So you want to be a manager, eh?

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

Not just for project managers

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

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

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

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

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

2010 NAAAP National Leadership Retreat

 

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/

Women In NAAAP (WIN)

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

Martin Luther King Jr Remembered

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.

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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/