Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 10, 1 October 2013 — Measuring success by another yardstick [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Measuring success by another yardstick

ByTreenaShapiro How do you redefine success beyond money and power? That was the theme at a launeh event for online news outlet HuffPost Hawai'i, whieh featured a discussion Sept. 4 at Sheraton Waiklkl moderated by Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, who asked panelists their thoughts on a "third metric" for redefining success. Huffington, who onee worked herself to exhaustion, says that the third metric will be an editorial priority for her newest venture, whieh is a partnership with the online news site Honolulu Civil Beat. "Bumed out people are not going to change the planet," she says. The panel included two Native Hawaiians-Makauila Ine. executive director Amy Kalili and Hale Ola, Hawaiian Healing Center founder Dane Kaohelani Silva - along with Aliya Bokhari, regional vice president and general manager of American Express; Deborah Crown, dean of the College of Business Administration at Hawai'i Pacific University; Janet Liang, president of Kaiser Permanente Hawai'i; and Maya Soetoro-Ng, educator and sister to President Barack Obama. "The two metrics - climbing up a ladder for success and money and power - is not working," Huffington said. According to Huffington, the third metric will be led by women because men created the world and it's not quite working. "Not working for women, especially." But she added that good men will also be part of the revolution, including Silva, who says, "When in doubt, err on the side of aloha." Huffington turned to Silva first for a definition of aloha. He explained that when people interact their decisions are sometimes based on power and money, but the third metric isn't concerned with

that - and it also tries to address gender inequality. "(We're) not going to make a decision based on the bottom line or profit, but how many people are going to benefit and how we ean empower them and support them," he said. "When we have more power or mana, we're able to express more feelings," he added. "Aloha is a feeling we treasure here in Hawai'i." Silva has a four-pronged plan for bringing about change, whieh incorporates education, engagement, empowerment and support. Kalili elaborated on giving and service, whieh she says is a driving motivation for those who grew up in theNative Hawaiian community. "We know that what we do and the people standing behind us have a direct impact on how successful we are," she explained. "The last thing you want to do is make 'A' or shame your family. There's huge return in that. It makes you strive to be better." She said that when someone makes a positive impact, it contributes to the collective good. Soetoro-Ng discussed the third metric as it relates to education - restoring faith in imagination, learning about history and current events from multiple points of view, building moral courage and encouraging service. During the question and answer period, an audience member raised some class-based concerns because many working class people can't afford to slow down, let alone to pay for child care or to shop organic. Soetoro-Ng pointed out that there are efforts to engage with families through the public schools and farms. Ultimately, today's children ean grow up to be leaders who ean help rebuild eommunities in positive ways, she says. Bokhari addressed the importance of sleep because she's a strong believer of its restorative powers. She also sets an hour aside in the morning for exercise. "I really think that you need a way to disconnect from today's world."

Liang, from Kaiser, said medieal science backs up Bokhari's beliefs. Sleep-deprived people have a higher probability of weight gain, whieh ean lead to hypertension and other chronic disorders. Lor more about the third metric, visit huffposthawaii.com. ■ Treena Shapiro, afreelance writer, is aformer reporterfor the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser.

At a launeh event for HuffPost Hawai'i, Ahanna Huffington, center, moderated a discussion on new ways of defining success with panelists, from left, Dane Kaohelani Silva, Aliya Bokhari, Amy Kalili, Janet Liang, Maya Soetoro-Ng and Deborah Crown. - Courtesy photo