Value of the Month – January
Here at the Hawai`i Convention Center, our values are rooted in 12 Hawaiian cultural values which we constantly strive to live by. This month of January, we reflect on the value of ho`ohanohano.
Every day in both our professional and personal lives, this value reminds us “to conduct yourself with distinction, honor, and integrity in all that you do.” At the Hawai`i Convention Center, we encounter many distinguished visitors through our doors, each which may have different requests, needs, and even customs that must be upheld. Our Events Calendar shows examples of the clients that will grace our floors this year, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Hawai`i Blood Bank, and the Hawai`i Dental Association in January. But each group, whether thousands in number or only a group of five, has given us the honor of sharing their event within our doors and therefore we strive to treat each with the professional distinction they have come to expect at a world-class facility. This includes honoring their requests as best as possible, and when we are not able to accommodate, having the integrity to apologize while offering another solution.
Integrity is that unique ability to not only recognize that you have made a mistake or gone off-course, but also to accept full responsibility for it. These are two separate steps on the integrity ladder, and one cannot occur without the other. Ho`ohanohano then goes a step further and shows us that we not only need to accept responsibility, but to offer solutions, alternatives, and options to rectify the situation and make it better than it was before. This is the full meaning of living with personal integrity.
But ho`ohanohano is not only for the workplace. We are so often reminded the importance of how to treat others, but unfortunately dismiss the importance of how we are really portraying ourselves in “all that we do.” From the crossed-arms and slumped body language at the dinner table, to the scowl that we bring home from a bad road-rage day, to the argument that didn’t really need to turn into an argument – we are giving our families and friends a negative piece of us that they did not ask for. Think about it this way…how little of your distinction and honor are you leaving with them? Are they less deserving than your co-workers? And can you truly say that you acted with integrity in all that you do?
As 2011 leaves us and 2012 comes in bright and new, it is important to see how we are affecting others in everything we do. Although each of us cannot be perfect all the time, we can definitely strive for more than the year before. Treat guests with distinction and respect your co-workers. Find the honor and excellence in what you do and how you do it. And most important, hold your `ohana close to you and value their positive part in your life.
Happy New Year and best wishes for finding a place for ho`ohanohano in your life.
