Choose Values

I’ve been noticing some very nostalgic longing in the “Most Wanted” lists of several managers.

They talk about wanting an increased sense of responsibility, better reliability and dependability, honesty and integrity, humility and a hunger to do whatever it takes to learn, grow, and improve. What they are longing for, are “old fashioned” values in the innate character of their staff.

They want these things with good reason. If I had to choose just one from that signs-on-the-wall framed triad of mission, vision, and values for my manager’s toolbox at work, regardless of the kind of company or industry I was in, I would choose values.

Why? Values determine behavior. When you

a) choose the values which will be the hallmark of the character found within your company, and
b) you align all your operational systems and processes with those values,
c) and you use your values to create a workplace where people thrive when they practice them,
What you get, is the performance which separates winners from everyone else.

When you choose the right values, you get everything else you need to be successful —including those other two; vision and mission.

Ah, but there’s the rub; what are the “right” values?

“To manage with Aloha is to draw out the best performance of your own management practice from the values that are inherent in your nature and a match for the demands of your business. To be a great manager, is to realize your success depends on the people you manage, and they are driven by their values just as much as you are. You have to respect their culture, and learn to speak the language of their values. In all likelihood, their values will match up with your own much more than you think.”
—Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii’s Universal Values to the Art of Business

There is no magic formula in choosing value statements in companies; the right values for one company are not necessarily those which will work best for another. The reason is simple: From company to company, vision differs.

The values of a company begin to take shape when that first dream happens in the consciousness of that company’s founders, because they had a vision of how something they are extremely passionate about can come to be within a business built to make their vision happen. After that, it’s about enlistment; the founders look for the right partnerships in the assistance they’ll need to work out the nuts and bolts of their mission. If they are wise, they interview for values which will match or complement their own, in staff, in suppliers and industry partners, and even in customers.

Don’t get overwhelmed by the enormity of what you need to do at work, and in your business. When you have to choose the next best thing to work on, choose values. Then, be true to them: You will find that they do the rest of the work.

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Value your Month, and Value your Life

Learn to put the 19 Values of Managing with Aloha in practice in our value of the month program on MWA Coaching: Live, Work, Manage and Lead with Aloha!

You may also want to read: The How-To of Managing with Aloha Coaching

The 19 Values of Managing with Aloha

Aloha—
Aloha is a value, one of unconditional love. Aloha is the outpouring and receiving of the spirit.

Ho‘ohana—
Working with intent and with purpose.

‘Imi ola— 
To seek life.  Our purpose in life is to seek its highest form.

Ho‘omau—
Perseverance.  To continue, to perpetuate.  Never give up.

Kūlia i ka nu‘u— 
Achievement.  Pursue personal excellence. Strive to reach the summit.

Ho‘okipa—
The hospitality of complete giving.  Welcome guests and strangers with your spirit of Aloha.

‘Ohana—
Those who are family, and those you choose to call your family. ‘Ohana is a human circle of complete Aloha.

Lōkahi—
Collaboration and cooperation.  Harmony and unity. People who work together can achieve more.

Kākou—
All of us.  We are in this together. Learn to speak the language of we.

Kuleana—
One’s personal sense of responsibility. I accept my responsibilities, and I will be held accountable.

‘Ike loa— 
To know well.  To seek knowledge and wisdom.

Ha‘aha‘a—
Humility.  Be humble, be modest, and open your thoughts.

Ho‘ohanohano—
Honor the dignity of others. Conduct yourself with distinction, and cultivate respectfulness.

Alaka‘i—
Leadership.  Lead with initiative, and with your good example. You shall be the guide for others when you have gained their trust and respect.

Mālama—
To take care of.  To serve and to honor, to protect and care for.

Mahalo—
Thank you, as a way of living. Live in thankfulness for the richness that makes life so precious.

Nānā i ke kumu— 
Look to your source, find your truth.

Pono — 
Rightness and Balance. The feeling of contentment when all is good and all is right.

Ka lā hiki ola— 
The dawning of a new day.