If you were part of the Ho‘ohana Community involved in Talking Story, the Managing with Aloha Coaching project, or Say “Alaka‘i” (and Ho‘ohana ‘Ōlelo — remember that?) today’s posting will look familiar, and with very good reason. Good things are worth repeating! If not, hurray for being here now!
Let’s practice the magnificent gifting of MAHALO.
My Mana‘o (what I deeply believe):
I believe that great leadership creates positive energy, and that great management channels that energy into the best possible results, delivering healthy, meaningful and fulfilling work to people in the process.
I believe we need more management and leadership, and not less, so we can optimize those energies: One of my reasons for constantly writing articles to newly publish (or repeat like this one), is that I want to help you learn more about the rewards both managing and leading deliver to you, rippling positive for everyone you associate with.
So let’s make this entire holiday week about YOU, and about the people who are YOUR rewards.
What do you appreciate within your working practice? Who are you grateful for as your partners?
If someone else considers you to be their boss, leader, or manager in any way, this is a week to ask yourself if your delivery of “healthy, meaningful and fulfilling work” is being made in matters large and small; with baby steps and big shifts alike.
No workplace is perfect, but this week, focus on understanding what works. Reflect on anything and everything which is going right and not what might be going wrong — we’ll deal with that another time. This is the week to “Catch people doing something right” and to push yourself toward doing those right things too!
Catch it, and relish it: What is good and right, and why?
Think about what you are grateful for (those cool results), and then think about the people who help you make work happen in tangibly wonderful ways. Think about WHO you are grateful for, for simply doing what they do.
It could be they show up with complete dependability.
It could be they are responsibility-driven, meticulous and thorough.
It could be they listen well, intently even, asking terrific questions.
It could be they smile constantly, and laugh easily; they infect the place with joy.
It could be they volunteer their ideas, and quite courageously.
It could be they are resilient and patient, and don’t get discouraged easily.
It could be they are tenacious, and try harder when a mistake trips them up the first time.
It could be they are insatiably curious, seeking to learn and improve continually.
It could be they are great ambassadors, speaking well of everyone in your company, and everything about it.
It could be they have no entitlement mentality whatsoever; frankly, they earn their keep.
It could be they respect the customer and consistently treat them like royalty.
It could be they believe in you, and trust you. They put their faith in you.
I could add dozens more “it could be” possibilities to my list, but what is on yours? Your work is probably different than mine in significant ways: What are the characteristics of good work done in great ways that you genuinely are thankful for?
I’ve got your back.
Fill in the blank:
Who is really important to you, and
you don’t ever want to take them for granted?
________________________________________________
Then, ask yourself this question:
“When did I last say a “Thank you” of MAHALO to those who do even one of these things for me, where they knew the words weren’t just automatic or polite (like saying “Bless you” when somebody sneezes), but that I really meant it? Did I truly convey what their actions meant to me?”
We managers need to sincerely say “thank you” often. Speak of your appreciation and it will soften the tone of your voice, giving it richness, yet humility and integrity. It will open you up, so others can step in.
People need to hear it from you: Say, “Mahalo nui loa,” and add why you are saying it. What happened? What did you notice? What blew you away with how fantastic it was, how creative it turned out to be, or how perfectly timed?
Thanksgiving is the perfect time for Management Mahalo Week.
When you are a manager, you get your best work done through other people; it’s as simple as that. Great management is about optimizing resources, and there may be no truer statement than that “our people are our greatest asset.” Any gratuitous lip service that statement ever gets is horribly unfortunate. It IS true as humanity-guaranteed potential; the ALAKA‘I managers who matter in a workplace make it a true statement in everyday occurrence.
Providence seems to conspire with us now: People more readily believe we have thought about our appreciation with more introspection, and that our words are genuine and sincere.
They remember that MAHALO is infused with belief and conviction, and the thought warms them completely: Beyond a beautifully compact word for “thank you,” Mahalo is the value of appreciation, of gratitude, and of thankfulness.
Mahalo means “thank you” and as a value Mahalo is appreciation and gratitude as a way of living. We live in thankfulness for the richness that makes life so precious at work and at home. Mahalo is the opposite of indifference and apathy, for it is the life perspective of giving thanks for what you have by using your gifts — and all of your gifts — in the best possible way.
Living Mahalo is a life of living within awareness of our gifts. We relish those gifts. We celebrate them joyously. MAHALO is the value that gives us an attitude of gratitude, and the pleasure of awe and wonder.
So this is your week to experience how this works. Ask yourself just how true a statement “our people are our greatest asset” is in the way people feel about working together. Are they thankful they are able to work with you? Are they thankful for your company? Do they enjoy a sense of gratitude for each other while in your workplace? Do they feel their work is valued and appreciated? Write them a note and let them know.
Now remember: Please don’t just go through the motions. People feel we mean it when they feel they have earned it. They did something good; something worth your noticing; something they understand to be valuable to you. You didn’t say “Mahalo” or “Thank you” just to say it, or because they had a turn come up, or to make yourself look like the bigger person; they caused your gratitude to happen.
Gratitude never disappoints. Gratitude graces; it can change everything.
From the archives:
Evoke and elicit MAHALO.
MAHALO teaches us to weave more thankfulness, appreciation, and gratitude into our days. To evoke it, is to bring MAHALO to your conscious mind. To elicit it, is to bring MAHALO to your responses for others.
You can practice this in your self-coaching with the simplest MAHALO exercise there is: Gratitude journaling… The ‘But’s Which Work to Favor