Conversations worth having

(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

Expanding Local Asian Community Services

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

On Recommendations

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)

Human Trafficking and Women's Safety (APIWFSC)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 AUGUST 2008: Asian Community Picnic.

 

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

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

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

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Links:

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