
Speaking the Kind Truth with Ryan Tanaka
Ryan Tanaka came to KAI Hawaii from finance and acquisitions, not engineering. Today he is President and CEO of the employee-owned structural engineering firm in Honolulu, leading a team of highly technical engineers. Pacific Business News named him one of its 2026 Most Admired Leaders. Ryan tells Billy Duren how KAI Hawaii spent years working through Patrick Lencioni's six clarity questions, and why "How will we succeed?" was the hardest one to answer. They talk about building trust through communication when hurricanes and wildfires hit, and how a company that describes its team and clients as one ohana still holds people accountable by speaking the kind truth. They also cover AI on the engineering team, why culture can matter more than the numbers in an acquisition, and how Ryan decides when a new leader is ready to carry the load. 3 Key Listener Takeaways 1. Speak the Kind Truth Honest feedback is for the other person, not for you. When it doesn't land, look at the delivery. Ryan runs difficult conversations past his executive coach, because as a leader, how your words are received is your responsibility. 2. Healthy Beats Smart KAI Hawaii spent years answering Lencioni's six clarity questions, starting with a mission statement that took a full year. Ryan's takeaway, straight from Lencioni: a healthy company outperforms a smart one, and performance follows the culture. 3. Character Is the Measuring Stick Ryan weighs core values, competence and the Ideal Team Player traits when choosing leaders. Character decides it: do they make good decisions when no one is watching, and could he trust them to make the right call without checking in for a year? Quick Leadership Lessons Billy Wants You To Remember -Making someone an owner on paper is a lot different than making them an owner between their ears. -Trust is built in drops but lost in buckets. -You don't choose the hurricane. You do choose whether you respond or react. -We're a family, but we still have to have hard conversations and hold each other accountable. -In an acquisition, the math may work while the marriage doesn't. -Slow roll the ideas you bring home from a conference. Show Chapters and Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 02:33 One of Hawaii's Most Admired Leaders 04:53 Leading people who know what you don't 06:00 What forensic engineering is 07:01 Honoring the founders, handing off to the next generation 08:28 Technology and AI in engineering 12:42 Owner on paper vs. owner in mindset 16:26 Being a trusted advisor 18:17 Bringing conference ideas home 19:32 The six clarity questions 22:36 The hardest one: How will we succeed? 24:23 Trust is built in drops, lost in buckets 25:35 Responding to adversity as a community 28:51 Ohana and accountability 29:44 Speaking the kind truth 30:53 When the kind truth isn't received well 32:37 When the math works but the marriage doesn't 35:28 Carrying the weight of leadership 37:08 Character as the measuring stick 39:01 Ryan's goals for the year ahead 40:09 Closing Resources: Ryan Tanaka on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryantanaka/ KAI Hawaii: https://kaihawaii.com KAI Hawaii on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kai-hawaii















