Seasonal Aloha, Kākou
My husband is working on this December Saturday morning for a very good reason; he’s helping to set up his hotel’s ballroom for their annual Employee’s Children’s Christmas Party. It’s a wonderful event, where the families which have staffed the hotel all year long by providing them with employees who feel ‘ohana-whole, come together (Kākou*) to celebrate the coming season.
When you are ‘ohana-whole, you feel you are surrounded by the circle of Aloha we call family, loved and supported unconditionally. This is the all-year gift that we who employ and manage others must understand we are given by their families. Indeed, this is cause for bigger, extravagant celebrations in special times like the holidays!
For many children whose parents are in Hawaii’s hotel business, these children’s Christmas parties will be the first time they have sat on Santa’s knee, and the helpful elf who passes him candy-filled stockings, or the one who helps mom and dad snap the picture of wonder with their own playful antics, are saying things those North Pole elves wouldn’t exactly say because they are that child’s co-workers in part of the day, and part of their neighborhood communities all the others:
“Leiala sweetie, it’s me, Auntie Jojo. If mommy wears my pointed hat, will you stop crying so I can take your picture with Santa for her?”
The conversation in Santa’s line can be even more interesting …
“Hey Dad, that elf helping Santa is Uncle Raymond! Woah … he shaved off his beard for this!”
Thank hotel ballrooms for making that Santa line at your local shopping mall that many employees’ kids shorter! Flickr Photo Credit.
Having your own ballroom is a huge perk for many who are in the hotel business when its’ downtime can be put to good use for staff celebrations so crucial to saying thank you, and that’s just one reason. I say “many” because it is often becoming missing in newer hotels or a renovation casualty of older ones within the so-called “value engineering” that complicates new business plans with fractional time shares and residential components in them. It’s a shame. I have customers now for Say Leadership Coaching in the hotel industry who have ballrooms and others who do not have the luxury, and you cannot put a dollar amount on the difference it makes.
For these parties, the Santa line is never interminably long for the kids because the ballroom has room for so many other distractions ...
… in one corner is a big screen with Disney movies playing non-stop. The floor in front of it has been “fluffed” with pillows and comforters for when babies’ eyes get sleepy despite all the hoopla around them.
... craft tables set low to the floor atop milk crates with every arts and crafts supply imaginable to make trims for the tree.
... a favorite is always the Chef’s corner where kids can make real gingerbread houses, or decorate sugar cookies prebaked in their welcoming naked shapes of trees, wreaths, and angels.
... and of course, the all kid’s eats food buffet, calories and nutrition ignored for the day.
candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.”
—Will Ferrell as Buddy in Elf
Older kids still come to these parties too; for it has become their turn to be the free neighborhood babysitters of the younger ones. They become the younger elves-in-training, and they learn to give back, creating their best memories for others. With such a wealth of caring arms to hold or play with them, any child’s grumpiness is fleeting at its’ longest.
Just writing this out for you gives me such sweet anticipation for the afternoon to come. Here I am, my own childhood very long gone, and my two children still away at college, and I can’t wait to join my husband’s ‘Ohana in Business this afternoon to watch this celebration of holiday aloha unfold. There is something extraordinary about meeting the families of people you work with, and seeing the person they are when they are with family.
We will all greet the season Kākou, together.
* From Managing with Aloha; (Link to Amazon.com)
Aloha: Aloha is a value, one of unconditional love. Aloha literally translates to “being in the presence of the life’s spirit,” and it is a sharing which is therefore thought of as the outpouring and receiving of a person’s inner spirit.
Kākou: Kākou is the Hawaiian value of inclusiveness, and means “all of us,” we are in this together. Kākou is very unifying when applied to language, and all are taught to learn, speak, and practice “the language of we.” Coupled with the value of Lōkahi, Kākou promotes synergy as a habit of creation which seeks additional solutions and alternatives.
‘Ohana: In an ‘Ohana are those who are family, and those you choose to call your family. ‘Ohana is a human circle of complete Aloha, and in managing with Aloha, ‘Ohana is recognized as the best possible form for the association of all stakeholders in a business.
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