movement/speeches, etc.

But if anybody HAS read it and thinks its a good fit for someone who greatly enjoys that sort of thing, I would appreciate hearing so.

[pzarquon]

Here's Rosa Say's website (http://www.sayleadershipcoaching.com/). There's even a blog (http://rosasay.typepad.com/talkingstory/).

I'm skeptical of books like these, too. Seems the only other people who love them are those that believe in management as a religion. (One of those categories of books where most of the reviews are by authors of simiar books!)

Most consultants in this space are basically selling common sense in repackaged form. Sometimes the lightbulbs go off, I suppose, but most of the time, after the giddy haze fades, you find you didn't hear anything you haven't heard before.

At least she notes (http://rosasay.typepad.com/about.html) she was born and raised here. Otherwise I would've just figured this was "Who Moved My Cheese?" with some alohawear thrown in for color.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Here's Rosa Say's website (http://www.sayleadershipcoaching.com/). There's even a blog (http://rosasay.typepad.com/talkingstory/).

I'm skeptical of books like these, too. Seems the only other people who love them are those that believe in management as a religion. (One of those categories of books where most of the reviews are by authors of simiar books!)

Most consultants in this space are basically selling common sense in repackaged form. Sometimes the lightbulbs go off, I suppose, but most of the time, after the giddy haze fades, you find you didn't hear anything you haven't heard before.

At least she notes (http://rosasay.typepad.com/about.html) she was born and raised here. Otherwise I would've just figured this was "Who Moved My Cheese?" with some alohawear thrown in for color.

Mahalo for the links! Again, I can take or leave that stuff, and even though I am a wahine, I lack whatever chromosome it is that gets in touch with my inner-Oprah. But the boss? She is all about the cheese maintenance, laws of leadership, Covey planners, you name it.

[Glen Miyashiro]

In case it matters to anyone, Rosa Say is State Senator Calvin Say's sister-in-law.

[Rosa Say]

Aloha mai kakou,

Mahalo for clicking in to my website (http://www.sayleadershipcoaching.com) and my blog (http://rosasay.typepad.com/talkingstory/) , and giving me the benefit of the doubt. Pzarquon, thank you for sharing the links.

I do understand some of your reluctance … I wrote MWA so that we here in Hawaii will have a business book we can use in the context of our own culture and challenges. I’m a management coach, and plain and simple, I want managers to get better. If they’re already good, I want them to aspire to being great. Pua‘i Mana‘o, I’m very glad to hear your boss is trying to do just that.

May I offer all of you another link? I have a free downloadable manifesto (http://www.changethis.com/15.Aloha) available on ChangeThis.com which gives an overview of MWA in 28 pages. Perhaps it will answer some of your questions on why I wrote it, while giving you a more comprehensive form than surfing through the many pages of my blog and two websites.

However that said, you are all welcome to join in the discussion at Talking Story or email me directly (mailto:talkingstory@gmail.com) - do consider it! There is an entire Ho‘ohana Community of MWA readers waiting there to welcome you. This month we are talking about the entrepreneurial mindset (http://www.sayleadershipcoaching.com/talkingstory/2005/08/why_the_startup.html) .

By the way, I don’t see Calvin as often as I’d like to since we live on two different islands. Glen, do say hello to him for me if you see him. He’s a great guy.
My aloha to all of you, Rosa

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Mahalo for clicking in to my website (http://www.sayleadershipcoaching.com) and my blog (http://rosasay.typepad.com/talkingstory/) , and giving me the benefit of the doubt. Pzarquon, thank you for sharing the links.


Wow! The author herself posts here!! (Glad I didn't dis the book). :p


So now I am in a quandary: my gut says "buy the book for the boss and print this thread for the personalized factor. BUT, if I do that, then she would know where I cruise on the internet, and what my moniker is.... gyahhh.... :D

[lurkah]

So now I am in a quandary: my gut says "buy the book for the boss and print this thread for the personalized factor. BUT, if I do that, then she would know where I cruise on the internet, and what my moniker is.... gyahhh.... :D
White-Out would work. ;)

[Palolo Joe]

Until her boss flips the paper over and holds it up to a light, exposing what's underneath the correction fluid.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

I was jussss aboout to say how smart da lurkah was, when I seen dat Joe is waaaay mo' smart.

*sigh*

[lurkah]

I was jussss aboout to say how smart da lurkah was, when I seen dat Joe is waaaay mo' smart.

*sigh**sigh* Only amateurs would leave any readable textual remnants under the White-Out. I'd obliterate the text in question first before covering it up, thereby saving the niele maha 'oi busybodies from their snoopy selves. http://allthingshawaiian.com/lurkah/smileys/smileywink.gif

[Pua'i Mana'o]

*sigh* Only amateurs would leave any readable textual remnants under the White-Out. I'd obliterate the text in question first before covering it up, thereby saving the niele maha 'oi busybodies from their snoopy selves. http://allthingshawaiian.com/lurkah/smileys/smileywink.gif


I am laughing so hard at thinking about the whole thing, because the freakin' AUTHOR read my post, and I am STILL never going to be able to tell her because doing so would 1)say where I cruise on the net 2)what my nick is, and 3)that I think my boss is on a (((personal empowerment))) trip.

White-out possibilities aside, I. Just. No. Can.

hence da sigh.

[lurkah]

3)that I think my boss is on a (((personal empowerment))) trip.
But, is #3 really true? If so, then you might consider that you'd really be doing her a big favor by having her read the entire thread verbatim which would hopefully shock her back into reality and thereby save her from going to eternal anal hell. :p So, go ahead. I am empowering you to do so. :D

[Pua'i Mana'o]

But, is #3 really true? If so, then you might consider that you'd really be doing her a big favor by having her read the entire thread verbatim which would hopefully shock her back into reality and thereby save her from going to eternal anal hell. :p So, go ahead. I am empowering you to do so. :D

Where is the "two slaps!" icon when you need it?!?

The thing is, this boss sees life waaay more pixelated than I do. If I showed this to her, she would *~feel~* this need to EmPowEr and de>e>pen our reLAtionShiP by processing® further.

I love her, but she can be a tad uh, profound.

[lurkah]

Where is the "two slaps!" icon when you need it?!?
Kden. Do not give her the book. Give her some gardenias instead. How profound could she get over a bunch of gardenias?

Don't answer that.

[Mokihana]

White-Out would work. ;)

Make shuah u white-out both sides!

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Make shuah u white-out both sides!


<runs shrieking>

AAIIIII!!! You guys fo' get me in trouble! You know how much {{{closure}}} I goin' have to endure?!?!?!

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[alohabear]

Mahalo for the links! Again, I can take or leave that stuff, and even though I am a wahine, I lack whatever chromosome it is that gets in touch with my inner-Oprah. But the boss? She is all about the cheese maintenance, laws of leadership, Covey planners, you name it.
A true micromanager....did your boss ever consider a career as a DOE principal? :D

[Pua'i Mana'o]

A true micromanager....did your boss ever consider a career as a DOE principal? :D


}}choke{{ :eek: :eek: :rolleyes:

[jdub]

a good friend and and bandmate was talking about this book recently...he found it insightful, although smarmy at times, as most self-help books are...not that i've read any...which might explain why i'm temporarily couch surfing until my new apartment opens up in september...

[Leo Lakio]

I'm halfway through the book right now. The values she discusses are probably familiar to most people who were raised in the Islands (or may have strong connections to them.) I suspect Mainlanders might gain a lot from hearing these values from an unfamiliar perspective, though they might also misunderstand and think these are religious values.

I guess I'm on the fence about the book at this point; I'm enjoying her take on these ideas, but I'm not finding any "oh, wow" aspects yet. Maybe I'll post something else when I finish it.

[pzarquon]

Maybe I'll post something else when I finish it.
Please do! I don't think I'm the only one here who would generally refuse to touch a "management" book with a ten-foot pole... but to get the honest opinion of a reader, and perhaps one with a healthy sense of skepticism, would be quite valuable.

[Leo Lakio]

Finished the book on a plane this weekend - it took a while, because I found my interest fading mid-book. I suspect that it is because I am not in a management position, and the book is clearly aimed at those who are.

I read it with a Mainland perspective, as one who is curious about Hawaiian culture and values, and I wanted to see what concepts Ms. Say would choose to present, and how they would tie into management ideas.

The topics discussed are useful for life, even in a non-managerial setting (`Ohana, Kuleana, Kakou, and 13 more), so I wish the book had focused more on how to incorporate them into personal behavior overall, not just in a work setting (but the book's title is very clear in presenting it as a management tool.)

I would have wished for fewer of Ms. Say's personal anecdotes as examples of each topic, but I also appreciate that she needed examples in each case - and she chose her own life's work, rather than fictional ones. I'd rather get more background in the development of each value.

My guess is that people who were raised in the Islands are likely to have already been exposed to all of these concepts growing up, in which case her examples could serve as reminders how to make them part of your management style. Mainlanders now working in management in Hawai`i have the most to gain from the book, as they generally have the most to learn about how business is done with respect to Hawaiian ways.

I'd be pleased if these concepts caught on here on the Mainland, but people would need to learn them outside of a management arena first, which would involve a wholesale change in a lot of folks' perceptions of Hawai`i.