The First 90 Days

I would like to congratulate the NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors for completing the first 90 days of 2010 with a whole lot of enthusiasm and with a superior attitude for driving for results. As a volunteer Board with full time careers and families, I know of the challenges of balancing work, life and Board duties. I am proud of the leadership shown by this chapter for upholding the mission and vision for NAAAP.  On behalf of our membership, sponsors, and executive board, "Thank you."

As a summary, here are the results from the first 90 days of 2010:

• David Eam and Herbert Pang, Community Service and Membership Chairs, organized a community event to serve 80 families at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Washington among other community service events. (Note: Kevin Chang, will be the new Membership Chair replacing Herbert)

• Jenny Xu, Social Chair, coordinated the first Eastside social event with 80 people in attendance and a women networking event launching the Women in Naaap program locally.

• Andy Yip & Ki Kim, NAAAP Past presidents threw a volunteer appreciation event for last year’s volunteers.

• Lynn Huynh, Treasurer, reconciled our actual from budget and maintained chapter financial health.

• Casey Huang, Scholarship Chair, is launched on our first College scholarship to be awarded in the first half of 2010.

• Julie Pham, Marketing Chair and Marian Liu, VP of External affairs, are working to expand the reach of the NAAAP message while creating a positive brand to increase value for members and sponsors.

• Hang Chen, Professional Development Chair, worked with Kaplan to deliver an MBA Strategy Seminar.

• Rebecca Deng, Natl. Rep, & I, represented the Chapter at the NAAAP National Retreat in Connecticut.

• Amy Duong, Student Relations Chair, is working on creating relationships with student groups across the Puget Sound.

• Vivian Hauer, Newsletter Chair, has implemented an events calendar to be shared at our all of our events.

• Erik Kalinka, Technology Director, is working on updating our technology to the National Back Office.

• Liz Tran, Fundraising Chair, emceed our Haiti fundraising event and created a fundraising strategy.

• Roxanne Tam, Board at Large, led a committee in updating our chapter by-laws.

• Nancy Ko, Board at Large, planned and executed our chapter's Board Retreat resulting in a strategic plan for membership, professional development, social and community areas.

• Jen Phang, VP of Operations, recruited top professionals for election to the Board of Directors.

As you can see we're up to creating a vibrant and engaged community of professionals that improve our communities and create competitive professional advantages.

If you would like to know more about NAAAP Seattle and NAAAP and are thinking about joining our membership, please visit our website at http://seattle.naaap.org/Welcome.do or http://www.naaap.org/

Figure. NAAAP Board of Directors at the Haiti Relief event held in February. (l to r) Future Board Member, Kaiden Yip; Andy Yip, Ki Kim, David Eam, Tanatha P., Liz Tran, me, Amy Duong, Jen Phang, and Hang Chen.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Precision Questioning & Answering (Vervago)

In this video, CJ (Allison Janney) is the Press Secretary in NBC's hit show the West Wing. She's prepping for a news briefing.  As you'll soon see, she's using precision questioning to speed up decision making and to have a deeper understanding of issues. 

Pretty amazing, huh? Now ask yourself, "What would your workplace be if you interacted with precision questioning and answers?" Also, "what would it be like in your 1:1's with your managers or direct reports, in meetings, and in presentations?"

If you're interested in knowing more and where to get training, you can visit these links.

• Vervago: http://www.vervago.com/video_precisionqa.html  
• Vervago Skill Sharpener: http://www.vervago.com/resources.html  
• History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_questioning  

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Human Trafficking and Women's Safety (APIWFSC)

Leaders need to know the issues surrounding their communities and two issues that are oftentimes ignored or shunned is human trafficking and women's safety.  Human trafficking is the smuggling of persons in and out of a country while women's safety is related to domestic violence or the sex trade. One Seattle organization raising awareness is the Asian Pacific Islander Women and Family Safety Center (APIWFSC). According to Lan Pham, APIWFSC's Executive Director, when asked about identifying a victim, "many of the victims do not speak English and are unfamiliar with US customs; are confined to a room to work, eat and sleep; and are unaware that what is being done to them is a crime".  And according to Ye-Ting Woo, Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, convicted persons involved in sex trafficking of a minor could face 15 years or a life sentence. Yes. This is a tough problem space and one that in recent years there has been more awareness created, but it's an ongoing problem that's being managed through educational efforts and our judicial system.

Let's take a step back for a moment and let me create some context for you because I am not an authority or expert on these issues, but because of my experience with the Executive Development Institute (EDI) I learned about the issues and took action. As many of you know, NAAAP Seattle and EDI are partners in developing leaders within the Asian community ---NAAAP Seattle with our professional development events, webinars, and conferences and EDI with their Leadership Discovery and Navigating Leadership Programs. You've probably by now have seen our efforts to share with our members opportunities to participate in EDI's 8-month Leadership Discovery program. Many of EDI's graduates become leaders at work and in their communities showing the value of program. We recognize this and are delighted with our partnership.

So that's the context of this post, as part of my own participation in EDI's Leadership Discovery Program, I worked with the APIWFSC with my team members: Michele Lee (Microsoft), My Huynh (Wells Fargo), Rajit Jain (Boeing), and Greg Nomura (Liberty Mutual). We set out to bring our business expertise and professionals skills to the organization. Our assignment was to create a marketing plan and assist with raising funds to sustain and grow APIWFSC efforts in addressing human trafficking and women's safety. As part of the experience we led a visioning session, launched our marketing at the Asian community picnic, and executed on our fundraising efforts at the Microsoft 2008 Giving campaign and at the APIWFSC's 15th Anniversary Fundraiser.

We captured our experience in pictures and they're here for you to share in our experience.

 MAY 2008: Learning the issues. Pictured (L to R) Michele Lee (Microsoft), Judith Panlasigui (APIWFSC)

 JUNE 2008: Visioning Session. Pictured (L to R) Greg Nomura (Liberty Mutual), Michele Lee (Microsoft)

 Pictured (L to R) Michele Lee (Microsoft), Rajit Jain (Boeing)

 AUGUST 2008: Asian Community Picnic.

 

 Pictured (L to R) Lan Pham (APIWFSC), me, Marlina Hales (Microsoft), and Ye-Ting Woo (Attorney)

 Pictured (L to R) Greg Nomura (Liberty Mutual), Greg's kids, Mike and Lan Pham (APIWFSC), My Huynh (Wells Fargo) and me. 

This weekend EDI kicks off their 2010 Programs and I want to wish everyone in the program good luck and many future successes. It's an experience they'll always remember. Now, if you're thinking about enrolling in the 2011 programs, start talking to your management now and have this as part of you career development plan.  If you want to get involved with human trafficking and women's safety, visit the APIWFSC's website.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Links:

• APIWFSC: http://www.apiwfsc.org/
• Asian Domestic Violence Fact Sheet: http://www.apiwfsc.org/statistics.html
• WA State Human Trafficking website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/region10/programs/region_10_trafficking.html
• FACT Sheet: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/fact_human.pdf

MADE

MADE, now in its 10th season, is an MTV series turning possibilites into realities for individuals wanting to achieve their goals.

What's obvious in these episodes is the presence of a mentor or coach.  You can see they are a stand and support for their mentee's goals and dreams.  They provide guidance and encouragement when things aren't clear or when hope seems lost. I've included links to full episodes below and see for yourself how hard work, determination and partnerships are key ingredients to success. TV is one thing, but how does it play out in real life? 

Well if you're interested, would you like to know who's MADE me? I've been fortunate to have had support throughout my life.  From my parents and teachers to my friends and managers, they've all played a key role in making me who I am.  They were pivotal in encouraging me to apply for that job, to stick with it when times got tough, to try something new, and to ask for help. This last one is really important because if you get anything out of this post at all it's to realize that knowing-it-all and thinking-I-can-do-it-by-myself flat out doesn't work. 

To answer my earlier question, I would like to acknowledge and thank Assunta Ng, publisher of the Northwest Asian Weekly and Seattle Chinese Post newspapers. She was the one last year who encouraged me to apply for the NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors.  If it weren't for her encouragement, I wouldn't be here writing today. Assunta (left in picture) and I have what is called an informal mentoring relationship.  It's a form of mentorship where we don't have a structure of weekly meetings, but I can definitely email or call her with questions relating to how to run a business or to get her perspective on a situation.

Another type of a mentoring relationship is a structured type. Unlike an informal type, the structured type has a weekly face-to-face or conference call, an agenda, specific outcomes and you as the driver of the relationship. Marianne Barkman was my coach in Landmark Education's Self-expression and Leadership Program. She MADE me into a team manager. As a coach, I was responsible for coaching 5 program participants with their projects and ensuring they received support throughout the 3-month program. Marianne and I had weekly meetings and she taught me what conversations I needed to have with my participants so that 1.) they stayed in the game and 2.) they were engaged in their projects.

So as I reflect on who's MADE me, there are many people as I said before, but I'd like to especially thank these people for being a mentor to me in their own way: Stafford Mays, Mylene Padolina, Beth Strack, Parri Munsell, Joyce Allen, Mark Bishop, Susan James, Jim Bachaud, Jacob D'Nunzio, Christopher McKormack, Don Peterson, Starr MacDonald, Tom Pearon, Sue Hadi, Michele Mercer, CJ Johnson, Andy Yip, Ki Kim, Jon Boulton, Ador Yano and Lorraine Yu. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

In conclusion, I want to leave you with this bit of encouragement. No matter where you are in your journey in life, you can always call on a mentor for guidance and assistance. They're there willing to help you succeed.  Listen to what they say.  Do what they say and thank them when the job is done.

Regards,

Gil Gido

NAAAP Seattle

President

Links:  

• Watch Brittany get MADE: http://www.mtv.com/videos/made-season-10-ep-30-pageant-queen/1631318/playlist.jhtml
• Watch Sidhart get MADE: http://www.mtv.com/videos/made-season-9-ep-20-football-player/1597806/playlist.jhtml
• Be a mentor: http://www.wamentors.org/

Not just for project managers

As a project manager and organizational lead, you will often hear that projects and organizations do not succeed without someone championing the project's mission or organizational goals. A sponsor is, as defined in the Project Management Book Of Knowledge (PMBOK) 3rd edition, "a person or a group that provides financial resources, in cash or in-kind, for the project". Liking it to the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP), our organization runs multiple projects and each with their associated costs. Sponsorships are close to 1/3rd of our chapter's operating expenses so they offset our costs and as a result keep membership fees low and events affordable.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with one of our sponsors, Jamie Williams (right in photo) and Rechele Heath of State Farm, in their Dupont, Wa operating center. Since projects are about effecting change and results, we talked results and not just results surrounding our chapter, but results for our sponsor as well. We discussed specific measureable results in an effort to monetize them or to see the return on investment (ROI) of the project, a key project management term.

One of the key projects we discussed and one that I got truly excited about was to create an event that educates NAAAP members on State Farm’s diversity outreach program and describes opportunities at State Farm. This event would expand beyond the Asian community to include other multicultural groups having both a diverse panel of speakers and attendees. The result would be to have 100 people attend and walk away with a new or renewed perspective on Diversity and Inclusion and to have the opportunity to connect with recruiters at State Farm.

Getting back to the topic of sponsors, let me ask you this, "Ever been on a project where there wasn't a sponsor? How did the project turn out?" If you're not a project manager and want to be one, this is an important key step in the beginning stages of a project; that is to get a sponsor. Even if you don't want to be a project manager but you're on a project, look and see if there is a sponsor and it will tell you how your group is perceived within the organization. As you may realize by now, the sponsor is the main factor for project success.
In closing, I want to thank State Farm for sponsoring NAAAP Seattle as well as other chapters across North America.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Business Networking at the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce

Within Volunteer Park there is the Seattle Asian Art Museum.  It was the site of a business networking event for the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce members. If you're an entrepreneur, you will want to be part of a chamber of commerce.  Instead of networking for a job, you're networking to get your business known in the community. At this event, there were Capitol Hill community business owners - Edward Jones, EBits, ZipCar, and of course, the Seattle Asian Art Museum to name just a few.

Now in speaking with the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Jack Hilovsky, "its members are dedicated to increasing the vitality of Capitol Hill."  They perform activities like street clean up and ensure the community works with its residents to make it a great community.  In addition, Jack works with the city on issues that affect the businesses of the community. For example, Sound Transit is expanding into the neighborhood to bring Light Rail to Capitol Hill.  More at the Capitol Hill Blog.

Business networking, just like individual networking, is still a skill.  Just have a purpose, be professional and outgoing.  You'll soon find out that there are other successful entrepreneurs just like you.

One last note and that's to give a special thanks to Cara and Nicole from the Seattle Asian Arts Museum.  They graciously provided the venue and wine for the event. 

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Links

• Seattle Asian Arts Museum (Free admission on the first thursday of every month) http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/visitSAAM.asp?val=locationSAAMheader
• Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce http://caphillchamber.org/
• Capitol Hill Blog http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/

Situational Leadership

Let's change it up a bit.  Let's talk about something different for a moment.  Ever notice that when things go right or wrong, what's there? Actually the question is who is there? I'll pause for a moment for you to think it through a bit.

           Pausing.

           Waiting.

           Have you got the answer? 

Since you had me wait, I'm going to take a moment and share this story.  The answer to the question is farther below.

Now regardless of your race or gender, what distinguishes us is our experiences and how we handle them.

As an example, many of you know that I have a dog named Ulysses. What you don't know is that she's been in California visiting my parents.  During my visit last weekend, I was driving my friend's car on the way to Fort Funston, a dog park in San Francisco. My friend was in the passenger seat staring out the window. I would describe the trip as uneventful until this incident: While I was in the intersection the light turns yellow. All of a sudden my friend yells hysterically telling me to stop the car. "Stop the car! There's a camera. You might get a ticket!" For a moment, I stopped, but considering I was in the middle of the street I went through.

"What was my friend thinking?" I thought to myself. "It's quite dangerous to distract me while I'm driving. Why would my friend yell like that?"

Well why I chose to tell you this story is because 1.) I'm sure everyone has had a friend yell at them while they are driving, right? And 2.) this is a universal concept to depict leadership in a situation. I think that two things could have happened. Either I stop in the middle of the street honoring my friend's wishes to stop the car or go through the light. In this situation, I chose to go through the light. The lesson to be learned in regards to leadership is that when you're leading you're the driver. You are responsible for yourself and for others in the car to get to your destination safely 100% of the time. A corollary is to also be responsible for sharing the road and have other drivers get to their destination safely.

Now for the answer to the question of who's there when things go right or who's there when things go wrong?  It's obvious. The answer is YOU.  You're there.  And what's even more obvious is that you can be a leader in that situation. 

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President