What is leadership?
It's a question that PBS Hawaii's new Chairman of the Board has turned inside and out and which he answers thoughtfully.
Robert Alm, or Robbie as he's called, is a student of leadership. He also teaches leadership--a graduate course at the University of Hawaii. And of course, he leads. He has guided many Hawaii nonprofits over the years. A lawyer and former banker, he is Executive Vice-President of Hawaiian Electric Company.
When you think of a leader, do you think of a charismatic speaker? I suspect that Robbie pictures someone who listens and who makes tough decisions. He doesn't care much about pomp and hoopla.
One of the framers of the Live Aloha movement, Robbie has also made a point of understanding leadership in Hawaiian culture and traditions.
He doesn't speak a lot at our Board meetings. When he talks, it's usually to introduce a perspective that nobody else has brought up. He's astute in weighing different courses of action--and the risks of inaction.
Our new Board Chair is quite familiar with the organization, in part because he previously served as Board Treasurer. And, back when we were a state agency and not the private nonprofit we are now, Robbie headed the State department to which we were attached.
It's an upaid Board of Directors, a great mix of people who know and love Hawaii, with lot of work ahead in a distressed economy. www.pbshawaii.org/about/about_boardofdirectors.phpMass media business models are in freefall.
Yet there's tremendous optimism and great pride in our mission of telling the stories of Hawaii. Fairly, unflinchingly, respectfully. On-air and online.
The noisier the media universe gets, the more reason people have to welcome our calm, independent media voice speaking without commercial interruption.
And with the support of viewers/web users, we have our own organizational story to write--as we develop the nation's first statewide student news network on PBS Hawaii, and as we design and build a digital learning center for the next generations of Hawaii students.
Our staff warmly welcomes Robbie to his new position.
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