(A self-portrait of the author…)
Flannel on My Back and Slippers on My Feet:
How Cultural Cues Have Informed My Management Style
by Kristen Labrecque, for submission to PACRAO, April 2007
Born and reared in Honoka’a, a small town on the Hamakua Coast of the Island of Hawai’i, my
‘ohana (family) planted in me the seeds of good leadership. These seeds were the basic values of
the Hawaiian culture. When I was twenty years old, I decided to pick up roots and transplant
myself in the coffee-soaked grounds of Seattle. As a result, my ideas about management
resembled real hybrid specimens. My cross-cultural experience has shaped the person I am
today, and my everyday goal is to have my management style reflect those intrinsic values
cultivated by my environments.
The thought that I have a “management style” is quite odd to me. I have been working either
part-time or full-time since I was fourteen years old, but I never had career aspirations that
involved managing people, and I certainly never saw myself becoming anyone’s “boss.” So the
first time my job called for me to manage a group of people, I was quite anxious because I’d
never received any training in management. So what I decided to do was to take all of my
experiences with my own supervisors over the years and try to emulate the qualities I thought
were valuable, and to try and do the opposite of those practices that I deemed destructive. For
the first year, this worked quite well—but it was difficult to put into words the methods I was
employing since they were so organic.
In the spring of 2001, my organic methods of supervision found a voice. Along with a few coworkers, I attended a workshop for the Fish! Philosophy led by Stephen Lundin. The concepts
presented resonated, and my internal voice kept saying, “Yes! Yes! That’s it, exactly!” Our
group had attended the workshop as a professional development exercise in customer service
philosophy—but the principles of good service can be applied to management as well. After all,
managers serve the people they oversee. This little “Aha!” moment caused me to realize that
although I had been somewhat resistant to becoming a “boss”, my role as a supervisor is actually
that of a teacher, a mentor, a provider, and a supporter—the role of the manager is one of
servant-leadership.
The Fish! Philosophy of customer service is centered on four principles that can easily be
transferred from the relationship between the agent and the customer to the relationship
between the manager and the employee.

Be there. Managers need to be present—physically, mentally, and sometimes
emotionally—with those whom they supervise. To be truly engaged with another person
means being able to assess that person’s strengths, weaknesses, and needs. This kind of
assessment is necessary for a leader to manage processes and people in order to maximize
potential and productivity by providing the necessary resources and realistic expectations
that the group needs. In addition, a leader who is present with his or her employees will
find that those employees will in turn be present for their leader.

Play. Remember the game “follow the leader”? Employees take their cues from their
leader, and a manager who encourages and even demonstrates play at work will find his
or her staff ready to jump on board. Play is essential for creativity and innovation, and it’s
fun! If work doesn’t seem like “work” and people who are happy with their job and
environment, they’ll be more productive and healthy. This kind of support has
tremendous results, and incorporating play can even be educational. When I wanted our
staff of student employees to become acquainted with full-time staff beyond the office
walls, I created a “Jeopardy” board filled with little-known facts about the people with
whom they share an office. As a result, both staff and students were energized and
conversations were sparked, leading to a more welcoming and comfortable environment
for all.

Choose your attitude. Choosing one’s attitude is all about self-awareness, and the selfaware manager will encourage staff to be self-aware, leading to better relationships and
healthier environments. Working as many of us do, in little cubicles in close proximity to
others for eight or more hours per day, we’re bound to get under each other’s skin. And
the manager who might be bothered by an employee’s behavior needs to exercise some
self-reflection and consider whether the issue is one that should be addressed or not.
Being bothered is a feeling—but choosing the attitude to employ with a person is all
about action. If the behavior is one that harms the office or other co-workers, choosing
an attitude of concern will show the employee that the behavior must change for the
good of the group—and it’s not personal. The interaction is not a confrontation, but a
teaching-moment when the supervisor is able to allow the employee some self-reflection
of his or her own. On the other hand, if the behavior is “annoying” to the manager
because of personal preference, then he or she can choose an attitude of tolerance—
realizing that people are different from one another and that to confront the employee on
this issue could be construed as a reprimand, and seen as a personal attack. By
consciously choosing attitudes, managers can reflect a careful and considerate spirit and
protect relationships with their employees.

Make their day. A relationship between a supervisor and his or her staff can deepen
when the manager is seen as a mentor. A mentor is someone who makes your day not
only with words of praise and acknowledgement, but also with genuine interest in your
success. Managers have a great deal of power concerning staff members in the sense that
it is the manager’s responsibility to empower those individuals. The supervisor who has
provided the team with the necessary resources, and who has fostered healthy
environments and relationships will see that the team enjoys great success because they
have been empowered to complete the work themselves. This manager can stand back
and watch the team work, trusting in their competence and believing in their character—
making their day by demonstrating just how capable and trustworthy they are.
These principles can be applied to most relationships, but its application to the relationship
between a supervisor and supervisee can enhance the role that each plays in the other’s life.
Reflecting on these principles, and taking some time to visit the self-proclaimed “world famous”
Pike Place Fish Market since I live right here in Seattle, I began to see how the Fishmongers’
tenets mirrored the Northwest way of life. The culture in Seattle seems to be permeated by a
general sense of community and consideration. People are involved in community projects and
seem to give freely of their time and money. The Northwest is known for a somewhat casual
approach to most things and also for a progressive stance on many issues. The Fish! Philosophy
is both casual and progressive because its ideals are not traditional, yet this way of doing
business has seen profits soar (Crother, 2004). So, has the Seattle culture spawned the Fish!
Philosophy? Or have the fishmongers created a culture that an entire city has adopted? Either
way, I am a product of this city and my leadership style has been directly influenced by it.
But it’s not enough to credit Seattle and its fishmongers for my professional development. After
all, I spent the first and most formative years of my life in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. On a
recent visit home (Hawai’i is always home to those who’ve grown up there), I was waiting for my
flight in the airport gift shop when I came across a book titled Managing with Aloha: Bringing
Hawai’i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business. I thought, “Aha! I can use these ideals to
further develop my supervision skills!” I was ready to learn some new things and be refreshed in
these ideas, but what I found was that these ideas were already a part of my personal philosophy
because they are essential to the Hawaiian culture and to the way of life in which I grew up.
In her book Managing with Aloha, Rosa Say (2004) outlines nineteen different Hawaiian ideals
that can help managers find both professional and personal success. (I’ll be highlighting seven
of those ideals in this article.)

Aloha. Yes, it means love (and it can be used as a greeting), but the concept is so much
more than the English word connotes. To have aloha is to have an attitude of inclusion,
of unconditional love, of respect, and of service (Say, 2004). Managers should have no
favorites, including themselves. Selfishness and disrespect are thrown out the window in
favor of service to others. This evokes a positive environment where staff recruiting is
hardly necessary (people want to work in this kind of environment) and retention is
through the roof (nobody wants to leave). The environment and relationships among
staff are healthy and the work is top quality because people are happy.

Ho’ohana. “To work with intent and purpose” (Say, 2004, p. 30) means to be fully
invested in the job that’s being done. Managers who give employees the vision behind
each project allows staff members to buy into the bigger picture and feel the impact of
their work. Providing the vision and purpose for a job, or encouraging staff to articulate
their own vision and purpose will bring forth passion and excitement for the work being
done. Again, the quality of work is impacted positively, and the quality of life for the
employee also rises.

Lokahi. I love the acronym TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More), and lokahi goes
even deeper than the concept of teamwork—it is the unified spirit of a group working
toward the same goals (Say, 2004). This kind of synergy might best be related via a
picture of a crew team. Each rower must be working together in order for the shell to
move in its desired direction and at its desired pace. In this metaphor, the manager is the
coxswain—providing the direction the team needs to maintain pace and momentum. It
is up to the manager to identify the positions each team member should take on, and to
be clear about the team’s goals. In return, the group will deliver the energy and cohesion
necessary for the entire group’s success. (Now there’s a Seattle–based analogy for a
Hawaiian concept—see what a hybrid I am!)

Ha’aha’a. Rosa Say (2004) readily admits that she struggles with the humility that
embodies the spirit of ha’aha’a. She says that her forceful demeanor, a reflection of her
assertive and decisive professional qualities, sometimes rubbed people the wrong way.
Say found that she had to repeat herself because others had trouble listening to her, and
at a point she even grew to dislike the sound of her own voice. She decided to “learn
more about [her] own sound; [her] tone needed to cultivate more respect…” (Say, 2004, p.
154). To help her keep committed to this goal, she includes in her credo “I will listen with
humility, and listen more than I speak, understanding that there are lessons and
discoveries within the voices of others. When I do speak, I will speak softly” (Say, 2004, p.
154). Being a boss doesn’t mean you have to be bossy, just as being a supervisor doesn’t
make you superior. But joining together with those being supervised, a manager can “ask
tough questions and set challenging expectations without being too hard on people” (Say,
2004, p. 156). Furthermore, ha’aha’a places the manager in the role of the vehicle—not
the driver. Those being led can work together with the resources and tools that a
manager supplies for them, instead of just being along for the ride with a leader who’s
taking them somewhere unknown.

Ho’ohanohano. According to Say (2004), to treat others with dignity and respect means
more than just honoring the “Golden Rule” to “Do unto others as you’d have them do
unto you” because ho’ohanohano requires that you honor others without the ulterior
motive of being treated well yourself (p. 162). She relates that some managers see
themselves as parents, with staff who are placed in their care and need to be protected.
However, to truly respect another person means to trust them and to have respect for
their intelligence and capability. Staff persons do not have to be protected—they need to
be involved. Whether sharing ideas about the big picture of the organization, or with
pieces of information that might be difficult, managers have the responsibility to facilitate
conversation and help employees to discuss the ramifications of what might be going on.
Open communication and dialogue are the building blocks of a trusting relationship.

Malama. Bringing emotions into the workplace might seem like a dangerous concept,
but let’s face it—humans are emotional beings and emotions will be in the office whether
we intend to bring them there or not. Malama means to care, and in business, caring can
mean doing a job well-done because you’re invested in it, and it can mean working well
together because people are invested in each other. Say (2004) relates that managers who
truly care for their employees invest the time necessary to know them, to be sensitive to
their needs and comfort levels, and to confront them quickly and clearly when it’s
necessary. Even tough messages are better received when delivered by a manager who is
confronting out of care and concern.

Mahalo. Probably the second-most well-known word in the Hawaiian language, mahalo
simply means thanks—but the full concept takes thankfulness to another level: mahalo is
thankfulness as a way of life, or an “attitude of gratitude” (Say, 2004, p. 196). By focusing
on the resources we have instead of those things that might be lacking or dysfunctional,
both managers and their staff immediately change the working environment to one of
celebration, and this is energizing. Similarly, if an employee only hears negative feedback
from his or her manager, is it surprising that the employee would not find success? Self-
efficacy has a direct impact on a person’s ability, and the manager who appreciates his or
her staff, praising them for all the good things they do, will find that each day there are
more good jobs to be praised, and more things to be thankful for. “When you teach the
value of Mahalo to your employees, you help them enjoy the life they have. What a
wonderful gift that is!” (Say, 2004, p. 203).
These values can certainly be applied to life in general, and doing so will impact the individual
and each person with whom he or she comes into contact. Applied by a person in a managing
role with staff so directly influenced, these Hawaiian ideals can not only enrich the relationship
between the supervisor and employee, but also enhance the work environment and boost group
productivity.
In reading Say’s book, I found that instead of being refreshed by new ideas, I was energized with
the realization of just how much cultural cues have impacted who I am today—not only as a
person, but as a professional and as a manager. Seeing the direct impact these cues have had,
I’m doing a lot more self-examination which I hope will lead to a heightened awareness of whom
I am and why I choose to do things the way I do. After all, these cultural influences are not all
positive ones—some values I’ve learned growing up detract from my efficiency as a
communicator and from my ability to receive of praise and appreciation. But realizing these
things is half the battle, and knowing they’re within, I can strive to be better, and to let others
know about these issues so that they won’t take it personally when their cultural cues clash with
my own.
What are your cultural cues? How have they influenced the person and the professional you are
today? My challenge to you is this: embark on a journey of self-discovery to find the elements
that have facilitated your growth and blossoming, and to identify the agents that could use some
pruning. Every plant needs constant care, and every manager can benefit from constant
learning—even about him or herself.
Resources
Crother, C. and Fish Boys (2004). Catch! A fishmonger’s guide to greatness. San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
(2007). Fish! Principles. In Fish! Philosophy. Retrieved March 21, 2007 from
http://www.charthouse.com.
Say, R. (2004). Managing with aloha: Bringing Hawai’i’s universal values to the art of
business. Waikoloa, Hawai’i: Ho’ohana Publishing.
(The author is pictured above, on the right…)
About the Author
Kristen Labrecque is Senior Undergraduate Academic Counselor at Seattle Pacific University,
where she manages a team of five students who serve as counselor assistants, and a team of eight
students who lead groups through the New Student Advising and Registration Program. Kristen
has been a member of PACRAO since 2004 when she presented information about SPU’s Degree
Audit System at the regional conference in Tucson. She has facilitated sessions at the regional
conferences in Tucson, Sacramento, and Honolulu, where she also presented a session about
Online Advising. Kristen is slated to present a session called “Getting Involved in PACRAO”
with Seattle University’s Andrew Anderson in Salt Lake City this November. Questions or
comments are welcome via e-mail at kristenl@spu.edu.