September’s ‘Lovely Tokens’
Wonderful thought, isn’t it? (Found it on Pinterest.)
I do hope you are collecting and appreciating your own “lovely tokens” this 3-day weekend too… wouldn’t it be great if each and every month ended and newly began on a 3-day weekend holiday? We’d have no excuse for not making each of those weekends a Ka lā hiki ola opportunity.
Happiness coach and author Gretchen Rubin has been fond of saying that “September is the other January” because our back-to-school habits have programmed us that way:
Even though I haven’t been in school for a long time, for me, September marks the beginning of a new year. Orange is the new black, breakfast is the new lunch, Monday is the new Thursday, pork is the other white meat, and September is the other January. (And yes, it’s still September, even though most schools start in August nowadays — and of course, this is true only in certain parts of the world.)
I tend to agree; September does seem to be one of those times the calendar conspires, and we all don’t fight it — we nalu it — we go with the flow. School may be over for us working stiffs, yet we are more than happy to grab the chance we have with a January-like reboot.
This particular September however, is not of new beginnings for me. Rather, it’s a checking in with you on what I feel we are in flow with as the Ho‘ohana Community circa 2016.
We are Talking Story
You may have noticed that I’ve slowed a bit with my posting on the blog. There are various reasons… my coaching work, the release of my Second Edition, summer vacation time. However it has become quite clear to me that the primary influence on my publishing habits of late, is our revamped newsletter, Talking Story with the Ho’ohana Community.
Since June 30th, I have dispatched eleven newsletters, one every Thursday morning, and I can see where this is going:
- Newsletter first, religiously.
Blog second, and maybe, as time and content may deem feasible.
That every-Thursday deadline for the newsletter does make a difference! - Newsletter, short updates and link-love pointers to what I find elsewhere online.
Blog, longer reads to flesh out whatever I’m writing about, continuous additions to our 9 Key Concepts categories, and features like Sunday Mālama.
I have always considered the MWA blog to be the sequel to my book, given my current laboratory of workplace culture-building and management coaching. - Newsletter, more timely, date-aware.
Blog, keepers I hope are more timeless, and will remain resource-worthy for you; articles which are more subject-matter searchable. - I am keeping them separate, doing as little duplication between them as possible. I tend to be more personal with the newsletter, and more professional with the blog, although I will never be one to separate those two dimensions consciously.
I wish to be very transparent with you: Yes, I write this hoping those of you who have not subscribed to the newsletter will reconsider it, though re-reading what I just wrote above still makes the blog sound much better! I feel like we cover a lot in the Talking Story newsletter, though it is in much shorter form, and I want to be sure I’m not unintentionally excluding you from anything.
For example, it was in the newsletter this time, that I pointed our Ho‘ohana Community to our #AlohaIntentions focus on Ho‘ohana as our value for the months of September and October: Ho‘ohana as our Work Ethic.
I’m fully aware how protective we are of our email inboxes, and I thought twice, thrice actually, about writing this up at all. Yet I still have Kākou Communications and Our Tribe on the brain —remember it from July 1st? If I may repeat it in part:
In my first writing of Managing with Aloha, I did not explicitly refer to Kākou as the value of good communications, yet these 12 years later, that is definitely how I think of it, particularly in culture-building and fostering the communicative environment of our tribe.
With Kākou in mind, you constantly question how and when you communicate your messages, and to whom:
—Does everyone know about this? Is everyone aware?
—Have I left anyone out?
—Who was on vacation/ on leave/ temporarily mia when we went over this?
—Who else has to know? Who else may have more input for us, or feedback on early results?
—What about our suppliers and vendors? What about our staff’s families?
—Does this affect our customers? Our clients? Our Board of Directors or owners?
…and the exquisitely wonderful, How should I be following up?
There is something else about email… I have noticed that people hit reply and talk story back so much more, something I thoroughly welcome from you! Your feedback helps me serve you better in connection with Managing with Aloha, something I do feel responsibility for in my Kuleana.
If you would, take another look at the TinyLetter Archives now that it has been populated more since I first announced the newsletter to you. Perhaps you can subscribe for a few weeks and just try it out?
You can always unsubscribe thereafter if you find it’s not for you, and you prefer to stay connected to the blog instead— for that I will remain very grateful.
Happy September, more blog-worthy postings soon,
—Rosa
Calendar update!
Will you be on Hawai‘i Island Tuesday evening, September 6th? If so, please join us at Kona Stories Words & Wine event in Keauhou, where I’ll be talking story about Managing with Aloha’s Second Edition.
