Archives for August 2005

Time to tend your own garden; August Recap

August 31, 2005 by Rosa Say

It is the 31st and I do hesitate to say aloha to August 2005! I’m hard-pressed to imagine how we could have enjoyed a better anniversary Ho‘olaule‘a than we did this month, outside of wishing that hurricane Katrina had kept her wrath to herself in these past few days, and saying a prayer for the lives she has so drastically affected. I am somewhat cheered by the thought that as human beings we are resilient, tenacious, compassionate and generous with those in need, and intelligent beyond even our own imaginings; I know that in the days and months to come we will pull together to make things right again for our Gulf Coast neighbors. I ask you to consider what you can do, and how you can help.

Mahalo nui to Paul Chaney for pointing out this Hurricane Relief effort on The Truth Laid Bear:

Hurricane Katrina: Blog for Relief Day September 1, 2005

Sign up to participate here.
The Truth Laid Bear Topic Page

Our Talking Story Recap: An August Anniversary Ho‘olaule‘a

A huge mahalo to Tom Ehrenfeld for being my co-conspirator this month, so that everyone in our Ho‘ohana Community could take away a Ho‘olaule‘a celebration gift; their own entrepreneurial mindset. Tom’s coaching this month, on how we can grow as we grow our business, has been extremely generous, and now we need to practice our mahalo, living in thankfulness for the gift we have been given. It is time to tend your garden.

If you have not yet purchased your own copy of The Startup Garden, what are you waiting for? Every garden needs a gardener, and you are yours. Now that you have your anniversary gift, jump into the pages of Tom’s book and allow it to work its magic for you, just as it did for me.

Here’s the monthend Recap of the Top 5 Posts this past month, as tracked by your click-ins:

A First Year in Review: Happy Birthday Talking Story!

August 30, 2005 by Rosa Say

As our first-year anniversary Ho‘olaule‘a (celebration) winds down this month, I’d like to offer you a look back at the Ho‘ohana themes we’ve explored. First, a short trek down memory lane, —except that it’s not short.

This post began to take on a life of its own, and evolved into a sort of flagstaff for Talking Story, so I’ll give you a heads up that it’s a long one, much longer than I originally intended. However I think that it will serve as a good reference point for many of you, particularly our newer subscribers. Here’s what follows:

The history of Talking Story and the Ho‘ohana „¢ Newsletter

Ho‘ohana: Value, Newsletter, Publishing Company, Chapter, Theme, Motto and Mantra

Archives and Sweet Anticipation; The Year to Come ” This part also could be called, Ask and Ye Shall Receive.

Perspectives on Finding your Calling

August 30, 2005 by Rosa Say

Lisa Haneberg collected some great references in a post she wrote this past Friday on something we’ve talked about all month long; finding your calling.

I think we make things more complex than they have to be sometimes. If you read books or articles about people who have done this, they often share the same basic steps – they created a plan, then worked the plan.

Some people take a lifetime to figure out their calling. Some never do. Doing cool stuff now. That has great appeal. Perhaps it is not about determining the calling, but about actualizing a calling. Perhaps it is about taking a look at the things you are drawn to, things that naturally come easy to you, and things you love, and determining which is most actionable? Then acting.

— Lisa Haneberg

If you are struggling with any of these questions and want to add to the perspectives that Tom and I have shared with you this month, I encourage you to click into Lisa’s Management Craft and to these other links she’d offered:

Lifehacker: Turn your hobby into a career

Crossroads Dispatches: So what now? Responding to our calling.

Management Craft: Calling my calling!

And don’t forget: Finding Your Calling is Chapter One of Tom’s book. I’d recommend you start there if you haven’t read it yet.

Your entrepreneurial point of view: a gift for growth

August 29, 2005 by Rosa Say

What have you done with your Ho‘olaule‘a gift so far? Did you tuck it away in the back of your mind, or have you allowed it to begin its magic for you?

For many years I was content to be a very good manager for other leaders. I never thought I could be a visionary leader, or a budding entrepreneur and business owner, because I didn’t have a novel, earth-shattering mega idea.

I was wrong.

You may be too. Or you may be that person with an entrepreneurial point-of-view who still thrives in corporate business. Do you know which person you are?

You’ll never know for sure, if you don’t ask yourself the questions that will help you to find out.

Our Ho‘olaule‘a gift to you this month is a chance to find out your answer sooner versus later. It’s an invitation to your journey of self-discovery.

—Excerpt, Our August Ho‘ohana is Ho‘olaule‘a; Celebration!

If you accepted this gift of an entrepreneurial mindset which Tom and I hoped you would, I am very confident that you are viewing the job you now hold through fresh eyes, and with an embrace of new learning no matter what working environment you may be in. Despite your tenure there, you will have succeeded at banishing the passion killers of boredom, complacency, and apathy. The light at the end of your tunnel has become brighter, warmer, and more welcoming.

Readers of Managing with Aloha know there is some tough love in my book. Lisa mentioned it in her book review. My coaching clients will tell you it also emerges in my coaching if I begin to hear any traces of “oh woe is me” creep into their voices; I will not commiserate with them or accept their excuses. Instead, I will coach them to move beyond that first impulse and better consider the power they themselves have within their own circle of influence. The question becomes, Well, what are you going to do to make things better? How will you get something better to happen?

As a management philosophy, managing with Aloha actually solves problems pretty easily. The harder task is allowing it to influence greater ambition when people feel that things are okay and fine as they are; when they are willing to settle. As a coach I usually have a more optimistic view of their capacity and potential than they do; I see a brighter future for them than they see for themselves. And please understand that vision I see is not necessarily about a promotion, a better title, or a lucky leap into a lifestyle of luxury; it’s about living a happier and more fulfilling life within the passion of the work they have chosen to do. It’s about taking the strengths they have from good to great. It’s about being able to enthusiastically and confidently answering the question of what their true calling is.

And it’s about trusting in their own wild and wooly ideas and not allowing them to die.

Let’s look at some other ways in how Tom’s Startup Garden synchronizes so beautifully with Managing with Aloha.