Traditions abound right now as one year segues into the next, and those traditions serve to bring us together in a number of different ways. I had started one such tradition just last year with the Ho‘ohana Community of Talking Story, calling it Hō‘ike‘ike. ‘Ike is the Hawaiian word for knowledge, and traditionally…

Lifehack for the day: Make your customer service experience vastly better for only the cost of your attention. Here’s an example. In meeting the demands of my coaching business, I fly inter-island frequently between four of Hawaii’s larger and most populated islands. I’ve racked up enough miles to normally access the up front aisle seat selections with…

For the past three days we at Say Leadership Coaching have been on a retreat. ‘Retreat’ is what most businesses traditionally call it, but I don’t care for the word with its’ backpedaling imagery and cowering connotations. I much prefer our Hawaiian one, Ho‘olālā, meaning to ‘make plans.’ To make plans is to…

Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun. —Colleen C. Barrett Those of us who have been charged with hiring others, have very likely been taught to “look for someone with a great attitude; you can train them in all the skills they’ll need.” Good advice, but just the beginning. Here’s something to consider…

Happy Thanksgiving! In many homes across the globe people are giving thanks, and talking about those people, places and things they appreciate and are most grateful for. It’s a wonderful Thanksgiving Day practice, one that would transform us all into kinder, gentler, and more appreciative human beings if only we did it more often. Seven days ago…

I’ve been noticing some very nostalgic longing in the “Most Wanted” lists of several managers. When it comes to discussions about what could be, 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…

I have long considered management to be a calling. In my view, to call management a job, position, or title is completely missing the mark. I believe that the truly great managers of the world have answered their calling to bring the very best out in people, maximizing their potential. They count their successes in counting…

Last Thursday, I wrote a column here called “Why Work?” I was hoping that we could break away from thinking about the income we tend to quickly associate with jobs and working for a living, and think about some other motivators, and some other satisfiers. Yes, income is a necessity of life, and I…

Imagine something with me for a moment. You are unbelievably wealthy and debt-free. You don’t have to work for the income it brings you, but still, you do work. Because you aren’t concerned with the amount of your paycheck, you are able to choose the work you want to do for the pure joy and…

Last week Thursday, I challenged you to consider how you can best take advantage of our “New World” of learning opportunities. The possibilities waiting for you are extraordinary. I asked you to reflect back on when you feel you have learned best, so you can rally together those lessons-learned about when you have been a…

When I think back over a lifetime of learning, I realize that there were certain times I was a great student, and others in which I was just going through the motions, reaping relatively little from the effort. My schooling was a period of time when I learned pretty intensively because that was simply the overall…

It used to be that the phrase “milking it” carried a pretty negative connotation with it for me, for as kids we only used it about people we thought were taking advantage of some situation without earning the right to do so. People who were “milking it” were the human equivalent of leeches. However I’ve recently…

The crazy prices we’ve had to pay for gasoline in Hawaii have revived a debate I have with my husband every so often: How much are we willing to pay for convenience, and how much do we value our time? My husband is one of those people who will drive all the way down the coast line…

‘Humility’ is a widely understood word. It’s not one of those words people will pause to look up the meaning for. Generally, people love the thought of humility. It’s one of those ‘good’ values we strive for; one we admire. Yes, most people feel they know what it means to be humble. Demonstrating it however, is…

Rules are the kind of thing you love when you want them, and hate when you don’t. More often than not, my advice to managers is to avoid the urge to set them. The only exception I can think of on the pro side of writing rules are The Real Rules of Engagement because they…