Contributed by: Diane Paloma
December 2022 marked a new elevation for Ka Pa Hula O Ka Lei Lehua, my hālau hula. Hula has been a part of my life since grade school. What started out as an extracurricular activity quickly became the guiding light for health, career, and legacy. Part of the learning that occurs when you are involved over such a long period of time is that you continue to seek more and more. It’s the classic, “the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.”
Photo courtesy Diane Paloma
Legendary. Hula comes from a practice that has endured generations of life—practiced during the time where people understood the innate relationship in their world. Hula is a reflection of nature and how we dwell in it. Leadership is similar in that your understanding of systems, operations, and people will dictate how you orchestrate all those individuals into a symphony.
Magical. The ceremony of ‘awa and huʻelepo (receiving of ‘awa for focus and display of chanting and dancing expertise) occurred on the winter solstice and during one of the largest winter storms—the site magically cleared for the duration of the event. The pahu drums, rain-soaked and made by hand, resounded to set the stage for a magical display of traditional hula passed down from generations. Despite the darkest of days (like COVID in 2020), there is always room for magic and opportunity. It’s driven by the perspective that you take as a leader. If you see the outcomes, enduring the challenges along the way becomes necessary and educational.
Photo courtesy Diane Paloma
Epic. I am grateful for the chance to be a recipient of this knowledge. “Hula is life” as we often say. It’s a practice; it’s our spiritual connection to our kūpuna. The “epic-ness” is that it doesn’t stop or end with me. Much like the organizations that we lead,we won’t be the last. The magnitude of that concept is what enables leaders toward elevating our organizations in so many ways.
‘Ūniki is to tie or bind. The graduation achievement is represented in the binding of knowledge and practice to oneself. We bind our learnings and insights toward a level of excellence. Our main duty is to digest that knowledge and then ready it for others. To me, this is what leadership is, a continuous cycle of learning generation by generation.
Pacific Business News, Hawai‘i Business Magazine