 the host but I'm substituting as host today my name is Michael North and we're coming to you from beautiful downtown Honolulu in the Pioneer Plaza where it's a sunny day perfect weather again we had several days of almost hurricane type weather and all kinds of traffic and chaos but now we're back to the normal mid-pacific perfection and we have a young lady here with us today who's really one of the leading lights in in Honolulu society with respect to organizing for great causes for nonprofit organizations she has a long background in media and communications and she's put that a professional experience to work on a number of boards and as an executive and as a staff person in various nonprofit organizations and foundations around around Honolulu so this is one person Sheila O'Keefe who has decided to use her considerable talents to give back to society to give back to the world and I worked with Sheila I've seen the results of her work I know the organizations that she serves and greatly admire what has been achieved so today I wanted to probe a little bit under the under the surface with Sheila to understand how she does it how organizing happens with a person like Sheila O'Keefe you know everybody has to juggle multiple balls and Sheila you were telling us that your for your your late husband told you one day when you had been in a particularly intense phase that Sheila you've done it again you've organized yourself into oblivion yes I was caught by that by that expression what did he mean was that a good thing oh well thank you first of all for inviting me to come on the show this thank you and I think it was both a loving jibe at me and also maybe a little creative and you know kind of a criticism but with you know a good heart and I do have a tendency to sometimes over organize and then it does seem like it sort of blows up again because it's so organized that it's just gotten so small as far as the levels of organization that then it just becomes too mixed up so but you know I think overall I I don't consider myself an expert in organizing but I think I do have some good organizational skills and and I'm not a linear thinker so I really enjoy having a lot of ideas and having a lot of things rolling and things up in the air and whatnot but you do have to focus in on what it is you really are trying to achieve and to try to keep that foremost in your mind I think when you come to your personal organization and you had a very interesting thing that you said one of your mentors said to you would you share that with us yeah one of my mentors said you know in real estate they say there's only one word that's important and that's location and in organizing management there's the most important word is no so what do you think of that there no and oblivion seem to somehow connect there but I think there's something different meant there what do you agree with that that no is an important word and why well you know it's funny because I did take some notes before I came on and I was trying to crystallize my thoughts a little big organized and I think it's easier to know what you don't like than it is sometimes to know what it is you like or what it is you want or what it is you really trying to achieve you it's very clear we don't want that no you can't do that no we don't want to go that direction whatever those kinds of knows maybe I think are important sometimes because it helps then crystallize or it helps frame where you really want to go with your organization and I think it it can be helpful but it's sometimes hurtful and hard for an employee a staff member a junior staff member to hear no no we don't want to do that so I think you do you need to temper that with compassion and kindness and you know and as we all all need to do in in our life in our work life what not yeah I think what what my mentor meant was let's say you have an event that has a bunch of different parts to it right it has a reception it has a banquet it has a performance it has a post party to it it has a discussion a forum it's being broadcast live or recorded all those are big moving parts right it has a celebrity that's appearing and at some point an organizer might need to say no to one of those components might need to say no to the after party right even though the after party has plenty of justification in itself but would would you agree that in that sense you need to define yourself as to what your capabilities what your limitations are yes I do totally agree with that and having done a lot of events some of them almost as complicated as the one that you just described I would say that knowing what you are going to do and saying no we really can't do that is very important and I think it really does once again it helps bring clarity to the project and you don't have a tendency then to go off and try to do too much and really not be able to achieve anything of high substance or high quality and you know I know in our experience in working with the Iona contemporary dance company in the Nova Arts Foundation we often struggle with saying no because we want to do so much because we love what we do and we love our our product if you will our creative dance company and so it it oftentimes makes it difficult for us to say no and so I think probably at that point you know we have to look at budget and not only the budget financially but also the budget as far as the people power and the the labor that we have to be able to achieve everything we want to want to do and I think really one of the keys of that no process is then once you've made that decision getting everyone on board with it and making sure that they're okay with it because sometimes people will may still have a desire to do something and and really want to somehow make it happen even though it's not gonna happen or not gonna happen easily let's maybe sometimes the answer is no not yet yes so it's yes but right right which amounts to a no right in the immediate situation but next year we'll put more attention on the after party plan around that's right that's right you don't want to stifle creativity but you don't want to lose your focus absolutely not absolutely and I think you know that's the one of the beauty parts of the no is that as you become more comfortable with knowing yourself and what your capabilities are and understanding what the capabilities of your organization are a no like you say is just not necessarily a no forever it may just be not now not yet not during this event but going forward let's talk about it or let's bring it back at some other point in another form again yes exactly well defining yourself by the negative is one one part of it right but I think that it's important to find yourself by the positive because then the negative will become clear right so every successful organization that I've been part of has three to maximum five principles mission elements of the mission statement right which anybody from a volunteer who shows up for the first time to a board member who's been on the board for 20 years can keep in their head right easily right so would you agree that having that kind of a of a very clear simple principle is is important I think it is and I do believe that it helps us to be able to convey our message when we are able to have that elevator speech so that when we meet somebody for the first time or maybe meet them again we're able to communicate effectively what our mission is for our organization and please don't ask me what I own is it no because it's so wonderful and it's so broad and it is to to really tap into that creative spirit and to and you're such a great spokesperson you know I I'm a better wordsmith when I'm sitting down at my computer when I find myself speaking sometimes in public I I struggle for words sometimes so and I love your abilities to just thank you blow it out so yeah for those who might be curious Iona that we're referring to is the Iona contemporary dance theater and you can find them online at Iona360.com and both Sheila and I serve on the board and this is Hawaii's most outstanding just flat-out amazing creative dance company headed by a genius from Kailua Sheryl Flaherty who's able to produce visions in dance and choreography and lighting and costumes and so on that are absolutely intoxicating and that address key issues like women like the environment like the life of other species on the planet other than humanity those are three recent themes another one was water just the whole right water of life and she's able to create an evening-length work about a subject as abstract as water and make you laugh and cry and gasp and so on so if anybody has a chance to check out Iona360 there's performances that come up from time to time and there they are flat-out amazing they are and there there is I think well I know Cheryl's principles are listen to the community listen to the soul of the community not just the voices but what people are really caring about right that's like responsiveness yes you know number one is quality an absolute obsession yes with quality from the smallest detail of the tiniest feather on the on a costume to the to the sand to the lighting to the acrobatics to every angle and she will go back and forth over that every detail until it's polished like a diamond right right and and the final one I would say is is Cheryl's forte and that really any business or any nonprofit could could profit from looking looking at these is heart yes you know yes the sense that there's a connection from the soul of a person that's reaching out to others it's not just communicating information it's communicating meaning and heart right right and that's something that's really important in an organization that you participated in which is planned parenthood and we'll come to that after we take a brief break hello ha kako I'm Marcia Joyner and I'm inviting you to navigate the journey we are discussing the end-of-life options and we would really love to have you every Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. right here you're watching think tech on think tech Hawaii dot com which broadcasts six live talk shows from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every week day and then we stream our earlier shows all night long and on the weekends to great content for Hawaii from think tech thank you for watching think tech I'm Grace Chang the new host for global connections you can find me here live every Thursday at 1 p.m. we'll be talking to people around the islands or visiting the islands who are connected in various aspects of global affairs so please tune in and aloha and thanks for watching so we're back live here with Sheila O'Keefe and Sheila I want to ask you about planned parenthood it's an organization that you've had very prominent role to play with and you've been an organizer and you've been an interpreter and so on of the meaning of that the importance of that organization tell us a little bit about let's say you're you're six months away from a really big event that you're planning okay it's going to be a fundraiser a public something there's going to be news there's going to be issues and fireworks or whatever you're how do you begin to organize that in your mind even six months out before even talking about it with anybody and what are the stages you go through until that until the moment that the microphone switches on right great thank you and first of all I have to preface anything I say as I am not a representative spokesperson for Planned Parenthood here today I am really here as a private and public citizen and I'm just sharing my thoughts on organizational activities and to me the first and foremost thing that we need to do is we need to look at what is the purpose of the event that we're going to be doing and there again that goes to the more positive thing do we you know we may have a dollar figure associated with it but we also may have a heart piece associated with it we may want to make sure that we're touching the hearts of our audience members and that we're allowing them an opportunity to learn something or support something to share their values to support their values and I think that anything that that I've been associated with in in my lifetime has always had some value component to it whether that be the arts or whether it be a social service organization lies in a name or a theme that you sometimes it can sometimes it can but often I think people also want to have a good time sometimes they just want to get together and talk with their fellows and and see people that maybe they haven't seen for a year from the last time that they all were at the event or the last time they were all at a performance and so for instance shameless plug Planned Parenthood will be having an event coming up on February 18th so I'm only about three and a half weeks out from that and we're calling it an evening with Planned Parenthood Ohana so that is just a lovely phrase you know and we will have some wonderful speakers and and it will be a chance for our Ohana to get together so what we've done is we have a work plan we have committees we're working on all of the different aspects of how we're going to produce the event the venue and the format of the program printed materials that we'll have there so there are you know just was long of things that need to be taken care of and so I've I've worked on these kinds of things for years and have just sort of like this checklist or punch list you know that you would see in construction this needs to be done this needs to be done and put a date with it and sometimes you don't hit that day template that template works across multiple events you have to customize it sure each time sure absolutely and for instance with the church that I work with the Unitarian Church we also will be having a fundraiser coming up at the end of April and so we're now just getting into that real push to get those plans formalized and put together and so we'll also have that same sort of a work back plan some people call it or work plan where you have the date and you know okay the day before you're gonna have to do this or the day of you're gonna have to do all this stuff and then the day before you have to you know and and in theatrical presentation dance presentation live you know performance those lists are that's your Bible that's what you live by that's how you know what you're doing you know and same thing with Unitarians or Planned Parenthood people or Iona people or it sounds like you're a big-time delegator and that's probably a big part of your skill is to know what you need to control and where you need to release control well I'm glad that it looks like that from the outside I do have a tendency to hold too many things together sometimes and that's where the oblivion thing exactly so you know I am always challenged with delegating and it's not so much a matter of trust but sometimes it is I you know it's not that I don't trust that person to do the job but I sometimes find that maybe I haven't communicated it effectively so they may not know and then here comes that no word I'll go no that's not really what we wanted or you know and that can sometimes be trouble so when you're working with a lot of volunteers which I do so I think the important thing is to try to delegate and find people early on that will take on the responsibilities of different aspects and just give them a lot of support and be you know in my work life I'm I am their staff support so I have to help them create the documents or I have to help them get the mailing done or I have to do something you know on that so there's a push-pull of accountability sure between the manager and sure so I think part of the reason why I've always been an organizer and maybe I'm not so good at delegation I was the oldest child of a large family and so I was always organizing the kids and getting things going and you know here we're going to do this and and then in the neighborhood we would you know get together and let's put on a show you know and then later when I got into my professional life and I was a video producer and we did a small video movie I had to you know bring together hundreds of people volunteers you know and say okay gang everybody run over there look like you're scared you know or whatever it is you know and so I sometimes don't delegate as much as I should but I am always challenged with it and I'm always working to be better at it I'm sure there's a constant dynamic you know there's I've worked with some very alpha type personalities organizers managers observed you know Steve Jobs for example observed Bill Gates who are two prototypical alpha controlling there at the center of the web also worked with two big organizations IBM and Hewlett Packard whose culture is entirely different from that they always have a strong CEO but his or her job is to disperse the responsibility through a network and I think it's important for any organization whether it's nonprofit or or a business to recognize what its identity is and what it's the strength of its people really is and because if you have a very strong organizing inspirational person at the center you don't want to force them to disperse their energy out through a great many people but if you have an organizational culture that is more sort of bottom-up then you don't want to put a star at the center of it and frustrate them right so this is something that I think anybody who's watching this program and thinking about their own business whether it be selling lemonade or selling cell phones could take some some inspiration from from that thought that's right and I and I like the idea of when you do find a star helping to support them to be that star and I've always enjoyed actually being that sort of second level not really being the spokesperson not really being the the president I'm much better at sort of as I was in my family I think you know my parents were the leaders and I was sort of the general underneath you know and or the major you know I'm not good with military you know hierarchies but I pyramid type yeah yeah you know there's there's the leader and and you know and so one of the issues that I think that right now the my Unitarian Church is having is that we don't have a minister we've been a very much volunteer driven and congregational driven organization since we lost our beloved minister about a year and a half ago he left to move to California for family reasons and it's been a very interesting dynamic what's been going on and sometimes it's hard for us to know who the leader is we do have a president and but but she gets a lot of flak from now from the other supporters and much like on survivor you know that television show if somebody comes forward and sort of takes the lead they become the target you know so a lot of times it's better not to be the forefront and to sort of be in the background trying to support things or come on gang let's all get involved with us you know and I hear you speak about that as you know I'm a little bit of a student of Chinese philosophy my wife is from Beijing so I study China through her her personality reflects the whole nation and culture to me and you know the the doubt the the doubted Jing is the the foundational document in that culture and Lao Tzu says when the job of the great leader is complete the people say we did it ourselves so from that point of view the leader is unknown the leader is invisible right nobody even really knows who did it it just it happened by natural evolutionary force and that's a that's a very different model from the Steve Jobs right I'm going to tell you exactly where to put the logo exactly exactly and you know what just recently we had that women's March all across the country and in Washington and that was sort of almost a leaderless kind of a thing there were leaders but they they were almost tapped or asked to get involved after the fact after there was like this groundswell of we want to do this you know and and I think just people came together and decided well I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna help and I'm gonna do whatever I need to do self-organizing exactly and viral and social media yeah that is an option yes yes okay we're getting close to the end of our program and I want to make sure that you have a chance to tell us first of all about the Planned Parenthood event okay in February okay tell us you said it's February the 18th yes it is a Saturday night where's that taking place February 18th it will be in the downtown area at the Pacific Guardian Center and it's in the courtyard area it starts at 5 30 p.m. and people are welcome to look us up online at PPGNI.org and as I say I'm really not here as a spokesperson I really wasn't trying to to push the Planned Parenthood thing but that's part of your job so much and the and the Unitarian Church tell us about that well that'll be I believe the date is going to be April 21st and it will be an event at our church we'll have a silent auction we'll have entertainment we'll have food and wine and you know the Unitarians love their wine and coffee but but it will be a very nice event and the Unitarian Church is on the polish and so that's the case with the Unitarian Church