Yes, I love those R’s

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Remember ROI, ROR and ROA?

Now, I give you ROV, and ROV Coaching.

If you are a manager, you can do this kind of coaching too. It relates to the first part of this one-two punch of great management:

What is it that managers do?

How can we boil it down to the very basics of what managers are responsible for?

One: Managers believe in the good in people, they delight in discovering their talents and capitalizing on them.

Two: They then concentrate on creating a good work environment where the inner aloha spirit of all who work there will always surface because everything else feels so right to them.

ROV Coaching: Gain Return on your Values

First Who, then How, then What

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As I had shared with you earlier this month (here and here), I have been rereading Jim Collins’ Good to Great recently.

Perhaps the most often quoted part of his book has to do with his “First Who, then What” concept, more often quoted in regards to the explanation of why you should have the “right people on the bus,” and that “people are not your most important asset ” the right people are,” therefore, you need to get the wrong people off the bus too.

I do agree with him; and in managing with aloha we devote much effort to coaching managers on how they determine who the right people are, starting with recruiting on the basis of values, talents, and strengths.

However I’m a bit more deliberate in taking my time arriving at the What. I believe we need to devote a lot of our attention to the
How. Once we have our right people on the bus, I believe it is ‘healthy exercise’ to talk about the
How we are going to get along on our bus trip, i.e. how we engage with each other, how we work together, and even how we play together.

Even people who share the same values can annoy each other with their little idiosyncrasies. There is both an art and a science to the many dimensions of organizational operations ” what a playground.

Further, connecting this discussion to our current KÅ«lia i ka nu‘u warpath, it is in the
How that Mediocrity finds its comfortable hiding place, with its partner in crime and fellow bottom-dweller named Complacency.

Dip into the archives for more examples of Working on the
How;
The Real Rules of Engagement
Another Take on Meetings: The 5-Point Plan.

Working within your circle of influence.

Asking Great Questions; Art or Skill?
3 great questions you can use to Delegate Better.

Monday or Friday? Choose Wisely

Manage with aloha, Lead with aloha

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I’ve spent some time dishing on leadership with my Ho‘ohana Community cohorts on the blog Synergy this month, and in doing so we’ve talked about many of the qualities of leadership.

This evening, I found myself drawn back to Dr. George Kanahele’s book KÅ« Kanaka (Stand Tall), feeling the need to dip back into my own roots a bit, knowing that he had written on leadership feeling it part of our Hawaiian destiny.

Consider this passage;

“We can easily rationalize the importance of such qualities as intelligence, decisiveness, technical mastery, reputation, and goal setting, but [Hawaiian] leadership probably was more a response of the heart rather than of the mind. The leader’s enthusiasm, compassion, inspiration, energy, stamina and charisma all came from his heart. The art in leadership is not so much rational as it is emotional, or spiritual in its promptings.

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When seen in this light, we can appreciate more certainly the part that aloha plays in the duties of leadership. Aloha sensitizes the leader to the desires and well-being of others, and creates in him an eagerness to help his people gain their hopes. Affection, friendliness, and compassion all combine to heighten one’s ‘empathetic impulse.’

The leader who is afraid to give affection is really afraid to lead in the true sense” If leadership means a mobilizing of emotional power and feelings, then the Hawaiian leader who marshals the force of aloha should be fully equal to any challenge from without or within.”

KÅ«lia i ka nu‘u and the Qualities of a Leader

Live, work, manage, lead

What’s your Vantagepoint?

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Big day today for Kevin Eikenberry, and it can be a red letter day for you too: If you haven’t yet gotten yourself a copy of Kevin’s Vantagepoints On Learning And Life, this would be a very good time.

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Read about Kevin’s promotion on Amazon.com today here. Kevin has put together quite an impressive package of gifts, but personally I think you should consider picking up a copy of Kevin’s book just for the book itself. There’s something about it that keeps me reaching for it often; this is one of those books which get you to smile” Lessons From A Lawn Needing Improvement” Slug Bug Black, No Tag Backs” What I Learned on My Trip to Magaritaville”

Kevin’s book is a collection of over fifty essays about “finding learning opportunities in everyday situations,” aptly named because learning is truly Kevin’s thing. I like it, because it is so very positive and energizing; there is something about his collection of stories that makes you feel so confident in your own abilities to make the most of your humble, simple, yet oh-so-satisfying life.

I guess the word is relatable, for Kevin really comes through in his writing as your best friend in a book. And your honest friend, just as vulnerable as you are, only he admits it (read “Halloween” on page 150). So quite a cool thing for all of us having him as part of our Ho‘ohana Community, and knowing that you can visit his blog or website and email or call him at any time.

Help Kevin today and order a copy of his book from Amazon.com. Trust me, you’ll love reading it, and you’ll find that the one you’ve helped is you. The gift Kevin gives you with his book, is that you start to see richness in your own life that you somehow missed seeing before.