Samuel Yip

Apr 29, 2017

Getting Ahead in Your Career with Your Asian Cultural Background

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About myself …

• Head of Marketing, eBay Canada

• Former Director of Digital Marketing, Janssen Canada

– Pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson

– Head of Employee Resource Group – ASIA (Asian Society for Innovation and

Achievement)

• Former Director of eCommerce, Sony Canada

– Expatriate assignment, Sony Corp. (Tokyo)

• Guest lecturer, University of Toronto & Sheridan College

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• Reality Check

• East & West

• Asian Cultural Values

• Self-Awareness

• Toot Your Own Horn

• Lessons & Tips

Agenda

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Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this presentation are my own and do not represent those of my previous or present employers.

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Reality Check

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Asian American

Avg of the US population

Percentage of Asian Pacific Americans on US corporate boards … 1% Study by Committee 100, a non-profit organization

US - Graduated from Colleges, source: US Census Bureau

Reality Check

6 Study by Ascend, a non-profit organization

Among 5 of the largest technology companies (Google, HP, Intel, LinkedIn and Yahoo)

27%

73%

Professionals

14%

86%

Executives

Asian Americans Others

Reality Check

7 Statistic Canada - 2011

2nd generation with a university degree

China 62.4%

India 50.1%

West Asia, Middle East 41.1%

Children of Canadian born parents 23.8%

Percentage of second generation with a university degree, by source region of immigrant parents in Canada

Reality Check

• Asians : ~10% of Canadian populations1

• # of Asian CEOs in Top 100 Canadian public companies2* :

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1 - Statistics Canada - 2006 Census 2 – by revenue, as of 2016

4 – Bharat Masrani, TD Bank

– V. Prem Watsa, Fairfax Financial

– Ravi Saligram, Ritchie Bros Auctioneers

– John Chen, Blackberry

Diversity is our strength

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“Diversity is Canada’s Strength” – Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister

How do I get ahead in my career?

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“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”

- Henry Ford

Prem Watsa @Fairfax

“I was an immigrant myself”. “I consider my children less fortunate for not having had the immigrant experience. Being an immigrant … the only way to go is up.”

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John Chen @Blackberry

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“In his [John Chen’s] early tenure as an engineer, he had asked his supervisor - why some of the Asian engineers were being passed over for promotion. The answer he got stunned him. He went back, he regrouped and he decided what he’s going to do to overcome and disprove those beliefs.” Michele Charles – Director of Strategic Negotiation, Blackberry

Resilience

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Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine. - Jack Ma @Alibaba

A good listener & a problem solver

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Core Foundation

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“Commit and Recommit to Excellent Performance” Lessons for the Next Generation of Minority Executives - from the book Breaking Through by David Thomas & John Gabarro, Harvard Business School

How do I get ahead in my career?

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. . . ?

East & West

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Main stream Western Values: • Independence • Creativity • Visibility for individual is acceptable • Promotion of personal accomplishment • Acceptability of questioning authority

Asian Values: • Collective responsibility • Team work • Low individual visibility • Humility • Obedience to authority

Hokoyama from Leadership Education for Asian Pacific (LEAP)

Asian Cultural Value: Modesty

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“Exemplary persons have dignified ease without arrogance. Petty people are arrogant without dignified ease.”

- Confucius

“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.”

- Lao Tzu

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

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In North America …

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“In the West, we subscribe to the Extrovert Ideal, while in much of Asia, silence is golden.”

Susan Cain in her book, “Quiet - The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking”

Asian Value Scale (AVS)

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• Value dimensions that are ingrained in the Asian population and do not change too much across generations after immigration: – Collectivism – Placing others’ needs ahead of one’s own – Conformity to family and social norms – Maintenance of interpersonal harmony – Deference to authority figures – Respect for elders – Self control / restraint

Kim, Atkinson, Yang – University of California, 1999

Exercise #1

• Partner with someone you don’t know;

• 1st person introduces themselves for 1 min.;

• Switch role and 2nd person introduces themselves for 1min.

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Excel in North American Corporations with Asian Cultural Background

1 - Self Awareness

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“I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.” - Billie Jean King, former World No.1 professional tennis player

Self Awareness

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• Understand your strengths

• Be aware of your blind spots

Tool: Myers & Briggs

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• Myers & Briggs Personality Types

– www.myersbriggs.org

– www.mbtionline.com

Favorite World: Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I). Information: Sensing (S) or Intuition (N). Decisions: Thinking (T) or Feeling (F). Structure: Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).

Tool: StrengthsFinder

• Gallup’s Strengths Finder

– www.strengthsfinder.com

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“People who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in their work and three times more likely to say they have an excellent quality of life.”

2 – Toot Your Own Horn

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- Peggy Klaus in her book, Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It

“You must let people in the organization know who you are and what you are accomplishing. You need to cover all your bases and stand out in the eyes of your boss’ boss and that boss’ boss and all the bosses right up to the big boss.”

Many of us are not “trained” to speak up …

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How I used to learn in China … How my son is learning in Canada …

Tool: P. I. E.

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Performance Image Exposure

• Skills & abilities • Results • Value added • Process & procedures

• Personal brand • Credibility • Reputation • Influence

• Network • Who knows you • Who knows what you do • Sponsorship

Harvey Coleman in his book, “Empowering Yourself, The Organizational Game Revealed.”

Tool: P. I. E.

Exposure

Image

Performance

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Tool: S. T. A. R.

• S.T.A.R. Interview Techniques

– Situation: context within which you performed a job or faced a challenge at work.

– Task: describe your responsibility in that situation.

– Action: describe how you endeavored to meet the challenge.

– Result: explain the outcomes generated by your action taken.

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Tool: S. T. A. R.

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Treat every day like it is an interview and have a bag full of S.T.A.R. ready

Tool: “Your body language shapes who you are”

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• In high-power poses for 2 min …

– Testosterone increase 20%

– Stress hormone, cortisol, levels decrease 25%

Amy Cuddy, Social psychologist, Harvard Business School

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VS.

Tool: “Your body language shapes who you are”

Tool: “Getting your voice ready”

https://youtu.be/AIqUX2QbLGw

Exercise #2

• Partner with someone you don’t know; • 1st person introduces themselves for 1 min.;

• Talk about …

– My name is … – I work at … – The most exciting part about my work is …, because …

• Switch role and 2nd person introduces themselves

for 1min.

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Asian Cultural Values: Harmony & Respect

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Pros Cons

Look for common ground with others You may run away from conflict or potential confrontation, leaving issues unresolved

Easy to work with, practical, down-to-earth

Do not voice disagreement, do not seem to contribute to meeting discussions

Willing to adjust, have high tolerance for different views

Can be perceived as a YES-person and do not push back on unrealistic asks

Good team players Can be perceived as not standout

Asian Cultural Values: Harmony & Respect

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The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes Malcolm Gladwell in his book, “Outliners”

Tool: Avoiding the “Ladder of Inference”

• Actions

• Beliefs

• Conclusions

• Assumptions

• Interpreted Reality

• Selected Reality

• Reality and Facts

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Tips: Joining a new company

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Tips: Never eat alone

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Tips: Find a mentor

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Tips: Find an organization that fits YOU

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Thank You

• Stay Connected … samuelyip.com

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