NAAAP Seattle: President's Perspective

Finding value out of the Women's Conference

2011-05-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

Seattle, Wa - The launch of the Women in NAAAP! Regional Conference is fast approaching and it's less than 3 weeks away. We're very excited both locally as well as nationally as this is a national program delivered by a local chapter. It's also a unique program being delivered on the West Coast this year. While the event is being touted as a Women's Conference, we want you to know that it's an event for everyone and this blog post aims to answer your questions in finding value in the conference. So if you're undecided at whether or not you want to go, here are a few points (or unmarketed opportunities) you want to consider before you say it's not for you.

Stakeholder(s)

Men - Do you work with women? Do you have women employees? If you're a male manager, would you like to understand what issues women deal with and how to create an all inclusive work environment? The WIN! conference provides panel discussions on what women really want in their careers. Most importantly, workshops like time management and financial planning are gender agnostic training and are being led by both male and female speakers.
Women - Whether you're entering a career, mid-career or at an executive level, learning from other women and connecting through networking will enhance your career.
Mothers - Child care is available for a nominal fee.
Manager/Business owner - Re-emphasizing that a trained employee is generally a happy employee and allows for better productivity, then send them to the WIN! Conference. Also, if you're a male manager or business owner and you would you like to understand what issues women deal with and how to create an all inclusive work environment, then our panels that are filled with senior women will generate new ideas from their experiences and bring you solutions.
Non-Asian - NAAAP values diversity and inclusion as it brings partnership and connection. All are welcome.
Scholarships - NAAAP-Seattle and JPMorgan Chase is proud to sponsor Scholarships for Women in NAAAP! (WIN!) Conference registration fees for up to 20 students (undergraduate and graduate) and recent graduates. Click here to apply.
NAAAP Member - As a NAAAP member we value your investment in yourself and we want to honor this by being transparent on how we allocate and spend your money. Your membership fees help us to provide training and development opportunities like this WIN! conference. More importantly, thanks to our sponsors, we are able to keep costs low. The cost is nominal as compared to other conferences. You get to pick from 4 tracks and connect and network with others with similar goals. Speakers include Crishna Bose-Bansal, Dr. Jeudi Boulom, Melanie Caoilie, Leah Carrido, Christine Chen, Stacey Derk, Vanessa Diego, Aimee Do, Theresa Ip Forelich, J.D. Hokoyama, Claudia Kauffman, Hyeok Kim, Nirmala, Krishnan, Olivia Lippens, Christine Mueller, Assunta Ng, Isabell Sheang, Kim Tran, Lillian Tsai, and Kendee Yamaguchi.

Register to WIN! (Seats are limited) http://win.naaapseattle.org

Check out a preview and meet the Women in NAAAP! at a preview event this Thursday, May 19th at Bellevue City Hall, Bellevue, WA Room 1E-120. Starts at 7pm and last through 8:30pm.

Regards,

Gil Gido Hang Chen
NAAAP Seattle President WIN! Conference Chair - Seattle

Judi Rhee Alloway Brad Baldia
National WIN! Program Director NAAAP President

Press Coverage

http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2011/05/upcoming-conference-for-women-focuses-on-investing-in-one%e2%80%99s-self/

http://www.seattlechinesetimes.com/english/local-news/5755-invest-in-yourself-at-the-west-coast-debut-of-the-win-leadership-conference-this-june

http://www.nvnorthwest.com/h%e1%bb%99i-chuyen-gia-m%e1%bb%b9-g%e1%bb%91c-a-va-bu%e1%bb%95i-thuy%e1%ba%bft-trinh-d%e1%bb%81-tai-%e2%80%9cd%e1%ba%a7u-t%c6%b0-cho-chinh-minh%e2%80%9d/

http://pinoyreporter.com/images/PinoyReporterMay2011.pdf (Page 2)

Closing out the end of a great year!

2010-12-25T12:37:00.000-08:00

2010 is at its end and I want to take some time to close it out and set the stage for the upcoming year.

Thank you to everyone who make this year great. I'd like to bid farewell and future success to our outgoing board members (Jen, Roxanne and Nancy) while welcoming our newest board members (Michael, Sherwin and Jenafer). Congratulations to David Eam and Hang Chen in their new Board roles. David is our VP of Operations, while Hang will take on a larger role as National Representative.

I would like to highlight some of the major accomplishments our organization (locally and nationally) delivered and it amazes me at the dedication and generosity of this community.

Congratulations to the nominees and winners of our scholarships and NAAAP 100 awards and the committee selecting them. We gave $8000 in scholarships this year.
Thanks to the NAAAP San Francisco Chapter and the convention planning team organized a stellar convention at The Palace Hotel with our first diamond sponsor, Macy's. Our inspiring keynote speakers included CIA Director Leon Panetta, banking executive Doreen Woo Ho, IT leader John Chen, fashion retailers executive Jenny Ming, and so many others.
We partnered with great organizations that fosters diversity and leadership: the Executive Development Institute, NHSMBA, NBMBAA, Microsoft and State Farm among many others.
We connected members and leadership opportunities and made a difference in our community.

In 2011, our team is coming up with exciting new programming and we'll roll out our plans soon. So please look out for our invitations.

With that, if you missed out, then catch up with NAAAP Seattle with this educational video created by our Marketing Committee led by Julie Pham. See you in 2011!

Best Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Scoring big

2010-11-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

It's Thanksgiving Day. My family and I are snowbound and staying safe and warm waiting for when the game is going to start. I took a few moments to take an online assessment on leadership and scored 11 points out of 12 maximum points. Whoohoo! That's a big score :)

The Foster Business School at the University of Washington has an 8 week series focusing on leadership and I want to share about it. It's in it's fourth episode and while the assessment releases 3 quiz questions per episode, I don't know yet how I would score since another 12 points becomes available at the end of the series. Check it out at: http://uwtv.org/fosteringleadership/

UWTV Channels

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

How do you eat an elephant?

2010-11-14T08:49:00.000-08:00

This is an age old question that baffles alot of people some of the time and some people alot of the time. The answer though is quite simple. You eat an elephant one bite at a time. Eating the elephant whole would be hurtful and can injure you. It would then make sense that when it comes to productivity and tackling a big project or task, you would want to take small bites and enjoy the small achievements along the way.

The benefits are enormous when you take this approach. Teamwise, moral increases (progress is seen immediately); there isn't much re-work if a problem is found; and from a customer perspective, they see immediate value.

Let's take something else like an organization's vision. This oftentimes is too big to achieve in the short term. It usually takes a long time. A really long time... and what I mean by long is 10-20 years. NAAAP-Seattle, for example, was founded in 1979 starting as the AsianMBA. It is an organization dedicated to the improvement of the Asian American community promoting leadership, career development, educational exchange, professional networking, social networking, and civic responsibilities. This is an elephant in my view. While 20 years has passed, I can tell you that we're still working on it.

Each year we have an election of new Board members to take a little bite out of our Vision. Individuals taking on a leadership role at NAAAP Seattle go on to other leadership roles and for me that's just the start and signs that we're making progress on our vision. Thank you to all that's served to make NAAAP Seattle a great organization and for those serving now keeping the pathway to leadership clear and unobstructed.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Shifting your view

2010-10-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

I think you'll appreciate this next post since we all have had the experience of learning Newton's laws in Physics class. Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan, authors of the Three Laws of Performance, identify and define laws, like gravity, pertaining to the world of performance. They get to the bottom of why you can only get certain results. In a nutshell, your view of a particular situation or circumstance is associated with a specific outcome or result.

Said another way, your view gives you the actions to take to get results specific to that view. For example, if your view of life is that it’s hard. Typically that view is constrained with certain moods, feelings and thoughts. Your only actions you could take really is to complain or not do anything. And the result is obvious…no result near to what you want. Yes, you’ll get a result…just not the result you want.

On the other hand, if your view of life is that it’s easy (or rich or fun). What actions could you now take? The possibilities are endless and they’d be very consistent with your view that life is easy. You’d certainly get a result consistent with that view.

Don't believe me? Try it on with any view you have. You'll see that this works with just about anything. Again, like gravity, its a law.

Once you realize that certain views can only generate outcomes specific to that view, you'll need to shift your view to come up with different outcomes.

If you're interested in reading more about the 3 laws of performance, you can read it from the cannon of Warren Bennis' management and leadership series.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Toot your horn

2010-10-12T07:50:00.000-07:00

Toot your horn. Photo by Ev0073

We were for the most part instilled by our parents to work hard. And when it comes to acknowledgement and recognition we are humble and do not want to take recognition for our hard work. Do you agree?

In your workplaces, you will need to take credit and toot your horn. No one is going to do this for you. The benefits of this are many. For example, groups are always on the search for talent and they'll admit that it's hard to find the right person. They're on the search for people that get the job done. If they run into a person who can share about their accomplishments, they are very interested in continuing the conversation. If they run into a person who can't share about their accomplishments, then they move on to the next person. If you're currently searching for a job, then this is very important. You need to show your value to a potential company and you show this through your past accomplishments. If you don't have a history of past accomplishments and successes, then it becomes very simple and that's to go out and accomplish something.

As people, we can't read minds and to communicate we need tools. Two fundamental tools I will talk about is the status report and the other one is sharing through conversations.

Weekly Status Reports
This tool is a weekly summary of the activities on a project. It includes what's been accomplished in the last week and what is the plan for the next week. It also identifies milestones, deliverables, risks and issues. It also provides a sense of the cost of the project. From the perspective of the manager, they get visibility into the entire project. From the perspective of the team, they get visibility into other areas that can potential have an impact on them. They also feel included and part of a team. From the perspective of the project manager, it's your best friend. You not only toot your own horn, but you toot the team for their accomplishments. If you're the manager, you can toot the project team's accomplishment to their manager and up the chain giving you and the project team visibility. The CEO can see your accomplishments. You might be asking, "what if I'm not the project manager?" The answer to that is to send your status to the project manager in time for the project manager to update the entire project. You'll get some added bonus points from the project manager because now s/he doesn't have to ask you for it.

I am a fan of the weekly status report as you can tell. By review time, you have a year's worth of accomplishments. In a sense you are actually building content for your performance review throughout the year.

Sharing
Have you been in a conversation with people and they don't share at all? You might as well be stuck by yourself or talking to a wall. It's as if they don't trust you to share anything with you. You might think that they've got something to hide. Now, if you've been in this situation in either position, what could you do to ensure that people know what you're up to? Hmm. Share? Yes, share everything, not just the good but also the bad. You could get insight into what you did that helped you have a great result or insight into what you could have done better.

I'll leave it at this for now. Thanks for reading and hope to have you back here soon.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

So you want to be a manager, eh?

2010-10-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Organization chart

Shuffling through my desk of old papers this weekend, I discovered an old manager feedback form I wrote for a previous manager and decided I should write about what it takes to be a manager and what it looks like for those of you interested in becoming one and being skilled and successful in the role. You might be wondering and thinking to yourself, "I can do that." And that's a good place to start - by inquiring. As a start, a manager sits within an organization having direct reports and itself being managed by another manager. They have a responsibility to get results of the organization through the work of others, namely their direct reports. They not only have their own projects, but also the projects of their direct reports. In general, they have a greater span of control and need additional skills not required by being an individual contributor, one with no direct reports.

As you think about your plan for becoming a manager, keep these areas in mind and find opportunities in your current role to build your skill and gain experience. (Also, see last month's post on Stretch Projects.) If they don't exist, then you can find opportunities in other organizations and activities, such as volunteering.

The areas I want to focus on are Communications, Development, Diversity, Team Building, Goal Setting, Customer focus, and Values. I'll stray away from the why for now and focus more on the definitions. The why's is such a larger topic of discussion and can lead to discussions regarding legal issues. If you keep your context of being a manager to someone committed to the success of their organization, you'll avoid most issues related to poor people management.

As a manager your communications become very important as you want to encourage discussions that are open and productive. For example, when issues arise within your team, are you open to listening? Or do you blame the messenger? Can you see a deeper commitment of the message and not just the message itself? Are you able to share information that your direct reports need to do their jobs and help them to understand how your division or group contribute to the company's overall success? Do you avoid sharing unpopular news?

As a manager, you become the advocate and supporter of your team's development. This aids not only in achieving your immediate team goals, but also in providing the company a talent pipeline such that your team can move on to other roles that the company needs and provides your team a pathway for career success and their potential. You will want to show sincere interest in your direct's career by not only creating opportunities within their current role, but giving them challenging opportunities. If a training and development opportunities comes up like a conference or an outside program, can you support your direct's time away from work?

As a manager, you will definitely work with different cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives. Respecting diversity will only help to make you a better manager and ambassador for your group. What it looks like is you considering points of view that are contrary to your own and leveraging those strengths and differences. When you have a diverse group of people working for you, then you have additional skills and inputs to get your job done.

As a manager, you are not only concerned for yourself, but for your group and so team building becomes more of your focus. You'll need to be vigilant on the status of your group's integrity and morale. You'll be now seen as a leader. (Of course, you can lead also as an individual contributor.) You'll be required to inspire your team to achieve business results, effectively as opposed to burning out your team. You'll also be asked to remove obstacles and roadblocks while placing your own needs after the groups.

As a manager, you are setting the bar for your organization. This is called goal setting. Can you set, prioritize and communicate realistic and achievable goals? Do you have conversations with your group on where they are at on meeting their goals?

As a manager, you get customers as part of your added responsibilities so you'll need to take action on customer feedback demonstrating your focus on keeping your relationships positive. Sharing customer feedback with your team is also something you need to take into consideration.

Last, but not least, as a manager, whether it's integrity, operational excellence, and customer focus you are responsible for having your team be aligned to the values set at your company.

In summary, being a manager takes alot of preparation and people skills and developing these skills takes time and investment on your part.

Having read this, do you see actions you can take today that tomorrow will lead you one step closer to being a manager?

And if you're wondering about what happened to my manager who I gave feedback. Today, she is now a Sr. Executive and is very successful.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

What would you do if you couldn't fail?

2010-09-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

House of Hong Restaurant, Seattle - This was the question I asked at a recently held Women of Power Luncheon hosted by Assunta Ng, Publisher of the NW Asian Weekly and Seattle Chinese Post newspapers. Before I get to the answer of that question, though, let me first tell you that this luncheon, now in its third year, benefits one of NAAAP Seattle's partners, the Executive Development Institute (EDI). Twelve lucky auction winners from EDI's Inclusion Fusion held earlier this year got to lunch with some very powerful women. In fact, I had the privilege and pleasure of being seated at one of the tables. I'll introduce them one by one as I go through their stories.

Women of Power Luncheon (l to r) Martha Choe, Donna Giordano, Grace Chien, and Amelia Ransom Letcher (Not pictured: Sandra Madrid)

As the food arrived, Donna Giordano, President of the Quality Food Centers (QFC), shared what she thought were her keys to success(es); that was:

to listen and learn from others;
to take any job offered as it would lead people to know that you're the obvious choice when opportunities arose;
to know you are in the driver's seat of your career;
to know and articulate your value; and most of all,
to have a positive attitude as this will assist you in achieving results, both at home and at work.

Next, the top Girl Scout or CEO, Grace Chien, made a point to stand firm with your commitments and define successes and failures in relation to these.

Martha Choe, Chief Administrative Officer for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and also a 2010 NAAAP100 recipient, talked not only about change, but about having it be sustained and lasting. She talked about how important it is to building lasting and effective relationships and used the term, "total leadership", when addressing one's well-being: mind, body and soul. Said another way, "When you're health isn't well, neither is your leadership."

When addressing work life-balance, "there is no perfect balance and it's a matter of balancing daily or weekly based on what is important to you. Put another way, if you are on your death bed, would you regret having gone to one more meeting?"

(l to r) Sandra Madrid, Carol Butterfield and Sandi Heddington

Now, Amelia Ransom Letcher, VP Corp Diversity Affairs at Nordstrom, rallied around people first and effective communication. Can you imagine the power in having people believe flowers grow in concrete? Getting to this level of effectiveness can help you become very influential.

Sandra Madrid, Sr. Advisor to the Dean, UW, shared a story about her own career transition. She was let go from the UW after 20 years of service. Her main point was to be part of a community because no one can do it by themselves. It was with the community's support that she got her job back at the UW.

As by now, I'm guessing you want to know what they said when asked, "what would you do if you couldn't fail?" I asked this question because throughout our careers we face fear and indecision and having gone through this themselves, they would give really good insight. Well, in short, the answer was not surprising. To paraphrase what each one of them said, "I would do anything".

Given that we're already on the topic of powerful women, I would like now to take a moment to let you know about the Women in NAAAP! program, which is our own program created and developed to build competent and confident women leaders within NAAAP and within the Asian Pacific community. If you don't already know about it, you can visit our website.

Special thanks to Char Grinolds of EDI and Assunta Ng, Publisher of NW Asian Weekly and the Chinese Seattle Post newspapers for creating a great meeting.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle

President

Where are they now? Andy Yip, NAAAP Seattle President 2007-2008

2010-09-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

My name is Andy Yip, President for the National Association of Asian American Professionals – Seattle Chapter from 2007 to 2008. I am a registered principal at my firm Raymond James, with a focus on estate planning and investment portfolio management. In my past careers, I have led numerous leadership positions including being the state manager for Prudential Financial. In 2007, we were the number one firm for Prudential in the entire nation. After much hard work and teamwork in achieving that, I became independent and had my own operation in Mercer Island, WA with my business partner.

NAAAP-Seattle gave me the opportunity to get in touch with the Asian American community and since then, I have gone on to serve many other community organizations, such as:

Interim Executive Director, International Community Health Services Foundation
President, Hong Kong Association of Washington
Acting President, International Examiner
Vice President, Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce
Treasurer, Newcastle Chamber of Commerce (2009)
Advisor, Collaborative Artists EastWest

Being on the board of an active organization also broadened my network, I was able to meet many young professionals that are passionate about their communities; found many mentors that have been where I was and formed many valuable relationship with key personnel across various industries.

It is exciting to see many new leaders are taking the lead at NAAAP-Seattle now, and I am proud to continue serving as a member of the Executive Advisory Board of NAAAP-Seattle, having input on the direction of the organization, and continue to bring resources to foster the next generation of leaders.

To those that are still on the fence of deciding whether to become part of this great organization, just know that NAAAP-Seattle leaders are all about giving back to the community while elevating their professionalism in their own career path. You will find many excellent mentors, great friends, fun activities, and top notch training.

i work, i play, i NAAAP!

Regards,
Andy Yip
NAAAP Seattle President 2007-2008

Leaving a Mark on the University of Washington (UW)

2010-09-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

Photos by Lori Call © Alabastro Photography

Mark Emmert after six years of having been the University of Washington President has accepted the honorable position of President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In a farewell event at Kane Hall last week, many acknowleged his contributions to the history of the university. He is leaving the University of Washington having many achievements including creating new colleges: the UW College of the Environment and the Department of Global Health, which was done in collaboration with the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health and with tremendous support from the Gates Foundation.

In words said at this event, President Emmert built a diverse administration based on merit and knowledge-based perspectives. In addition, his focus on social justice and responsibility led to the Long Journey Home event, in which Nikkei graduates of 1941-1942, who had been denied the opportunity to complete their higher-education at the UW during World War II, were honored with degrees . This also served as an opportunity to recognize present and future generations of Japanese Americans and more broadly the Asian American community. The University of Washington was the first university to advocate providing honorary degrees to the Nikkei graduates of 1941-1942. Other universities, such as Berkeley, have since followed the leadership of the UW. (Note: You can read more about Japansese American history at Densho)

Photos by Lori Call © Alabastro Photography

Phyllis Wise will take on the role as President of the University of Washington. It's definitely a first, since she will be the first Asian American woman to hold the position. His wife, DeLaine, accomplished herself, will be leaving with Mark after having made contributions to the community in terms of environmental sustainability and wildlife preservation.

Congratulations to Mark, DeLaine and Phyllis on their new roles.

Thanks to the University of Washington, the Executive Development Institute, and UnionBank for organizing the program. Special thanks to community leaders Ted Yamamura, a former NAAAP Seattle President, Diane Adachi, Dr. Testu Kashima, Dennis Yamashita, and Dr. Phyllis Wise for their speeches.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Stretch projects

2010-09-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

"Everybody stretch for growth and development!"
Photo credit: Tom at HK 2006

Ever hear of the 70-20-10 learning model? Its principle is the percent of time allocated to any given learning activity: 70% of your learning can come from real-life or on-the-job experiences (aka stretch projects), 20% can come from others like coaches, mentors or sponsors, and the last 10% is in the classroom. Read more.

Companies recognize the value of having people work on stretch projects, both core and non-core to the business, because it gives new skills to their employees giving their companies a competitive advantage. You should always be aware of why you're doing any project or task and create value for yourself while doing them. The key message here is to accept them openly and face them head on, because these small steps will lead to bigger and brighter opportunities! Here are a few scenarios that will help you recognize if and when you're in a stretch project.

You've been asked to run a project that will improve your project management skills, when in fact your core job is that of a developer or tester.
There is a re-organization in your group that certain tasks fall on you that you've never done before.
You're asked to lead a business turnaround or implement a process change in your group.
You've just been elected to the NAAAP Board of Directors making policy and funding decisions.

Could you now see what you're doing is fulfilling on some higher goal for the company as well as yourself? If not and wanting additional development, then ask yourself if you're in a rut. If so, a good thing to do is to seek advice from a collegue or mentor 2 levels up. As a guideline, for most professionals it takes roughly 2-3 years, and as quickly as 18 months, to master a given role and once done are encouraged to look for newer, more challenging roles within their organization as they'll have a greater potential in contributing their new skills to contribute to the success of their company or even get promoted.

Thanks for reading and hope to see you back again.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

"The Power Grid" - An EDI Leadership Navigation session

2010-08-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

Federal Way, Wa - At the Weyerhauser Headquarters last friday, Executive Development Institute (EDI)Leadership Navigation program participants met for its 7th session entitled Gamesmanship: Knowing Your Field of Play and How to Create Wins and learn from executive mentors on organizational politics. (Note: the Leadership navigation program is for mid- to senior level professionals having displayed managerial, entrepreneurial and leadership skills.)

I had the privilege of sitting in and taking part in the discussions. The session's distinguished executive mentors included George S Kikuchi (US Postal Service Executive, retired); John Okamoto (Executive Director, Washington Education Association); Jenette Ramos (Director, Business Operations, Fabrication; Boeing Commercial Airplanes); and Marvin (Ray) Risco (Vice President of International Operations at Weyerhauser).

What I learned was that organizational politics are as old as the history of business. This session looked at the role of power and politics within organizations.

I widened my awareness, gained a better understanding and tools needed to be able to assess the relevant “rules of the Game” and developed effective strategies and skills to succeed in any organization. More importantly, I wanted to be a much more skillful player. For example, George mentioned to gain power yourself, you need to start with yourself, expand your circle of influence, and be aware when power is granted to you because identifying the invisible power grid underlying the field of organizational dynamics allows us to appreciate what’s really happening versus what we hear or see taking place. Knowing this gave me, I think, a significant strategic advantage in being able to influence decisions, move projects along and close critical deals.

I want to thank EDI's Executive Director, Starr MacDonald and session facilitator, Colleen Yamaguchi for granting me this privilege. Thanks!

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

A Noble Profession

2010-08-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

I returned to Seattle after the Convention last Wednesday at 4pm and with my roller luggage I shuttled off to the Seatac Mariott across the street to where the State Farm Agency Information session was being held and was just about to start. I have known about these sessions but due to my schedule, I haven't been able to attend until now. It's quite different than what I expected and I am so glad that I went. First and foremost, this event was strictly a business opportunity information session; that is, an event providing information to start an agency in which attendees are introduced to the selection and training process.

What you'll learn at an agency information session (the facts):

There are 17000 independent contract agents in the U.S.
Largest insurer of autos and homes in the U.S.
Over 93 insurance and financial services products to offer clients
State Farm Insurance is A Fortune Top 50 Company
Being an agent is a fantastic small business opportunity involving:

Building relationships in the community
Client centered sales and marketing activities
Leading and motivating people
Being the CEO of a small business and dictating your financial worth
More at the State Farm website.

What you'll experience:

Real agents sharing their experiences
Making State Farm executive connections

What they are looking for in individuals:

Entrepreneurial Spirit
Relationship building
Sales ability
Leadership Skills
History of success
High integrity
Self driven and self motivated
Risk tolerant
Competitiveness
Financial wherewithal and credit worthiness

With that, our next professional development event is on Wednesday, September 8th from 6-9 pm at the Seattle Design Center. We are partnering up with NHSMBA, NBMBAA and State Farm to discuss career transitions with a panel of speakers from various professions and to perform resume reviews. Click here to register.

Event details: http://seattle.naaap.org/Events.do?id=8338

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

2010 National Convention - San Francisco

2010-08-16T23:20:00.000-07:00

(Top) Richard Lui (HLN and MSNBC); Palace Hotel (Second row from top) "The Language of
Innovation" by Comcast (Third row from top) National Board Meeting; Comcast panel (Bottom) NAAAP Seattle; Garden Court at the Palace Hotel

More about the Convention: http://beta.myx.tv/naaap-2010/

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Where are they now? Albert Shen, NAAAP President 1996 - 1997

2010-08-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Albert Shen, Exec. Advisor to NAAAP Seattle

My name is Albert Shen and I am the owner/founder of Shen Consulting, a small engineering company specializing in project/construction management and engineering services in the aviation and transportation services market. In 2009 Shen Consulting was awarded the City of Seattle Mayors’ Small Business of the Year Award.

I served as NAAAP National President 1996-1997, NAAAP National Convention Co Chair in 1998 and NAAAP Seattle President in 1999. Since my days at NAAAP I have gone on to serve with many diverse boards in the community. Including running my own business (Shen Consulting, Inc.) I serve as:

* The Council Chair for the Seattle Chinatown International District and Preservation and Development Authority (SCIPDA)
* Board member of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
* Commissioner for Washington State Commission on Asian and Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA)
* Board President of the NW Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans Political Action Committee

My NAAAP experiences opened up many new networking opportunities and friendships nationwide and to this day, I still stay in contact with some of the great people I worked with. Having served in numerous leadership positions at the national and local level, those experiences enabled me to develop skills that translate to where I am today. The experience gave me many opportunities for public speaking, which is one thing many Asian-Americans absolutely dread and more importantly gave me the foundation in developing skills in governing a board of directors and fundraising skills for non-profits. These 3 fundamental skills are what every Asian American professional should have in their own resume if they hope to develop their careers in this more globally competitive modern work environment.

In addition I have been actively involved with local and national level politics in both fundraising and advocacy for economic development. Thru my political activities I have been able to meet many of our political leaders and have exchanged many ideas to better the livelihood for all Asian Americans. Politics is often a feared word when it comes to Asian American professional advancement and we often forget that politics is just as and perhaps even more important for Asian Americans and NAAAP. From my days on the board, I can remember many of the executive board members who were elected officials from my days and were always encouraging NAAAP to be more politically aware of the issues impacting Asian Americans.

Overall, there were many lessons that I learned during my countless days at NAAAP however the one lesson that stands out for me that I will always remember from all the NAAAP people I met is that: All our parents, no matter where they came from, immigrated here to the United States so that our generation can build a better life for ourselves. Because of their sacrifice it is our responsibility to be generous to others and always give back to our community so that what they started will never be lost and we must never lose our cultural identity.

With that, I am excited about this new generation and we get another opportunity to come together at the 24th Annual Gateway to Leadership Convention and Diversity Career Fair presented by Macy's. I'll be attending and hope to meet you.

Regards,
Albert Shen
National Association of Asian American Professionals
President 1996-1997
NAAAP Seattle President 1999

Join us for the 24th Annual National Leadership Convention and Diversity Career Fair presented by Macy's

2010-08-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

The National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) cordially invites you to attend the 24th Annual National Leadership Convention and Diversity Career Fair in San Francisco on August 12-15th. In the spirit of our vision "We make leaders!", the conference will address your present needs to prepare you for the realities of the future. You will also have an opportunity to participate in innovative workshops, listen to inspirational speakers, network with a diverse group of accomplished professionals, and find that dream job at our Diversity Career Fair.

Register now at http://www.naaapconvention.org/

NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors

2010 NAAAP Masquer-Asian Ball

2010-08-01T23:18:00.001-07:00

2010 ©National Association of Asian American Professionals Seattle
Website http://seattle.naaap.org/

Conversations worth having

2010-07-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

(L to R) Rachel Valdez, Beto Yarce, Murthy Kalkura, and Gil Gido

Last night at Tutta Bella on Stone way NAAAP Seattle and the National Society of Hispanic MBA's (NSHMBA) hosted a conversation with local entrepreneurs and members sharing the Secrets of Success. I had a front row seat since I had the priviledge of moderating. On the panel were business owners: Beto Yarce of Cintli; Rachel Valdez of 16 Copenhagen; and Murthy Kalkura of 4AM Corp.

My overall experience from walking in the door to leaving can only be described as time well spent. Many who came either had a business or had an interest in knowing what it takes to start and run a business and this brings me to why I am writing - conversations. Conversations, I believe are key ingredients when it comes to running a business and even more so, leadership. Conversations can either be worth having or not having. For me, those not worth having don't convey action. In fact, conversations lead to some result in business; for example, starting a business. They can end in no, maybe or what we would all like to hear, YES! It seems simple enough, but yeses move businesses; so as an entrepreneur, it's important to know when you are having a conversation that will lead to a yes. For example, yes, to a sale; yes, to accepting a new contract; and yes, to opportunity.

So what else can lead to a yes? Well, I overheard and was engaged in many conversations last night and each had an element of authenticity, passion and free exchange of thought. There seemed to be no judgements or disinterest that I heard. As an entrepreneur, you get skilled in being authentic, passionate and inclusive and you start listening for opportunities that you can yourself use or pass onto your friends, clients and collegues. For me, it surely is a different experience when hearing, no, right?

Great! Since I want to provide you with short and timely information that you can use now, I'm going to end here. I know that I can't cover everything in this post. So, if you want to know more on having conversations that lead to yes, then you'll want to hear what Jack Canfield, a well-respected success coach, says, "it all starts with asking." http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=403944388995

With that, I want to give a special thanks to Christine Chen Velazquez of Chen Communications, Geraldine Rodriguez of NSHMBA and Hang Chen of NAAAP Seattle for organizing the event and giving folks an opportunity to have conversations worth having.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Who moved my cheese?

2010-07-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Leaders are agents of change. They look at change in a positive light responding to the needs of their organizations to grow and be successful. And they are really good at managing change, too, ensuring those impacted will understand and accept the benefits of the change. Now if you are undergoing change and need some information on dealing with change, you will want to read, "Who Moved My Cheese?" It's a really great primer on change.

Visit the Red Tree Leadership and Development website for more: http://www.redtreeleadership.com/whomovedmycheese/

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

NAAAP President, Brad Baldia, visits Seattle members

2010-07-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

NAAAP Seattle Summer Picnic (l to r) Claire Ding (Secretary), Lloyd Hara (King County Assessor), Bob Hasegawa (11th District House Representative), Gil Gido, Vanessa Diego (member), Brad Baldia (NAAAP President)

Brad Baldia, NAAAP's President based out of Philadelphia, paid us a visit making a special appearance at our annual member appreciation and membership drive picnic at Lake Boren park. His day-long visit was packfilled with meetings and phone calls including meetings with potential speakers and sponsors. Luckily for him, Seattle showed him alot of sun :).

Being President takes alot of preparation, you know, and from my witnessing of his actions, Brad's qualified. Brad's background includes attending The Hill School, an elite private boarding school in Pottstown, PA; receiving a BA in English and Biology from Bucknell University and a Masters in Public Health from Temple University. In 1995, Brad served as a White House Intern in the Office of Presidential Personnel.

He currently works as the Director of the Southeast Philadelphia Collaborative. In addition, he works extensively with Asian community organizations on a local and national level, such as the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Asian American Affairs and the National Association of Asian American Professionals (Brad is Founding President of the Philadelphia Chapter and was elected in August, 2006 as Executive Vice President of NAAAP National and National President & Chairman in August, 2008).

At the picnic, Brad spoke to our members on the benefits of being a NAAAP member and showed the bigger vision of NAAAP. At the end of it all, it was exciting to have him here at least for a day and we wish his return soon.

Read about the event at the NAAAP Seattle Blog: http://naaap-seattle.blogspot.com/2010/07/politicians-presidents-and-butter-miso.html

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Leadership on the Colorado River

2010-07-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

In the Fall of 2007, I flew down with 12 of my friends to Prescott, Arizona for a 21-day rafting and kayaking trip down the Colorado river through Grand Canyon National Park. The off-peak timing of our trip ensured privacy and solitude. We were alone. And unlike any other place on earth, cliff bands surrounded the banks and turns of the Colorado river.

We rented four inflatable rafts and two kayaks and packed them full with our gear as well as a 21-day supply of food and water. Knowing the raft could be subject to turbulence, each piece was tied down securely. The safety of the crew was a priority, so my friend Randy Johnson, a certified swift water rescue instructor, took a leadership role in the event one of our rafts flipped. Our ages ranged from the youngest being twenty-five to the oldest being sixty. In our midst we had qualified raft guides but equally we had novices and recreationalists, like me, on the trip.

With paddles in hand and our life jackets on, we set out in the early afternoon. Our two kayakers led the way scouting for rapids. In the first part of our trip, the waters lay still, so we paddled hard to move our rafts and took in the beauty and peacefulness of our surroundings. It was when we bonded. We laughed and made jokes, even about the unmentionables, like flipping the raft and if we flipped who would we save if we couldn’t save everyone? Seriously, everyone agreed that saving everyone was of utmost importance. Besides, the waters were cold measuring 50 degrees Celsius and dying a cold death and drowning was not anyone’s first choice of going out.

We passed Deer Creek and Black tail Canyons, where the rocks jutted out casting shadows along the river and then we passed Cosmic Chair Canyon, where it gets its name from a rock with Indian engravings.

A few hours had gone by before we even hit our first rapid. The Bedrock rapid as this one was called was 30 feet at its widest and about 200 feet long and categorized as a Class 3 (medium) rapid. A rapid is a shallow section of river where the water takes a steep decline on bedrock increasing in velocity and speed. This bedrock is resistant to erosion and large rocks litter the pathway. If the speed of the rapid is fast enough it can create white-colored caps on the water called whitecaps. At the top of a rapid, there is usually a stopping point and this is what we did. At the bottom of a rapid, there is usually a pool of water, deeper and still.

Getting through a rapid is strategic. A plan must first be created to ensure everyone’s safety. Randy, one of our kayakers, was chosen to be the first to go through since the kayaks are more maneuverable and since he had a lot of experience. He and our other kayaker made several runs to make sure the path chosen was the right one. As soon as we chose an appropriate path, the rafts, one-by-one, took their turn going down the rapid with the kayakers at the bottom and flank of the river. Since there were four rafts, the more experienced rafters were placed in 1 and 4 positions going through and the less experienced rafters in positions 2 and 3.

I was in the 2nd raft and paid full attention to how raft 1 went through. I studied how well the 1st raft paid attention to the recommendations the kayakers made. The plan was to bank left and then right and right again. At the last 40 feet, they should turn left and then straight avoiding any rocks in their way. There was a 5 foot drop where the water was the fastest and that scared me a bit. It would be the spot where a flip would most likely happen if it should.

There was a silence of concentration within the first raft. It didn’t take much paddling from the crew as the rapids took over. They used their paddles to steer and control their speed. They used their body weights shifting them within the raft to aide in their maneuvering. In less than a minute, the 1st raft made the left bank and quickly following to make two right turns. They took the 5 foot drop with ease. Cold water splashed all over the raft and they made their last turn at the 40 ft mark and eased into the still pool at the bottom. From the top of the rapids, I could hear a yelling of elation and victory. The first raft made it safely and with paddles in the air.

Our turn was next. We had four people in our raft, which gave us more weight. Yang, our raft’s leader, shouted, “GO! Go now! Go to the left!”

“Great! Now Gil, at the two right turns, lean your body out over the edge and stick your paddle into the water so we can make the two right turns. Ok?” He asked. I nodded. “Good. Do it now!” At that moment I did and we made both right turns leading to our drop. Yang shouted, “At this drop, I want everyone to lean forward ready to put your paddles back into the water!”

“Ready?”

“Lean forward! Now! “

The drop left my stomach up five feet up but we did it and were close to the finish. We stuck our paddles back into the water and paddled to the bottom of the rapid. With the same exuberance as the first raft, we yelled and screamed for victory. But the victory wasn’t complete – it wouldn’t be until rafts three and four came through the chute, so we sat at the bottom and waited.

I knew what they were thinking though. The thoughts came through my head just moments before. Shouts and laughter came with each raft meeting at the bottom. The last kayaker, having already gone through the chute ran through one last time as if to claim victory over the rapid. We welcomed him back to the group to continue with our journey.

We set up camp that evening at a place natives called the Sun because in the morning the sun will come out gloriously than the day before. We sat in front of our campfire celebrating today’s rapids and looking forward for more. We laughed and shared a most celebratory toast to victory on the Colorado.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Pivoting on People, Process, or Tool.

2010-07-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, you're probably sitting on a problem right now. They're all around us. It's a natural occurrence in life. Now what I'd like to offer you is a simple, yet effective means to problem solve and help you start thinking differently about your approach to problem solving. And I say, "simple," because as you know the answer to the age old question of "how do you eat an elephant?" is not all at once, but rather a "bite at a time."

Once you realize you have a problem, you're going to size it up determining what's the impact to you and others and start thinking about solutions. You're going to see if you've experienced a similar problem or if this problem is completely new. (Of course, I like the new problems :) ) You'll also start to think about what it'll cost and how much time you need. You'll also ask yourself, "what will it look like when the problem is solved?" Moreover, problem solving requires Creativity, Communication, Commitment, and Critical thinking --- the 4C's as I like to call them.

Starting to solve a problem is I think the most difficult part. At this point, your canvass is usually quite big with so many options to choose from, so what you can do is pivot on three areas: People, Process, or Tool. This actually narrows your options very quickly. For example, when your problem deals with People, you can immediately take your problem to the person (s) that is (are) the cause of the problem, even if it might be you. Likewise, when your problem deals with Process, you can immediately review it and see if there are opportunities to make improvements. And when your problem deals with a Tool, you can immediately determine whether to fix, improve, eliminate or substitute it.

When you've identified the area you want to focus on, you will want to set goals and create a plan to solve (or resolve) it. I suggest you have many conversations with people to see what they think about your plan, too. You'll soon see your plan take shape building momentum. Continue then to take action on your plan. If you need additional resources, ask for them within your organization. If you hit a barrier (another problem) rethink your plan and again pivot on People, Process, and Tool. Before long, you'll have a resolution to your problem. (If you want to know more about planning, then I've written about it in an earlier blog called, "Structures For FulFillment." You can read more about it there.)

In summary, I think problems can be difficult, but problems shouldn't necessarily be seen as a bad thing. As we grow and develop, we're likely to take on bigger problems that are matched up with our skills to solve. If you're not solving a problem matching your current skills, then you might consider taking on a bigger, more complex problem. If you've been tackling a problem for awhile now and haven't come up with a solution, give this approach a try. See for yourself how quickly you can get past a point where you've been stuck.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Asians in Washington State

2010-06-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

According to the latest (2008) census data, Asian Americans reporting a single race are 4.5% of the total U.S. population. In Washington State, the number of Asians comprise 8.2% of the state population. These numbers are reported in the latest report compiled by the Comission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA) of Washington State. These numbers are very important as governments use them to allocate funds towards services serving Asians. Additional data for Asians in Washington State can be viewed at the CAPAA website.

Click here for the CAPAA report.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

The Art of Possibility

2010-06-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

In this book on page 26, I found an anecdote on Michaelangelo. It reads, "Michaelangelo is often quoted as having said that inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue; one need only remove the excess material to reveal the work of art within. If we were to apply this visionary concept to education (in our case leadership) ... all the energy would be focused on chipping away at the stone, getting rid of whatever is in the way of each child's developing skills, mastery and self-expression."

What it says to me that if we put in the context of leadership development, is that we're already leaders and that we have some things to get rid of as it gets in the way of mastery and self-expression.

This book is a quick read as each page provides inspiration and anecdotes to what stops each and everyone one of us from realizing our potential.

If you're looking to get inspired, then read it. I highly recommend it. Again, the book is called The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. And if you need more, then you can watch the YouTube speech from the 2009 World Economic forum in Davos.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Pathways to Leadership

2010-06-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

Most people would agree that a path is always almost easier to follow when it's lighted. When it comes to your career, how do you know how to get to where you want to go and what skills you will need? When it comes to the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP), how does it deliver on its mission to build leaders in the community or its organization?

If you're in a career already, many companies have clear pathways to various job roles and responsibilities and specific requirements for each; for example, there are clear pathways for becoming a manager, paths for becoming a general manager, or paths for becoming the Chief Executive Officer. Similarly for NAAAP, there are also clear pathways from an event or committee volunteer to a committee chair; and pathways from a committee chair to a postion on the Board of Directors; and pathways from a Board of Directors position to a National position and onto the President of the organization.

Let me remind you that each pathway will require a set of skills and identify areas for further training and development.

What are these skills?
Well, to name a few: written communication, understanding others, time management, intellectual horsepower, building effective teams, process management, problem solving, presentation skills, integrity, authenticity, patience, dealing with ambiguity, negotiations, managing and measuring, priority setting, results driven, managing up, composure, creativity, customer focus, timely decision-making, delegation, developing direct reports, action oriented, approachability, business acumen, self awareness, risk-taking, comfort around top management, compassion, conflict management, diversity, hiring and staffing, humor, reporting, trust, and listening.

These skills often show up on the job or as part of a specific training and development experience. With regards to NAAAP Seattle, we provide many opportunities in which to gain these skills. Beyond volunteering, leading a committee or sitting on the Board of Directors will offer opportunities to gain mastery of the skills that will lead to bigger challenges and opportunities leading you further down your chosen pathway.

If you are interested in these learning opportunities and gain valuable experience, please visit our website.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Promising to Make a Difference

2010-06-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

It'll be almost 5 decades, on May 25th, that the 35th President John F. Kennedy presented a bold challenge before a joint session of Congress; that is to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade. The 60's was a time of racing to the moon. This mission is well-known in project management circles as it clearly states an opportunity and a timeline. As history has shown, we've sent many astronauts to the moon and set much bigger goals for this country. By fulfilling this mission, it created many more opportunities for this country making it better.

Since 1979, starting as AsianMBA, NAAAP Seattle has had many people take on its leadership. Each and everyone doing so took on a commitment to make this organization better than when they found it. In other words, it's a promise to make a difference and fulfilling on that promise. This is a key principle for leadership. In fact, today, our 41st President Barak Obama is taking the lead on healthcare, the economy and environmental issues. You can see this principle in action.

Now turning it to you. Where can you make a promise in making a difference? For example, at work, does a process need redefining? Could you offer up assistance with a special project that aims at exceeding your organization's goals? Is there a business or personal relationship that needs attention? Or at home, can you promise to keep your room clean? Or in your community, help out a non-profit?

I have wanted to write about this topic since taking this role, but have waited to assess the needs of our chapter and to see what opportunities can benefit our membership the most. This is not to say that the efforts of the past weren't successful. Rather, it's because of their success and external factors not under their control that has created new opportunities for us. What's constant in all of this is that when all is said and done, this organization is ready for its next challenges and opportunities.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Expanding Local Asian Community Services

2010-06-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

Part celebration and part fundraising, local Asian non-profits held events last month to support the Asian community in areas such as healthcare, economic and leadership development, and many more. These organizations have been one of the hardest hit from the economy and it was great to see many in the community showing their support and giving generously. In addition, many volunteers gave their time - alot of it behind the scenes.

Now in June the Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC), a local multi-language organization providing information, referral, advocacy, social, and support services will host their Friendship Dinner on June 12th at Olive 8 and the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS), a King county area food bank serving 5000 families will hold their annual Walk for Rice on June 19th at Seward Park.

Picture 1. Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority's (SCIDpda) 2010 ID Spring Roll held on May 24th at Union Station.

Picture 2. Me and Dow Constantine, King County Executive

Picture 3. The Executive Development Institute's Inclusion Fusion Event held on May 20th at SODO Park.

Picture 4. The Executive Development Institute's Inclusion Fusion Event (Full view)

Organization Links:

Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS): http://www.acrs.org/
Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC): http://www.cisc-seattle.org/
International Examiner: http://www.iexaminer.org/
Executive Development Institute (EDI): http://www.ediorg.org/
Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda): http://www.scidpda.org/
International Community Health Services (ICHS): http://www.ichs.com/

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Life-long Learning

2010-05-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

I am on a quest for wisdom and at forty, is it possible? Is it to soon? Or do I have to wait? I say, "not." My life is bracketed by the first lunar landing in 1969 and the BP oil spill, so far. As a personal development exercise, I wrote down a page for every year I've lived and through my development, I realized that I've experienced 24 years of formal educational learning. The rest is through various work experiences and organizations, most recently with NAAAPSeattle. You could say that I've been learning all my life.

Since there are an infinite amount of experiences throughout one's lifetime, it would make alot of sense to continue learning and preparing for what lies ahead. Consider NAAAP Seattle, for example, as an access to support you with rich content and networking in your life-long learning. With that, here's a bit of wisdom I encountered in my quest.

I asked for Strength………

And God gave me Difficulties to make strong.

I asked for Wisdom………

And God gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity………

And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage………

And God gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love………

And God gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favours………

And God gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted

I received everything I needed

My Prayer has been answered

(Anonymous)

Regards,

Gil Gido

NAAAP Seattle

President

Spokes of a bicycle wheel

2010-05-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

If you have ever ridden a bicycle, you would understand that to ride it everything about the bicycle would need to have what is known as integrity. In other words, no part of the bicycle, especially the wheels, should have any missing spokes or the brake pads worn or have any missing parts. It is whole. Otherwise, the riding experience would be horrible.

If integrity is what makes a bicycle work, where does it play in leadership or at your profession? Well, in everything. If you're hearing integrity for the first time, it's obvious that you might not be working with integrity in what you do. You might be getting your job done but what does the resulting efforts produce? Do you experience questions about your work or acknowledgement of good work done? Just like the spokes of a bicycle wheel, if integrity is missing in your work, you'll likely have to either rework it, get a failing grade or a poor performance review.

So what is integrity? To be clear, it's doing what you say you will do and doing what people expect you to do even the unsaid. It's also doing what you know to do. Let's take the example of being a leader of an organization and one of your primary jobs is to build relationships with people and represent your organization at functions. If what you say is that you'll be at functions building relationships with other organization, then with integrity, you will be there at those functions building relationships. On the other hand, no one is saying you need to be there, but people are expecting you to be there, right? Then with integrity, you will be there.

When things don't work
When things don't work, you can look at integrity as a foundation. Look to see if there was an action you could have taken - a so-called missing. Could you have had a conversation with a key player in your project? Did a goverment filing get filed? Did your homework get done? Did you forget to ask someone to help you?

In summary, if you look, you can always find a missing. When you do find that missing, put it in. What you'll find many times is that that piece could make all the difference in what you're up to.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidewalk_flying/3533042414/

Networking Workshop

2010-05-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

This is a presentation created by David Lum, Motorola and Sr. Advisor to NAAAP. He is based out of the Chicagoland area.

Networking workshop v1 2

View more presentations from Ulysses’ Social Media Marketing Company.

On Recommendations

2010-05-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

Whether you are applying for a job, scholarship, or admissions to a degree program, recommendation letters are important tools. While important, it is a personal decision to write a letter of recommendation for a business, a former employee or co-worker; however, take into consideration that it may benefit you in simple ways like building relationships, being seen as approachable and making you a better communicator, even for someone you aren't as willing to recommend over another. As my experience tells me, receiving a recommendation letter is always exciting. As a recipient, I get acknowledged and see what others think of what skills of mine are the strongest and if written thoughtfully, where I can improve. I experience a feeling of appreciation and gratefulness to whomever can give me a recommendation.

When writing a recommendation letter, keep your comments specific to your experience with whom you are recommending and highlight results, strengths and weaknesses positively. This is your perspective and as I mentioned earlier, you can give constructive feedback, if applicable. You can use various tools like a word processor for more formal or traditional recommendations or LinkedIn's recommendation functionality. In fact, it's now becoming more relevant to use LinkedIn for recommendations as in the example of searching for a job and in combination with the more traditional methods.

In terms of managing your professional brand, recommendations, like performance reviews, can indicate if you're a team player, how you contribute to other's success, and if writing one, demonstrate your writing skills.

Now, if you are in the process of writing a recommendation, here are a few examples that others have written for me and one that I've written. And to sum up, a well-written recommendation opens up opportunities and possibilities for one another and I encourage those of you reading this to write one today.

Example 1 (Traditional)

I am pleased to have the opportunity of providing a reference for Kerri A. Rogers. As the program manager responsible for application portfolio management in XIT, my job was to minimize the impact of the next wave of Microsoft products across our line of business applications. During the last 12 months from October 2005 to September 2006 Kerri was part my project team that achieved outstanding results. With Kerri’s help, we:

• Tested 500+ applications across Exchange, Internet Explorer, Security Update, Office, Vista, and Managed Solutions.
• Accepted 27 builds.
• Submitted product feedback in the form of 104 bugs.
• Achieved minimal impact to our application portfolio. Roughly 19% of all feedback sent to product group resulted in a change to an application (CR).
• Increased year-over-year cost savings for the program.

In the beginning of the project, Kerri had a huge learning curve. For example, Kerri had products in the Managed Solutions space that she hadn’t even heard of and that was to be expected. She had to conduct research in a short amount of time while at the same time write test cases for our apps. Her primary duties were to understand the changes related to a specific build, apply the build to the test environment, perform the testing and write a bug if it was necessary. And if it was necessary, she would be responsible for reporting on the status of the bug until it closed.

As we neared the end of the project, I was reticent of the day Kerri had to leave because she brought with her a positive attitude and a willingness to achieve results. So in closing, I have no reservations about recommending Kerri for your organization. If I can provide additional information, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Regards,
Gil Gido
Microsoft IT Program Manager

Example 2 (Traditional)

As the Executive Director of the Executive Development Institute (EDI) I have had the privilege of knowing Gil Gido and calling him a friend of EDI for the last few years. The mission of EDI is to develop culturally diverse leaders starting first with Asian Pacific professionals and then, reaching out to other ethnicities. We do this by offering culturally tailored leadership programs.

EDI was approved as a nonprofit organization in July 2002 and over the last six years it has emerged as a financially sound and successful organization. We have grown our program offerings for Asian Pacifics geographically to Portland, Oregon and through offering a higher tier program, and now in 2009 EDI has expanded to the Hispanic community with like programs. It is individuals like Gil that have been helpful in making this success happen and quite honestly, without them it may not have.

Gil Gido has a deep seeded caring for all people which is rooted in his value system. He is a role model of integrity, a sense of community and selfless giving of his time, talents and treasures for the greater good. These are not just empty words however, demonstrated through his actions. As examples, Gil volunteered his time to EDI’s Tastes of Asia Benefit. He was instrumental in the preplanning phase and spent considerable volunteer hours in the EDI office procuring auction items and supporting processes.

Further, I’ve also observed Gil as in the role of Co-Chair, Microsoft Asian Pacific Society (MAPS). Gil and his colleagues volunteered their time to host in April 2009 the 2nd MAPS Leadership Conference for Microsoft Asian Pacific employees. This is a very large undertaking in that over 1000 employees attend as well as several senior executives present at the event. Gil with ease and levity was effective with all stakeholders in communicate, influence and motivate them which resulted in a exceedingly successful and memorable conference.

To have Gil, an honorable, competent, dependable, trustworthy and reputable community citizen, volunteering his valuable time, talents and treasures to our agency helps to assure EDI’s future stability.

I cannot thank Gil enough for making the world a better place and for being such a strong example of the enduring human spirit and heart so much needed in leadership today.

Sincerely,

Starr Macdonald
Executive Director

Example 3 (LinkedIn)

Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Good Value

When Gil became President of NAAAP Seattle, he immediately reached out to as National Chairwomen of Women in NAAAP. After our initial phone conversations, we realized that Gil's company Ulysses Social Media could launch Women in NAAAP's social media platform. With his experience working at Microsoft, Gil specializes in start-ups and intrinsically understands the needs and budgetary constraints that emerging businesses may have in their beginning phases. He gives personalized attention and focus to each individual business while producing results beyond a customer's wildest expectations. I really appreciate Gil for all of his work in creating Women in NAAAP's NING social network. I highly recommend his company Ulysses Social Media Marketing Company (USMMC) to any budding business that is looking for a guide through navigating the social media jungle.

- Judi Rhee Alloway, Women in NAAAP National Chairwoman, April 22, 2010

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Links:

Women in NAAAP
Executive Development Institute (EDI)

Do you passion?

2010-05-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

As a leader you will oftentimes be called on to share your passions and to share mine, I recently appeared on the Passions and Possibilities blogtalkradio show with host, Sue Oliver (SO), an amazing interviewer and passionate person herself.

Here's an excerpt from the show:

SO: Your definition of “passion” – your “WHY” for being on the planet?

GG: Passion is an energy that pulls one forward. There’s no resisting this energy because it’s so strong. It’s also illuminating. People can see it. It’s very difficult to hide when you’re passionate.

SO: Your biggest passions for serving others, and how you’re expressing them (include hobbies, volunteering, if you wish)?

GG: Everyone wants in some way wants to make a difference, so as a leader I create and share about opportunities for them to express and to fulfill on that need.

SO: Your biggest challenge(s) in expressing your passions for serving others and how you’ve addressed them?

GG: I believe that your own worst enemies are within you; that is fear and self-doubt. I find some way by having people around me that support me and want me to succeed, namely my family, friends, and mentors.

SO: What have been the key factors in your success?

GG: While there’s no substitute for hard work and commitment, I believe you need to share what you’re doing and allowing people to participate. It’s amazing how if you’re passionate about something, it’s a magnet and people by nature want to be a part of whatever you’re being passionate about.

SO: What one word/quality best describes your journey?

GG: Unpredictable.

SO: What has been your experience of prosperity, as you define it?

GG: Prosperity means celebrating the small wins and being acknowledged by others.

SO: What’s the biggest lesson that you’ve learned in making the leap?

GG: Go big. Get out there and share your passion with others.

SO: What’s your support system look like; how did you create it?

GG: I joined a lot of groups (both in person and online) and took many classes.

SO: What wisdom do you have for someone who’s scared/discouraged about their own leap?

GG: It’s really all in your head. Have conversations with people in your support groups about what will work. When you can talk about your vision with clarity, it’ll work because you’ll know what actions to take.

Go to the Passions and Possibilities Show

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

NAAAP100 Seattle Nominees

2010-05-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, May is Asian Heritage month in the United States, so what better way to start it off by announcing Seattle's nominees for the NAAAP100, an International program designed to acknowledge the contributions of Asian Americans exemplifying NAAAP's mission and values.

Earlier this year we asked members and the community at large to submit nominees. We collected them and having sorted through them, it gives me great pleasure to update you on the NAAAP 100 Nominations for Seattle. These nominees are in great company as you may be wondering. Other chapters are also nomininating leaders in their communities.

The selected few among all nominees will be invited to NAAAP's 2010 Convention being held in San Francisco later this year to receive their award. Most importantly, it gives me a sense of hometown pride that Seattle is a progressive place to conduct business and has an environment in which to foster leaders in our community.

These are the amazing individuals nominated for this year.

Phyllis Campbell – Sr. Vice President at JP Morgan Chase | Read more ...
John Okamoto – Executive Director for the Washington Education Association | Read more ...
Assunta Ng – Publisher NWAsian Weekly | Read More ...
Tay Yoshitani – Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Port of Seattle | Read more ...
Martha Choe – Chief Information Officer (CIO) – Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | Read more ...
Qi Lu – President Microsoft Online Services Business and former exec at Yahoo! | Read more ...

Thanks to those submitting nominations, too. Of course there are other wonderful unsung heroes. As an organization and in the spirit of community, we hope to acknowledge them in future years.

It’s amazing to see the diverse areas where Asians are leading now and it is quite the contrast from 20 years ago. Congratulations to all!

Regards,

Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

For more information on the NAAAP100 program, please visit our website.

Listening

2010-04-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Listening is that part of communication where the message is received and understood. Many people would say that they listen, but do they really? It's really different than hearing. Hearing is just when the sounds enter the ear canal and make vibrations.

I've been asked a few times about the best way to listen and I've come up with really one that answers the question. It's a simple test.

You're on a plane sitting comfortably on your way to someplace adventurous and then all of a sudden the pilot comes up on the intercom system to say, "Hello, everyone. I'm sorry to inform you that the we've lost both of our engines and that we'll be making an emergency landing in the next city." You sit at alert anticipating the next few seconds and what's to come - Yes, instructions to save your life!

Can you see the difference this would make on your professional life? Listening to every conversation like your life depended on it?

Here are a couple more examples. You're now at a sales meeting and your client states the conditions you and your company could stand to gain their business tripling your commissions.... Or your CIO states that your company has decided to reduce headcount and that you will be impacted ... Or your CFO states that your company has exceeded their financial goals and will be handing out bonuses.

In all of these situations and others, you're required to listen. I won't go into the details of the techniques of listening, but if your life depended on it, you'd be listening.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

NAAAP Natl Webinar Series: NING

2010-04-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

If you missed my webinar on social media, yesterday, I presented a walkthrough of NING, a new-age social networking tool, and showed how it helps businesses and associations set up a community for collaboration and to nurture relationships. I illustrated two examples, one of my clients (Vibrant Teams) and another for our own Women in NAAAP (WIN) program.

It was very exciting. In preparing for the webinar, I had the opportunity of working with great people: Seattle Chapter members as well as the International Board Committee for the Women In NAAAP Program, most importantly with Judi Rhee Alloway, the National Chairwoman of WIN. Their support and their creative ideas led us to creating a NING network for the program as what’s evident to make the WIN program successful was to create a supportive network and moreso, using social media.

This network is in BETA though so we can gather feedback to make improvements to the network. Throughout this year, Women In NAAAP will continue to build this network for local and National participants in WIN to discuss topics related to women in the workforce, re-entering the workforce, community and family matters and much, much more.

To sum up, I'm super energized about the NING platform and the Women In NAAAP Program. If you would like to help us test and grow this network, you're invited to sign up on NING and check it out.

Regards,

Gil Gido

NAAAP Seattle

President

Links:

Join these social networks to join the conversation.

Women In NAAAP on NING: http://winaaap.ning.com/
Vibrant Teams on NING: http://vibrantteams.ning.com/

Where are they now? Li Tan, NAAAP Seattle President 2005 - 2006

2010-04-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hello, my name is Li Tan. I served on the NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors for four years: two as treasurer and two as President. During my term as President, we hosted the NAAAP National Convention. The time and effort that we put into planning and fundraising for the convention was equivalent to a full time job, but it was worth it in the end. Our co-chairs, Joneil Custodio, Janet Ung and Charles Wu did a great job of taking charge and ensuring that the convention was a huge success. By now, most of us have currently moved on to other boards. This year, I became the President of the Asian Counseling and Referral Services board (ACRS) and am serving my second term on it, and Charles (full disclosure: he is my husband) is currently the President of the International Community Health Services (ICHS) Foundation. Without the experience and relationships that I had developed while being involved with NAAAP, I don’t think that I would have the opportunities that I have today.

One of the great challenges of being involved in NAAAP is working with people from many cultural backgrounds. When I refer to culture, I am not limiting myself to ethnicity but am including work experiences, types of jobs people hold, and where we grow up. I think that all of these things contribute to who we are and how we behave. In my profession, I work with many like-minded individuals, so it was nice to be in an environment with many different types of thinkers which is what NAAAP provided. This type of environment allowed me to further develop my leadership skills and appreciate how hard work and collaboration can significantly pay off. The best example that I can use for this is the convention. We had 3 co-chairs, while Asian on the outside, came with differing perspectives. I brought these three individuals together and discussed with them their interests and strengths and used this discussion to determine what types of responsibilities and subcommittees they would lead. With this structure, we were able to meet our fundraising goals and offer two days of relevant programming to our participants and sponsors. The feedback that I received from one of the co-chairs was that she appreciated that I did not micromanage and allowed her to take the lead for her subcommittee.

As a result of my experience with NAAAP, how did I end up on the ACRS Board? One of our convention volunteers was a former Development Director for ACRS who nominated me to serve on their Board. Without the opportunities to use and further develop my leadership skills outside of my profession and the relationships that I developed, I wouldn’t have had the exposure to the Asian and Asian American community and the honor of serving on another board. I highly encourage Asians and Asian Americans to become fully engaged with NAAAP. Don’t expect that you will magically be presented with opportunities when you join. As my story shows, these opportunities were presented to me through hard work and dedication.

Regards,
Li Tan
NAAAP Seattle
President 2005 -2006

Calibration

2010-04-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Calibration is one of those things that organizations go through to ensure their workforce is optimized or running as productively as it can. This usually happens on an annual basis as part of a review cycle. Organizational leaders during calibration undergo a formal process of evaluating each team member reporting up through their organization and evaluates them on several areas, such as performance and long-term potential with the group or company. (Note: This will vary depending on what a company finds as valuable.)

What also happens in calibration is that individuals in similar career bands are compared so entry-leveled employees aren't compared to ones that are more senior. Moreover, companies might go so far as to compare developers with developers or managers with other managers.

Each company will typically have a grading scale and specific criteria in which they will have for their employees and once their evaluations are complete each individual in the organization will have a composite score. The scores can then be analyzed statistically placing individuals in categories, which oftentimes the category individuals fall in are used for incentives and rewards.

For example in one model that exists, individuals will either fall in the lower 10%, indicating lower than average performance and lower than average contribution, in the middle range (70%) indicating individuals meet performance requirements and have a satifactory contribution to their organization and lastly in the top 20% of the range. These individuals are top performers with higher-potential for opportunities and promotions. As you can see, most individuals would like to avoid being in the lower 10% as it could determine actions taken against you or you could see your career slow down or lessening opportunities for you.

You might be wondering what are tips to score high or to avoid low calibration scores. Here are some to start:

Talk to your manager and check in periodically on your performance. Since Calibration happens within management, it's good to know what your manager is going to say about you during that process. Remember other managers have individuals that need to evaluation too.
Performance is not a one-day event. Think long-term (3-5 years) and steadily build a record of success around you.
Be honest about your performance, too. Surely, working hard 4 months right at calibration won't make up for the 8 months 'slacking' off.
Toot your horn once in awhile and acknowlege other people's accomplishments.
Get out of that cubicle or office. Be visible and network. It's not only what you say about you, but how you are percieved. Participate in team events, write an article, publish a book, or conduct a webinar. These activities will only help to estabilish you as credible and build other skills.
Talk to your HR department about the calibration (or review) process and adhere to them. (Note: Not all processes are 100% accurrate, so if you find an opportunity to improve on the process, then by all means, say so. )
Get training in the areas that you need improvement on. This will demonstrate your willingness to contribute to the organization. Technology and processes and people will change and so you need to change along with the organization.
If you're a manager, resolve issues, most importantly, employee-related issues immediately leading to higher organizational health indicies and improved performance.

With that, I hope I gave you some clarity on how calibration works. If you have more tips and strategies, please let me know and I'll add them to this list.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Structure for fulfillment

2010-04-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

So you've got a goal. It's pretty lofty and you probably have doubts in reaching that goal. So you ask yourself, "What do you do?" The answer is really simple and it's not much of a secret. To achieve your goal or any goal for that matter is to create structures for fulfillment and sticking to them.

To illustrate this, our Board just completed our strategic planning for the Seattle chapter and as part of this process we've been having discussions as to how they're going to fulfill on their goals for their committees. Call it a plan, but a structure for fulfillment explicitly states which tasks need to be done and by when. So let's examine one of their structures for fulfillment so you can apply this same concept to your goals and reach or even exceed them.

The scholarship committee, for example, has a goal of awarding a college scholarship to a one deserving recipient in the amount of $2000 to go towards educational purposes by June 1st, 2010 and have 30 - 50 applicants. Their structure for fulfillment looks like this.

By 1/12 Approve funds to distribute
By 2/2 Announce scholarship
By 3/15 Build scholarship committee
By 3/16 Ceate application requirements
By 3/17 Update NAAAP Seattle website with information (If you're thinking about applying, please visit our scholarship page http://seattle.naaap.org/pages/_cmt/_scholarship.jsp)
By 4/15 Send reminder
By 4/21 Applications due!
By 4/25 Send e-mail applications & grading sheets to committee
By 4/26 - 5/14 Review applications
By 5/14 Committee submits grading sheets
By 5/16 Narrow field to 3-5 using criteria
By 5/23 Conduct interview with finalists to select the scholarship winner.

As you can see, the plan fulfills on the stated goal for the scholarship committee. Each task has a due date and brings the goal closer when each task is done.

What goals do you have? Are you looking for a new job? Starting a business? Or raising funds for your school? Try creating a structure for fulfillment and stick to it!

Regards,

Gil Gido

NAAAP Seattle

President

APLDC book list (Part 2)

2010-04-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

This is the second part of the Microsoft Asian Pacific Leadership Development Conference's book list. It was prepared by the Microsoft Library. Happy Reading and Leading.

Reading Category | Book by Author
Influence/Persuasion, Managing Change, Changing Perceptions | Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, and Ron McMillan
Leadership, Career Growth | Invitation to Lead: Guidance for Emerging Asian American Leaders by Paul Tokunaga
Leadership, Networking/Mentoring | Leaders at All Levels: Deepening Your Talent Pool to Solve the Succession Crisis by Ram Charan
Leadership | The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
Economics, Leadership | Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty: The New Rules for Getting the Right Things Done in Difficult Times by Ram Charan
Conflict Management, Leadership | Leading Through Conflict: How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into Opportunities by Mark Gerzon
Emotional Intelligence | Make Your Workplace Great: The 7 Keys to an Emotionally Intelligent Organization by Steven J. Stein
Multi-tasking, Secrets to Success (GTD author) | Making it All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business Life by David Allen
Project Management Leadership | Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management by Scott Berkun
Innovation | The Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun
Secrets to Success | Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Networking/Mentoring, Secrets to Success | Power Mentoring: How Successful Mentors and Proteges Get the Most Out of Their Relationships by Ellen Ensher and Susan Murphy
Presentation Skills | Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds
Innovation, Communication Skills | Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging and Outmarketing your Competition by Guy Kawasaki
Influence/Persuasion, Communicating Your Value | Selling Your Ideas to Your Organization by Harold Scharlatt
Presentation Skills | Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte
Networking/Mentoring, Career Growth | Smart Networking: Attract a Following in Person and Online by Liz Lynch
Secrets to Success, Leadership | The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder
Globalization, Leadership | The Talent-Powered Organization: Strategies for Globalization, Talent Management and High Performance by Peter Cheese, Robert J. Thomas and Elizabeth Craig
Personality Types | Type Talk at Work: How 16 Personalities Types Determine Your Success on the Job by Otto Kroeger, Janet M. Thuesen, and Hile Rutledge
Distributed Teams, Cultural Differences | Uniting the Virtual Workforce: Transforming Leadership and Innovation in the Globally Integrated Enterprise by Karen Sobel Lojeski and Richard R. Reilly
Globalization | The World is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Related Post: APLDC book list (Part 1) - http://gilgido.blogspot.com/2010/02/apldc-book-list-part-1.html

The First 90 Days

2010-03-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

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)

2010-03-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

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)

2010-03-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

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

2010-03-03T21:05:00.000-08:00

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

2010-03-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

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

APLDC book list (Part 1)

2010-02-26T00:06:00.000-08:00

There's a book entitled, What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Evenmore Successful. Ever read it? Well, this book is about change. What interests me about this is it's title and how it applies to leadership skills. If you don't have the skills, then how do you get them? You get these new skills by continued learning. Learn from mentors, learn from your experiences, and learn from books. In this post I want to focus on the later part, learning from books.

Actually, I want to share a book list recommended by the Microsoft Library created last April for the 2009 Asian Pacific Leadership and Development Conference, a conference presented by the Microsoft Asian Professional Society (MAPS). Now I know almost a year has gone by and new books have been published since then, but it's a comprehensive list that I'm still going through and find the books still relevant. As soon as I'm completed with this list, I'll get to the newer books, perhaps a list created for the 2010 NAAAP National Convention happening later this year! :)

Reading Category | Book by Author
Managing Change, Project Mgt | A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter
Delegation, Leadership, Managing Change | Becoming an Extraordinary Manager: The 5 Essentials for Success by Leonard Sandler
Leadership, Communication Skills | Beyond the Babble: Leadership Communication that Drives Results by Bob Matha, Macy Boehm and Marcia Silverman
Multi-tasking | Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School by John Medina
Career Growth, Communication Skills, Cultural Differences | Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling by Jane Hyun
Conflict Mgt | Building Conflict Competent Teams by Craig E. Runde and Tim A. Flanagan
Career Growth, Changing Perceptions | Stand Out by Building Your Brand by William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson
Conflict Mgt, Cultural Differences | Conflict Across Cultures: A Unique Experience of Bridging Differences by Michelle LeBaron and Venashri Pillay
Social Responsibility, Public Service, Economics | Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism by Muhammad Yunas
Personality Types, Career Growth | Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Types by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron
Emotional Intelligence | The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book: Everything You Need to Know to Put Your EQ to Work by Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves, and Patrick Lencioni
Cultural Differences | The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently ... and Why by Richard Nisbett
Globalization, Leadership | Global Leadership: The Next Generation by Marshall Goldsmith, Cathy Greenberg, Alastair Robertson, and Maya Hu-chan
Innovation, Secrets to Success | Grabbing Lightning: Building a Capability for Breakthrough Innovation by G. Colarelli O'Connor
Distributed Teams, Cultural Differences | The Handbook of High-Performance Virtual Teams: A toolkit for Collaborating Across Boundaries by Jill Nemiro, Michael M. Beyerlein, Lori Bradley, and Susan Beyerlein
Leadership, Secrets to Success | Hit the Ground Running: a Manual for new Leaders by Jason Jennings
Social Responsibility, Public service | Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why we need a green revolution - and how it can renew America by Thomas L. Friedman
Networking, Mentoring, Career Growth | How to Succeed in Business Using LinkedIn: Making Connections and Capturing Opportunities on the Web's #1 Business Networking Site by Eric Butow and Kathleen Taylor
Economics, Globalization | Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation by Nandan Nilekani
Globalization | India Arriving: How this Economic Powerhouse is Redefining Global Business by Rafiq Dossani

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Related post: APLDC book list (Part 2) - http://gilgido.blogspot.com/2010/04/apldc-book-list-part-2.html

Taking a L.E.A.P.

2010-02-20T21:28:00.000-08:00

I first met JD in 2006 at a pre-conference workshop at Microsoft talking about being a 21st century leader. Then a few months later I attended his keynote at the inaugural Asian and Pacific Leadership Development Conference (APLDC). In 2007, I caught JD speaking at the National Association of Asian American Professionals Convention in Atlanta and then again at the kick-off of the Executive Development Institute 2008 Leadership development program in Bellevue, Washington. You're probably asking, "Why so many times? Right?" Well, JD speaks a lot (humorous). And on so many topics, especially when it comes to the Asian community. You can't find another person as passionate about the Asian Community and leadership as JD. In 2009 he deservedly received a NAAAP 100 award for being someone who exemplifies leadership, community engagement, and connects with professionals for mutual success.

For those of you who don't know J.D. Hokoyama, he is the President & CEO and a founding board member of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP). LEAP is a nationally renown company based in L.A. and is recognized by top companies as an expert on the Asian issues. For the last 28 years, J.D. has been committed to educating and inspiring the next generation of Asian leaders.

Now earlier this year, I saw JD speaking at the EDI Leadership Together Conference on taking risks and how early messages in Asian cultures can send messages that Asians aren't outspoken, don't take risks and aren't natural leaders. Here are a few of these messages: Respect your elders. Be polite. Do as you're told. Speak when spoken to. Work hard. Do any of these sound familiar?

JD says that being aware of these will help you learn to overcome those stereotypes. Of course, this won't apply to all people, but it's amazing how many in the session said that they were not viewed as outspoken. If you are one of these, take the first step and start talking in meetings, even if it is to say that you have a question. When it comes to who's gets remembered, it's the person talking.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Your Brand: Dressing for your next role

2010-02-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

According to Vanna Novak, CEO of Speak to Persuade, "you only have 10 seconds to make that first impression and in a competitive situation, you will have even less time. Moreover, 55% of your impact as a communicator is attributed to your physical appearance as opposed to 7% in what you say. " Think about that the next time you present yourself at a meeting, conference or even at an interview. You might even ask yourself especially when you go to an interview, How do others perceive you? Well, with the help of my friends, Sonrose Festejo and Terry Jones, I was able to answer that question really easily. Both are individual stylists located at the Nordstrom flagship store in downtown Seattle.

My style is obviously business casual - very business casual. It's very rare for me to wear a jacket or suit and tie and I have to admit that after working with Sonrose and Terry, modifying my appearance was easy and stress-free. Just as some of you read this, I don't want to be prescriptive about what to wear as it'll depend on the work environment or situation you are in. For me, as I go to fundraisers and client meetings, it's appropriate and even required to dress in a style that is more formal over business casual.

So my 3-hour appointment started with a needs assessment in addition to providing my shoe, shirt and pant sizes. Sonrose filled my dressing room with an assortment of styles ranging from business casual to interview styles readying me for my transformation. I took the experience as both educational and as an adventure. I didn't know what she would give me, but I was impressed. There were suit jackets, slacks, shoes, mix and match ties, as well as a variety of easy care shirts. It took close to 2 hours to try on all of the items she presented.

When it came down to suits, Terry showed me the right length, fit and interchangability of the suit components with what Sonrose provided. He distinguished for me fit over the size of a jacket, something I've always wondered about. I actually brought in one of my jackets to get an insight on the size of it. I thought it was too big and have never worn it for just that reason. Rather, after talking with Terry, it was just the right size, but the fit needed adjustment through alterations, like shortening the sleeves or taking in the waist. Fit you can say is the personal touch that makes a jacket fit your frame.

After all was said and done, I ended up with a brand that I felt be-fitting for my current and next roles. It was also a brand that I felt comfortable wearing as much as I do in business casual.

Thank you, Sonrose Festejo and Terry Jones of Nordstrom for your great service and a very special thanks to Julie Sotomura of Photomura Images for taking these fantastic photos, Rory Dufault for shoes and Lani for alterations.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Calling cards:
Sonrose Festejo Individualist and Special Occasion Department manager
Nordstrom Flagship | Downtown Seattle
500 Pine St. Suite 500, Seattle, Washington 98101
206-628-1230

Terry Jones All star Men's Clothing
Nordstrom Flagship | Downtown Seattle
500 Pine St. Suite 500, Seattle, Washington 98101
206-628-1220

Rory Dufault Men's Shoes
Nordstrom Flagship | Downtown Seattle
500 Pine St. Suite 500, Seattle, Washington 98101
206-628-1500

For nationwide Nordstrom Individual Stylist locations visit their website: https://secure.nordstrom.com/services/personal_touch.asp

2010 NAAAP National Leadership Retreat

2010-02-08T23:46:00.000-08:00

Once a year all national and local leadership team members gather to create synergies that help fulfill the mission and vision of NAAAP and to develop networking opportunities and relationships with other leaders across North America. This year's retreat was hosted by NAAAP Connecticut and held at the Mohegan Sun hotel and casino in Uncasville, CT. Overall, I thought it was a well planned and attended event. Thanks to Shane Carlin and Jessica Yang, the Retreat Directors responsible for planning the Retreat.

On Friday many people arrived for the networking reception with local Asian Community leaders in attendance like Representative Tony Hwang from the Connecticut State Representative for the 134th Assembly District; Honorable Judge Nina Elgo, Connecticut Superior Court Judge; Dr. William A. Howe, Connecticut State Dept. of Education; Ms. Theanvy Kuoch, Executive Director of Khmer Health Advocates; Ms Angela Rola, Director of the Asian American Cultural Center University of Connecticut Storrs; and Ms. Lorie Valle-Yanez, VP and Chief Diversity of MassMutual. Their messages were thoughtful and intended to inspire our members to take on leadership roles.

The following day the training started with team building exercises, venture/chapter development, financial review, a WomenInNAAAP (WIN) program overview, a keynote with Gerry Fernandez, President MFHA, and discussions on corporate relations and PR/Marketing. In addition, Dr. Vu Pham of Spectrum Knowledge as well as a Sr. advisor to NAAAP lead us through a self-branding exercise teaching us the importance of creating a distinct image.

On the last day, we sat through the National Board Meeting discussing the upcoming 2010 NAAAP National Convention this August in San Francisco and other issues relating to running the organization.

(l to r) Gil Gido; Brad Baldia, NAAAP President/CEO; Dr. Vu Pham, Spectrum Knowledge, LLC and NAAAP Sr. Advisor; Rebecca Deng, Seattle National Representative

After the 3 day retreat, I left more connected to the National Board and was reminded that we are part of a larger organization with networking and training opportunities. My commitment with NAAAP Seattle is to align the chapter with the national plans and to leverage best practices from other chapters so that our members are equipped with resources for career success. That being said, if you are not already a member, I encourage you to join.

Regards,

Gil Gido

NAAAP Seattle

President

Additional Links:

NAAAP Chapters http://www.naaap.org/chapters/ourchapters.aspx
Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality alliance http://www.mfha.net/
Spectrum Knowledge, LLC http://www.spectrumknowledge.com/
SAVE THE DATE! The 2010 NAAAP Convention will be held August 12th-14th in San Francisco : http://www.naaapconvention.org/2010/

Your values

2010-02-04T13:02:00.000-08:00

I happened to be at ACRS at the EDI Leadership Conference where Chee Chew, an engineering director at Google gave the opening keynote. At Google, Chee leads a team of 300+ engineers. I never met Chee, but he came out in a blue sweater and jeans and gym shoes. "So what," you say? Well read on as what he wears says something about his values.

He started off with showing us pictures and asking us which we related to most.

Picture series A

Blue sky bridge vs a Sunset (Blue)

Timex vs Rolex (Functionality)

Hooded sweatshirt vs Tuxedo (Functionality)

Grand Piano vs Electronic Piano (Maintenance)

Washington DC vs Rome (New adventurous places)

Key: Chee's picks (Chee's Values)

I picked the sunset, rolex, hooded sweatshirt, grand piano, and Washington dc. I am sure other folks picked something else. As it relates to Chee, he chose the Blue sky, the timex , the hooded sweatshirt , the Electric piano , and then Rome .

He later described why he picked the pictures he chose, an indication of his values. He chose the Blue sky picture for blue; the timex for functionality; the hooded sweatshirt for functionality; the Electric piano for its easy maintenance, and then Rome for his love of adventurous places.

He then showed us another picture series and asked us to pick the pictures he would choose based on his given values. Which ones do you think he picked?

Picture series B

Red Acura vs Blue Honda (Blue)

ChoiceDek Recycled vs Wood Deck (Maintenance)

Knife vs utility knife (Functionality)

Gym Shoe vs Dress Shoe (Functionality)

Africa vs Seattle (New adventurous places)

Key: Chee's picks (Chee's Values)

I admit, I struggled a bit as some of my values got in the way. Knowing his values, it was a bit easier for me to pick the pictures that would he would pick.

Chee then dialogued about meetings he attended for his group and watched the decision making process. In the earlier part of his career as he grew into management roles, he admitted that he was more hands on yet the bigger his team got, this management style didn't work for his worklife balance as he spent a lot of time fixing issues and he had to be in the room to make decisions. He realized that this process didn't scale as his team globally grew. He had to state his values to his team so that they could speak to what Chee would decide if he wasn't there. (The exercise above demonstrates this.)

The lesson to be learned with Chee is to be open about your values and to be self aware of your management style meaning are you hands on or are you consistently sharing your values to help your team make decisions?

Regards,

Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Additional Links:

○ Google, Inc.: http://www.google.com/

○ Executive Development Institute: http://www.ediorg.org/

○ Asian Counseling and Referral Service: http://www.acrs.org/

○ Authentic Leadership by Bill George: http://bit.ly/ddNOmG

Women In NAAAP (WIN)

2010-02-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

We make leaders! The National Association of Asian-American Professionals (NAAAP)-Seattle is a provider of leadership opportunities for Asian-americans living in and around Seattle. And I am very privileged to be working with outstanding leaders on the NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors. Today, I want to focus on women and their contributions to our community and to share about an exciting new program NAAAP has addressing women's issues women experience in their journey into leadership roles.

Nine women, leaders in their own right, sit on the 2010 board with new and creative ideas. Just to name a few, Jen Phan, VP or operations, and Marian Liu, VP of external affairs lead me through discussion on the challenges and opportunities within the organization. It's an opportunity to get feedback and a different perspective. So far, my interactions with them test my own leadership abilities. Through them, I'm growing and stretching myself.

With that I want to share about the Women in NAAAP Program. This a national program launched as a pilot program at last year's NAAAP Convention in Denver. It's mission is to:

Strengthen members in NAAAP through specific leadership programming addressing stereotypes, strengths/weaknesses and a holistic perspective of oneself from work/career to friends, co-workers, family and community.
Stress the importance of work-life balance and one's personal journey in life from the perspective of being a woman and an Asian American woman in society today.
Create a plan to help women accomplish their goals and objectives.
Build competencies and skills that will carry women beyond their current conditions and into a more productive, efficient, and satisfying tomorrow.
Support the Asian Pacific women leaders of tomorrow.

NAAAP Seattle is playing a major role in the development of this program and as it is still in it's infancy it will have many opportunities to grow and develop. I am excited about this program that I am playing a personal role by sitting on the committee that develops this program. Whether you're an Asian-american man or woman, this is an opportuntiy for us to show the diversity of our community. For more information, please visit the WomenInNAAAP (WIN) website at http://www.naaap.org/programs/WomenInNAAAP.aspx.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Additional links:

Seattle's women in leadership luncheon series - Women of color empowered - http://womenofcolorempowered.com/
About Microsoft Diversity - http://www.Micrsoft.com/about/diversity/default.mspx
About American Family Diversity - http://www.amfam.com/about-us/diversity/in-the-community.asp

Leaders Sell

2010-01-29T23:45:00.000-08:00

Business transactions are an exchange of good or services from a seller to a buyer.When you are leader you conduct a similar transaction. What you are selling are your ideas and vision to everyone without discrimination. You do this every minute of everyday and in whatever weather or circumstance.Now in doing so, you are selling your value, your organization and ultimately your products and services.

Selling can be most difficult since I am probably like many of you - I wasn't taught to sell. I graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor's of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois @ Chicago. Now 20 years later and through various experiences - from being a lab tech, a project manger, and now an entrepreneur, I am here writing as President of one of the most active chapters of the National Association of Asian American Professionals to underscore the importance of selling. Of all of the leadership skills, I feel it as the most important skill.

I realize now that I have been selling all along and I didn't know it.I sold myself when I got a job. I sold my ideas when I pitched project ideas. And most of all I sold myself to get into this position

When I'm not leading NAAAP, I am being an entrepreneur. I launched Ulysses' Social Media Marketing Company to help new businesses grow using social media - Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. In the short time I've been in business, I have 5 clients. 5 is a alot in the business I am in considering the time it took to build the relationships, understand their needs and to create solutions for them.

Turning it back to you, what have you sold?If you're a nurse or doctor, have you shared with someone on a healthcare policy or procedure? If you're a lawyer, have you shared testimony with a judge and jury? If you're an engineer, have you shared a new technology? If you're a history student, have you shared your perspective on history? Well, it's selling!

In closing, selling while challenging can be learned. Take stock in your accomplishments and don't fear selling if you're the type who like me who didn't like to sell. It just takes practice to get good. Below, I've included some resources on selling so you'll be a success.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Books on Selling:

32 ways to be a champion in business by Magic Johnson: http://www.magicjohnson.com/index.php?/site/eventposting/32_ways_to_be_a_champion_in_business/
Jeffery Gitomer: http://www.gitomer.com/
The magic of thinking big by David Joseph Schwartz: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Magic-of-Thinking-Big/David-Joseph-Schwartz/e/9780671646783/?pwb=1&
The Three Laws of Performance by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan: http://www.threelawsofperformance.com/early_reviews_three_laws.jsp
Ulysses' Social Media Marketing Company: http://www.usmmcsite.com

Community Service: Ronald McDonald House Charities of Washington and Alaska

2010-01-24T21:35:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to David Eam, NAAAP Seattle's Community Service Chair for organizing this event and the 15 volunteers who showed up to cook and serve dinner to 80 people living at the Seattle Ronald McDonald House, a charity foundation which supports seriously ill children and their families. It provides a "home-away-from-home" to help families through a difficult time. Housing is provided to the families of any seriously ill children who live more than 30 miles away while undergoing treatment at Seattle Children's hospital.

Moreover, Community service is an important compenent of NAAAP Seattle. We know that giving back to those in need is a core value of leaders. Doing so makes the community we live and work in be all the more livable, so I encourage you to volunteer at the next available opportunity as it's also a rewarding experience. NAAAP Seattle has volunteer opportunities throughout the year and leading companies will often match your time and donation because they know the value of giving back.

Here are some pictures of the event along with the food. We served an appetizer, three courses and a dessert, which I tried to coax the recipes for my own use but was denied. The reason? Because it was CONFIDENTIAL :)

Thanks again to everyone who donated their time and their skills. I hope to see everyone at our next event.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Links:

Ronald McDonald Charity of Washington and Alaska: http://www.rmhcseattle.org/

Celebrate Asia!

2010-01-21T21:05:00.000-08:00

Last night I attended a reception for Celebrate Asia! - a benefit to raise awareness of the classical arts within the Seattle Asian Community. It was a preview of what the general public will be seeing tomorrow evening at Benaroya Hall.

Beautiful grand pianos backdropped the stage of the 1st floor historic Sherman Oaks Pianos downtown Seattle location where the reception took place. The first thing I did was to meet with Naomi Minegishi, the main organizer and thanked her for the invitation and organizing Celebrate Asia. As people gathered we were ushered to sit in our chairs and enjoy the music violinist, Chuanyun Li, and Master player of the Morin Khuur, Bo Li, played.

As they were playing, I sensed the warmth and love of classical music from everyone. At the end of the evening, I felt enriched by the experience and what I learned is that music is food-for-the-soul and Seattle is rich in music and Asian cultures. Go see it tomorrow if you can. I hear it's almost sold out :)

Figure 1. Carolyn Kuan (Conductor) and me.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Additional Links:

Northwest Asian Weekly interviews Carolyn Kuan: http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2010/01/qa-with-carolyn-kuan-an-esteemed-seattle-symphony-conductor/#more-6209
Celebrate Asia!
http://www.celebrateasia.org/
O'Asian Kitchen
http://oasiankitchen.com/
Benaroya Hall
http://www.seattlesymphony.org/benaroya/about/

Martin Luther King Jr Remembered

2010-01-18T22:22:00.000-08:00

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For me, it is the day to remember what he stood for and what he did for America - he defined equality, diversity and inclusion.

As an Asian American growing up in the Midwest, I saw the difference between people of different races, but I didn't quite pin down what it was because I was so young. It was in 2001 when I first heard the word diversity at my workplace. It was a woman by the name of Claudette Whiting who came in and introduced it to my company, Microsoft, and started a conversation for diversity and inclusion so to value the differences we as employees were contributing to the workplace. Places I worked before were homogenous and focused only on having an amiable and workable environment. At the time, Microsoft was a company of 35,000 employees and over time and nearly a decade later, Microsoft grew to be a company of 90,000 employees worldwide. This growth impacted the way people worked and there was a need for understanding differences in people. Claudette did an amazing job and led the conversation and instituted new programs that in following years integrated into the culture of Microsoft and that grew in greater demand.

One event she introduced was the Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Inclusion event to remember and reflect on Dr. King's work, beliefs and inspire us to contribute to the conversation. It was at this event, I got to meet and introduce the Honorable Gary Locke, now US Secretary of Commerce. It was also at this event that I shifted from sitting in the stands to participating in the conversation and sharing what I learned.

Figure 1. Honorable Gary Locke (US Secretary of Commerce), Maggie Carrido (Microsoft), and Gil Gido at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Inclusion event at Microsoft (2008).

Thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr.; Claudette Whiting, and the Honorable Gary Locke for being leaders and role models for us all.

###

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Note: The Seattle Times has a special website for remembering Martin Luther King Jr. Take some time to remember and visit their website.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/special/mlk/

Networking

2010-01-15T00:33:00.000-08:00

I have been to a lot of networking events throughout my career and I have to say, "they work." For those who haven't been to a networking event, they are events organized for people to connect and find others. Networking events can occur at any time: in the morning, over lunch or in the evening during weekdays and weekends and they come in many forms: a breakfast, a lunch, in a hallway, a meeting or at a planned event. In addition, some networking events have themes - a social, dating, or professional.

The Seattle Chapter of the National Association of Asian American Professionals hold monthly professional networking events lasting about 2 hours, typically on the first Friday of every month all around Seattle. If you haven't yet attended one of them, I invite you to go and if you're willing, then try out these professional networking tips. We also provide social networking opportunities, but I'll focus on professional networking in this post.

Here are my professional networking tips.

Tip 1. Have a purpose and a plan when you go to a networking event.
When you go into a room filled with people you are going to talk to a lot of people: those you haven't met before, acquaintances, regular networkers, friends, hiring managers, recruits, customers and suppliers. Knowing this resource exists in one place is definitely an opportunity!

Where do you start? Prior to the event, plan your goals. Is it to meet a hiring manager? Volunteers for your project? Or new clients? Include in your plan a number, too. Are you going to talk to 50%, 80% or 100% of the people in the room? This up front planning will make the event worthwhile and will help you time each interaction. At the end of the networking event review your plan. Did you achieve your networking goal? If not, assess what you will do the next time.

Tip 2. Start a conversation with a question.
When you find someone to talk to. Look them in the eye, extend out your hand and with a smile say, "Hello. I'm (your name). May I come talk to you?" Or you can follow up and say, "It's nice to meet you. What is it you're here for?" You'd be surprised that once you inquire about the person you are talking to, they open up. This leads to more dialog and possibly the information you're looking for. Being prepared will only have you asking the right questions and if being asked, then having the right answers. In addition, you might have handy a 30-second introduction or elevator speech to break the ice.

Tip 3. Contribute to the conversation
This is the best part of networking. Hearing other people stories can be fun. Be engaged in the conversation and focused with the person you are having the conversation with. Ask questions about them. People are willing to share about themselves. Let them.

Conversations are a two way street. People are networking too. Be willing to give someone the information they need. When you share information, this makes you valuable and people will likely want to talk with you.

Tip 4. Come prepared with a calling card.
This is usually a business card with information to connect with you. These are exchanged between parties at a networking event. You might ask for their card or you may be asked for your card at the event, so have them with you. I find them particularly useful at remembering people because people often customize them. They also help remember people after the event as you might have collected a lot of them.

Tip 5. Time each interaction.Events aren't forever. You might have only an hour and you want to make the most out of your time, so as part of your plan, you have to break up the total time of the event with the number of people you want to meet. This means that you'll have to be standing so it's easy to move about. When you're sitting it's easy to get comfortable and sit in one spot. This is a pitfall, so watch out for it.

Tip 6. End a conversation graciouslyEven if you're having fun, if you're time's up, be disciplined and end the conversation. Be gracious and excuse yourself and intend to follow up. And then when you get home, follow up.
To end a conversation you can say this for example, "please excuse me. I have to move on and continue networking. I enjoyed our conversation and I will follow up with you by (date)."

Tip 7. Start over again with the next person.
Tip 8. After the event, follow up.If you received business cards from your network, you can use a card scanner and upload them onto your computer. You will be able to manage your contacts and add them to you online social networks. If you receive a follow up with any of your contacts, then continue the conversation if it is appropriate to do so.

See you at our next networking event!

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Additional Information

• Get Business cards: http://www.vistaprint.com/
• Get a card scanner: http://sites.dymo.com/Pages/home.aspx
• Give Your Elevator Speech a Lift! (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/give-your-elevator-speech-lift/dp/1887542396/re=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263540117&sr=8-1

Connecting with people on LinkedIn

2010-01-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I attended a LinkedIn seminar at the School of Visual Concepts in Downtown Seattle and learned a few things that I thought I'd pass onto you. It definitely was 2 hours of insightful uses delivered by Cindy Pain, an esteemed career coach at Lee Hecht Harrison.

LinkedIn, now having approximately 50 millions user profiles, is a great marketing tool for you and your business. LinkedIn has made it a business of connecting people - yes, connecting you with people in your professional background or industry. Now if you're shy, you might want to start slowly and allow for invitations, but jump right on in and invite people into your network. Don't worry about looking good or looking bad. A general rule of thumb I use is if people are on LinkedIn, they are more than likely open to an invitation to connecting. Most of all, be courteous, generous and respectful. It goes along way in building your relationship once you connect. If you're looking for new connections, as Cindy puts it, "link in or be left out. "

Ready to start a profile? Here's how.

Step 1. Establish your profile
LinkedIn allows you to quickly establish your profile. Click on their join today link at https://www.linkedin.com/reg/join It couldn't be any easier. You will need a valid email address if you don't have one, you can get one at hotmail.com, yahoo.com or gmail.com. If you have a resume, you just copy and paste all of your information.

Step 2. Connect with people you know.
Once you've established your profile. You will want to start off by inviting everyone you know. These are your family, friends, clients, vendors, bosses, former bosses and organizational members to name just a few. As part of LinkedIn's free service, you are allowed 500 invitations. That's a lot when you think about it. When you make the invitation with people, offer them value in connecting with you. Is it your network? Is it your expertise? Can you recommend or introduce them to others? Tell them "what it is" in your invitation. Before long you will end up with lifelong friendships and business relationships. That is, if you nurture your network.

Step 3. Connect with people you don't know.
There are a few simple ways to connect with people you don't know on LinkedIn. These are people that are friends of your connections or friends of friends of your connections. Now to connect with people outside of your network with your connections, if it's appropriate and depending on your need, you can ask your friend if you can be introduced via Linkedin. Reciprocate with introducing other people, too.

People you don't know that are outside of your network could be the approximately 49.9 million other people on LinkedIn or those not already on LinkedIn. To get access to these people you're going to need to search for them either in person at a conference or at a meeting or through LinkedIn's search feature. Once you find the person(s) you want to connect to, make the invitation. They'll either say "yes" or "no". If it's yes, then start nurturing the relationship. If it's no, then don't beat yourself up. If you don't get a response, it's likely that person isn't using LinkedIn regularly or has a personal profile setting that prevents them from getting invitations.

This is just the beginning and I'll blog about networking in future posts. If you want or need more information, I've listed a few important links.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Additional information:

• LinkedIn New User information: http://learn.linkedin.com/new-users/
• 10 Ways to Use LinkedIn: http://blog.linkedin.com/2007/07/25/ten-ways-to-use/ or by Guy Kawasaki http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/ten_ways_to_use.html
• School of Visual Concepts: http://www.svcseattle.com/

LinkedIn is the respected trademark for the LinkedIn Corporation.

In Your Time

2010-01-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

Mahatma Ghandi in his time led his country India to freedom. Benjamin Franklin in his time invented the lighting rod and was a founding father of the United States. And Barack Obama in his time became the first African American to earn the spot of the 44th President of the United States . These great leaders had something in common: purpose. What purpose guides you? What is it that you'll be known for? Is it to be the best leader, parent, athlete or manager?

Having a purpose guides you. It opens up actions to take and pulls you forward to be great. For example, being the best musician (your purpose) takes a lot of practice (actions you'd take). You'd also hire a teacher, buy a piano and music, enter recitals, study music, and play everyday. Similarly, becoming a leader (your purpose) takes great practice (actions you'd take). You'd also need to build skills in communication, look for opportunities, network, understand issues, listen for other's commitments and to their greatness. Most of all, you need to stand for your purpose.

Now where do you begin after you define your purpose? If it's to be a leader, there are a variety of organizations you can take part in to support your purpose. Take part in the National Association of Asian American Professionals Seattle Chapter. Take part in the Executive Development Institute as well as Landmark Education. And commit time and be open to the experience. I promise you will be in your time a leader with purpose.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Additional Links:

• National Association of Asian American Professionals Seattle Chapter - http://seattle.naaap.org/Welcome.do
• Executive Development Institute - http://www.ediorg.org/
• Landmark Education - http://www.landmarkeducation.com/
• Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics - http://www.leap.org/
• Asian Pacific Leadership Community Foundation - http://aclfnorthwest.org/
• Ascend Pan-Asian Leaders - http://www.ascendleadership.org/display/router.aspx

Welcome to NAAAP Seattle

2010-01-03T23:29:00.000-08:00

I want to thank all of you - past and present - who have joined the Seattle Chapter of the National Association of Asian American Professionals. As it stands, many have become leaders in our community while some are facing real challenges. The leadership team understands this and is excited to serve and make this a great community for all. We need your commitment though. We believe NAAAP is creating opportunities for the next generation of Asian Americans to live prosperous lives. Your participation and contributions are truly appreciated.

As the start of a new decade won't you create a new commitment for yourself and your family? The commitment of success. It's all right here within NAAAP Seattle. So I encourage you to come join our events and engage with other members.

As the leadership team enters the new year, this February we will be sending two representatives to the National Retreat in Connecticut. Here is where we get the opportunity to have an input to the national agenda. If you haven't already done so, it's not too late for you to provide feedback and continue to make this a valuable resource for the Asian community.

I started this blog so that you can see my perspective on leadership and get updates with the chapter. Please let me know how NAAAP can help you in meeting your needs as a member. See you all soon.

Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President