Tag Archive for: asian american women leaders

Ashley Shan: Associate, Finance Group, Shearman & Sterling LLP

,

Ashley Shan“I’m a diver,” says Ashley Shan, a fourth-year associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP’s New York office. “If I’m new to a place, I want to jump in and learn everything about it and be an active part of the community. That’s what’s driven my career, and I want to bring that opportunity to others.”

Reflecting on her past three years at Shearman, Ashley speaks to the value of building relationships, supporting diverse lawyers and taking the initiative to make things happen.

From Philosophy to Finance

Realizing her B.A. in philosophy and sociology from Vanderbilt wasn’t going to adequately prepare her for modern legal practice, Ashley took advantage of everything Duke Law had to offer to broaden her experiences. She enrolled in the JD/LLM dual-degree program at Duke, which took her to an internship in Tokyo and a summer school in Geneva. “I was a research assistant, a teaching assistant and a senior editor on law review; I took a legal clinic, a practicum course at the business school, and an externship at the Environmental Defense Fund. I had friends from the business school, med school, public policy school and the environmental school.” She continues being active within the Duke NY community.

She encountered Shearman during 1L at a presentation on navigating the on-campus interview process while attending a diversity summit for Asian law students. She stayed in touch with the recruiting team and met other Shearman attorneys, who generously shared their experiences and mentored her. She also spent the rest of 1L reaching out to connections and getting to know other law firms, but the people she met from Shearman made the post-OCI decision simple: she took Shearman’s offer as soon as she received the letter.

Since starting at the Finance Group in 2019, Ashley has worked on a variety of transactions representing corporate borrowers, private equity sponsors and lenders in leveraged finance, structured finance and fund finance. “In the last year, I’ve gravitated towards representing corporate and private equity clients in middle market transactions because you really get to know your clients more holistically. You build a relationship and gain insight into all aspects of their business. I’ve also had the opportunity to dig deeper into more niched topics like liability management transactions and the ins-and-outs of the UCC from working with experts at the firm.”

As a problem solver, she enjoys the variety of the practice, building relationships, and working with senior attorneys, opposing counsel and specialist groups.

Building Community and Inclusion For Asian American Lawyers

When she’s not chewing on her bread-and-butter finance work, Ashley dedicates her time to building communities for AAPI lawyers inside and outside of Shearman. She is the co-chair of Shearman’s AAPI attorneys’ inclusion network – Asian Attorneys for Community, Empowerment and Success (AACES) – as well as the Vice Chair of the Membership Committee of Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY).

“Building relationships and showing up for my community is something that I enjoy and that motivates me,” says Ashley.

In addition to being a community for AAPI lawyers within Shearman, AACES also connects them with the broader AAPI legal community in New York State and nationally through organizations like AABANY, South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY) and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). Last year, through Shearman’s sponsorship, Ashley attended her first NAPABA convention. “It was my first time being surrounded by so many successful AAPI legal professionals. I saw the different ways one’s career can unfold, regardless of where you were born and whether you had lawyers in your family. There’s no ‘right track’ for your career and not just one way of succeeding.”

Compelled by the experience, Ashley has taken steps to strengthen the AACES community. Working with the other co-chairs, she advocated for Shearman to sponsor more professional organizations, increased Shearman attorneys’ participation in external networking events such as the NAPABA convention and brought in a distinguished Shearman alum to share his experience and advice for junior lawyers.

Raising Your Hand Brings More Opportunity

Ashley observes that many new lawyers keep their heads down, do what is told and treat their jobs as a nine-to-five. “I’m not a dabbler; I’m a diver. So if I go into a deal, I want to understand everything about it,” says Ashley. “I won’t let a conversation finish without clearly understanding next steps. I want to know where things are and who is doing what to keep the ball rolling.”

She feels her proactive attitude has invited opportunities, especially at a well-known New York law firm like Shearman. “Since joining Shearman, I’ve worked on headline-worthy deals, presented multiple CLEs, attended industry events, put on my own events, recruited external speakers and sent colleagues to conferences across the nation.” She is well aware of the power of mentors and sponsors along the way. Last year, her practice group leaders nominated her to attend a virtual development program for diverse junior associates at the New York City Bar Association. She also regularly receives support from partners and senior attorneys who guide her based on where she wants to go. In her opinion, sponsorship is a two-way street: “Opportunity only lands on people who seek it. If you want to be sponsored, you need to give people an opportunity to get to know you: what you want to do, what your strengths are, and what challenges you might be facing.”

Looking back at her career, half of which was spent during the pandemic where the practice of law was anything but normal, she credited her growth to an advice from a CrossFit coach: “He told me when you are new to the gym, just be a sponge and observe everything. That’s exactly what I did when I started my career at Shearman.” She regularly encourages law students that she mentors to embrace spontaneity and explore what interests them instead of what they think their career should look like: “There’s no one way to approach being a lawyer, and you never know how each experience is going to ultimately serve you.”

Since participating in pub runs in Durham during law school, one of the craft beer capitals of the U.S., Ashley has seriously upped her running game. She’s done a couple half-marathons and she’s also now completed the nine races and volunteering efforts that guarantee her entry in the New York City 2023 Marathon. Like Ashley says, she’s a diver.

/by

Ivy Tsui: Director of Program Management for DE&I, PGIM Real Estate

,

Ivy Tsui“It is very important to have a sponsor for your career” says Ivy Tsui. “You need somebody to advocate for you and be your voice in places where maybe you don’t have a voice.”

Tsui speaks to staying open and authentic, asking for sponsorship and embodying inclusion.

From Banking to Inclusion

“I have always been open to different opportunities beginning from early on in my career to now–because where you end up may not be where you thought you would go,” she advises. “Life is a journey and it’s not always linear.” Tsui’s parents immigrated to the US from Taiwan and Hong Kong, and she has learned a lot from their adaptability and unwavering spirit.

Tsui started out in banking after obtaining her dual-major bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations at Wellesley College. Tsui spent the first 14 years of her career at J.P. Morgan, and crossed many different disciplines–eventually landing in human resources–while obtaining her master’s degree in organizational psychology from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. In 2017, Tsui made the move to PGIM Real Estate.

While DE&I has always been an aspect of her HR work, in April, Tsui joined a new team headed by Christy Lockridge–the first Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer of PGIM Real Estate–which is focused on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in five key areas of impact: Talent, Culture, Industry, Investing, and Community. To Tsui, the new role feels like a culmination of her professional and personal experiences, especially as an Asian American woman.

Tsui is passionate about how the work of the DE&I team impacts people directly, and she’s especially energized about building a diverse pipeline of early talent. One of her key programs is the PGIM Real Estate Sophomore Training Program (STP), which gives college students early exposure, training and experience in the real estate industry–an industry that has historically not been very diverse. Tsui noticed the need to introduce real estate to students before their junior year (when students usually apply for internships) and has tripled the number of sophomore interns in the past four years.

“We often see students majoring in real estate because of a family member in the business. STP provides sophomores from diverse backgrounds, who otherwise may not know about real estate as a career possibility, the opportunity to work in real estate asset management.” says Tsui. “Some may not stay in real estate, but it opens a lot of different doors for them regardless.”

Being Open and Authentic

Tsui accredits her openness, adaptability and flexibility to her diverse and varied experiences: “I’ve never strategized about how this or that will bring me to the next level. I’ve been more interested in learning new things–sometimes, you have to take a step back or go lateral to really develop yourself.”

“I’ve always found people feel comfortable to talk and open up with me, and I make connections quite easily, and am able to meet people where they are at, which is quite a valuable skill in the HR and DE&I spaces.”

Describing herself as unconventional and an extroverted introvert, with a quirky sense of humor, Tsui has stayed true to herself and feels she has grown in self-confidence with time.

“One of the biggest pieces of advice to my younger self would be to let go of the fear to share my opinion,” says Tsui. “Early in my career, I was more conservative in offering my perspective and spoke only if I had the perfect comment. I’ve realized it’s okay to not always have the right answer or right idea, but it’s important to use your voice. There is power, value and hopefully impact, in sharing diverse perspectives.”

Tsui encourages mentees to do the same: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a junior level person in a room of more seasoned executives, you’ve been given a seat at the table for a reason and it is in the firm’s best interest to encourage and embrace your perspective. You have valuable things to say, so don’t sit in the background. Use your voice, early on.”

Asking For Sponsorship

Tsui absolutely recognizes the importance of being championed at work. She cites the difference between mentorship and sponsorship as critical: a mentor is someone who provides you with career advice and feedback and a sponsor is someone who directly advocates for you in your career development, whether for a promotion or an opportunity.

She encourages employees to have mentors and a sponsor but while she’s had highly valuable informal mentors, she has never had either a formal mentor nor a sponsor, and never asked for one.

“I think that’s partly because as an Asian American female, we’re taught ‘Just put your head down, work hard, do a good job and you’ll be rewarded or at least you won’t fail. Don’t ask for anything more and don’t rock the boat.’ But that doesn’t work.”

Tsui wishes someone had nudged her towards the advice she now gives: “My advice to everyone, but especially to Asian American women and people of color, is that you have to be in control of your own career and vocalize what you want. Even if it’s uncomfortable, you have to find mentors, formally or informally, and you absolutely need to find a sponsor.”

“I’ve learned that it’s important to be your own best advocate. Communication is key to ensure my manager and leaders in my group are informed of what I’m doing and know what my future interests are. This helps keep me in mind for both additional responsibilities and stretch opportunities.”

Embodying Inclusion

“As I’ve moved up, I’ve felt it’s increasingly important to make sure that all voices are heard. If a few people are dominating the Zoom conversation, and I see someone trying to speak or someone who doesn’t often speak, I will try to bring them in and have their voice included,” says Tsui. “When I was in that junior position, I would have loved if someone would have asked for my thoughts, so now I have that opportunity.”

Tsui also makes a point of saying hello to everybody she passes. And while it might seem basic, she notes you’d be surprised how often people just walk past each other. Especially as the senior person, it can help to create inclusion by simply acknowledging the more junior people you pass by.

Another regular practice is to thank people for their contributions in public to increase recognition. She also may draw a more hesitant person into a group conversation while at a networking opportunity.

“Much of this comes naturally to me, but some of it, I do with intent–especially if I see an opportunity to lead by example,” says Tsui.

Choosing Her Own Path

Tsui was advised by a current mentor not to compare her life or her career path to others, and that advice has served. Throughout her career, she’s made choices that were not linear, but were aligned to her personal desires–whether a lateral move to an opportunity outside of her comfort zone, time out of her career after having her third child, or choosing her location based on family-work rhythm.

“I made all those decisions based on what was more important for me at each of those times and they did have trade-offs – whether it was a less competitive salary or getting that more senior title, sooner,” notes Tsui. “But I am happier because of those experiences and grateful for them. This was my path, and I don’t compare myself to peers who chose a different path.”

Tsui met her Colombian husband, who was raised in Brazil, during her early investment banking years. They have three children – Sofia, 15, Bruno, 12 and Emma, 6. At any given time in her house, there’s a combination of Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin being spoken. Based in New Jersey, she loves visiting her parents and sisters in California, and considers them to be a bicoastal family. She plays piano, and recently played Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra with her nieces and nephew, although ballads are her usual jam.

By Aimee Hansen

/by

Jingjing Liang: Associate, Compensation, Governance & ERISA practice, Shearman & Sterling LLP

,

Jingjing Liang“The truth is, if I can be loving and patient, and approach whatever comes my way with compassion, everything will fall into place,” says Jingjing (JJ) Liang. “Being a good lawyer, a good colleague, a good mother, a good partner, a good daughter – it all starts with being a loving person. Approaching things with a loving attitude will make things easier for you.”

Liang speaks about staying open-minded, building your confidence, using your voice and showing up to the moment.

Be Open to Surprise

“Keep an open mind,” Liang advises law students. She never would have seen herself in law, let alone as a specialist in compensation and governance – yet there are advantages to unforeseen changes.

Having specialized in European history in her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, Liang became interested in legal history while studying in Europe. She took her mother’s insightful advice to work as a paralegal before investing in law school. After working for a year as a legal intern in Beijing, China and another year as a legal assistant in Toronto, Canada, she headed to the University of Texas School of Law. During her summer associate program at Shearman & Sterling in New York, where she rotated through the firm’s M&A and litigation practice groups, she received an offer to join the compensation and governance group.

“At that time, I thought, I have no idea what this is, this is so specialized, I just want to do M&A,” confesses Liang. “My work was very tough in the beginning as a first-year associate, because there were nothing from which I could draw on from my law school studies. The learning curve was steep.”

It was only when Liang found herself teaching summer associates that she realized how quickly she had grown and how much she enjoyed the work. Relative to her peers in other practices, Liang found she was not just reviewing and proofreading documents as a junior associate, but actually providing substantive legal advice and engaging directly with clients. “I’m glad I kept an open mind to try out this practice, I never would have known how well-suited it was for me if I hadn’t.”

How You Approach The Moment Is the Practice

Being patient, flexible and quick on her feet has served Liang well, but her ability to approach a situation and respond adeptly is her core practice.

When an urgent request comes in the night before an early meeting, it’s easy to stress. But Liang draws on her work as a meditation and yoga instructor: “The person in front of me and the request is not by definition stressful. It could be stressful to me, but interesting or fun to somebody else,” she observes. “So if the stress is coming from me, then I have the ability to change it. That’s how I try to approach difficult moments. I try to ask, ‘how can I ease the situation so it becomes easier for everyone involved.’”

Early on, Liang received two valuable insights into the enigma of work-life balance in Big Law: “It can be pretty impossible to strive for ‘work-life balance’ on a daily basis, so if you focus on balance in the ‘tree’ of a day, it can feel like a fight. But if you can step back and observe the wave of activities that come and go throughout a month or couple of months, you can take in the ‘forest’ and find more balance.”

Liang recommends that junior lawyers make plans with families and friends and surround themselves with people who will understand when something comes up. Even if you need to cancel a weekend plan, it’s important to still create the room to nurture your personal and social life.

Building and Bringing Confidence

As she becomes more senior, Liang’s advice to her younger self would be to take time and dig into the topics in your field you’re deeply interested in. “What did I enjoy most in this deal and what can I do next to strengthen the skills I gained today?” She recommends stepping back after big deals or intense periods of work to reflect on the learning experience to deepen career development.

“You’re learning so many different topics over time and quickly, it would be worthwhile to categorize your specialties so you can reinforce each one, becoming aware of your strengths and weaknesses in the substantive aspects of law,” says Liang. “I think it’s important to build confidence in your knowledge base, and that’s hard to do when it’s go-go-go.”

Reflecting on how her generation is changing the legal field, she feels her peers in her generation are more likely to just sit at the table rather than waiting to be invited: “Even more, when we sit at the table, we’re not afraid to ask questions and contribute. We’re not afraid to give our view and participate in a discussion among more senior lawyers, ” she says, also noting her parents encouraged speaking up early on in life. “I’m not embarrassed to be wrong (of course, being thoughtful about my contribution is important too). I’m excited to have this conversation with everyone at the table.”

Liang recognizes that she stands on the shoulders of women who have paved the way, and for that, her generation of women tends to hesitate less: “Women lawyers at conferences are always talking about not having to stay quiet because you’re a woman, and I am thinking, I don’t think we’re being quiet.”

When it comes to being Asian American, at certain times in her journey, Liang has felt stereotyped, such as the expectation that she would be quiet, being asked where she’s really from, or being spoken to in some Asian language. These problems can be subtle and until she talks with Asian peers who have had similar experiences, it’s difficult to validate what’s happening in that moment. “It’s a difficult conversation,” she says, “but because discrimination, macro or micro, is still there, we’re still talking about it.”

She does not, however, feel she’s facing a “bamboo ceiling” in Big Law, and found it inspiring last year to witness two female Asian women appointed to partners at Shearman, including Lara Aryani. She also feels lucky to work closely with female partners at the firm who value the mentoring and sponsorship of young lawyers through open dialogue and active training on how to be successful in this industry.

An Ever More Compassionate Self

Certified by Three Jewels Enlightenment Studio, Liang became a meditation and yoga instructor. During the pandemic, she was able to establish a more regular meditation practice to help cope with work, the ever-changing state of the world, and more recently, being a new parent. To give back to her community, she currently teaches yoga on Sundays with Three Jewels.

One of Liang’s meditation practices is “Future Refuge” – where you envision your future and step into that version within your present self: “If I can envision all of these aspects of my future self, what’s stopping me from being that today? Even if I can’t change external conditions, how can I embody the characteristics of the ‘future me’ now?”

Engaging in her meditation and yoga practice regularly, she sees herself in five years as being even more calm, loving and compassionate. Going back to when a client asks her for an emergency request, in a difficult moment, she chooses to view the request as if it’s coming from her best friend who she would do anything for, even if it throws her evening plans awry.

She also loves being with her ten-month-old son, watching how he explores the world and looks forward to traveling the world with him in the future.

By Aimee Hansen

/by

Asian American Women Leaders: No Equity or Inclusion without Promotion.

, ,

Asian American Women LeadersDiversity is not the same as equity and inclusion, and that case is made strongly by the real gap between the large numbers of Asian Americans and Asian American women in professional roles and the slight numbers holding senior and executive leadership positions.

An evolution of both equitability in promotions and more inclusive images of leadership is needed to breakthrough the nebulous bamboo ceiling – propped up by perceptions, stereotypes, projections and some cultural differences that have very little to do with leadership competency.

It’s A Promotion Issue

When we talk Asian American heritage in the U.S., we are talking about a widely diverse aggregate of people – individuals from distinctive ethnic backgrounds from 3 major regions and over 20 countries: East Asians (incl. Chinese and Japanese individuals), South Asians (incl. Indians and Pakistanis) and Southeast Asians (incl. Thai and Vietnamese individuals).

As a diverse whole, this fastest-growing demographic group of Asian Americans are over-represented among the highly educated and the professional workforce, but highly underrepresented in leadership: they represent 7% of the U.S. population, 13% of the U.S. professional workforce and only 6% of executive posts. Only 4 CEOS of Fortune 500 companies are Asian American women, 4 CEOS of S&P 500, and none of the S&P 100.

Asian Americans are least likely to be promoted to senior management and leadership: In 2016, Ascend found that one of every 12 white men and one of every 28 white women in the professional workforce is an executive, but only one of every 30 Asian American men and one of every 64 Asian American women have reached executive level.

This invisible barrier to senior leadership shows up across professional sectors:

  • Ascend found that only 1 out of every 285 Asian women and 1 out of every 201 Asian men in Silicon Valley was an executive.
  • Yale reported that Asian Americans have the lowest ratio of parters to associates.
  • Asian Americans manage less than 1% of capital in the asset management industry despite meeting and exceeding industry performance benchmarks.
  • While comprising 23% of middle managers and professionals in banking’s six largest U.S. lenders, Asian Americans make up only 7% to 19% of executives in these organizations.

As Buck Gee, researcher and executive advisor to Ascend, summarizes: “The problem is equity of promotions.”

The Gaps in Inclusion and Addressing Discrimination

Not surprisingly, 65% of AAPI managers view the bamboo ceiling as a moderate to serious problem in their careers and nearly all see it as problematic – yet Asians are too often not prioritized or even included in DEI efforts. In Bain’s research on belonging and inclusion, Asians – both men (16%) and women (20%) – felt the least included of anyone, even though more represented than other groups in many environments.

45% of Asian adults have experienced outwardly offensive incidents since the start of the pandemic. 67% of Asians feel business has ignored racism against their community, 58% say racism in the workplace has damaged their relationship to their employer and 55% say little has been practically done to address systemic racism.

As highlighted last year during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the myriad form of discrimination and stereotypes that Asians experience are invalidated, obscured and gaslighted by the “model minority” mythology. These include lack of ethnic discernment, cultural ignorance, imposed cultural stereotypes as well as real cultural values and communication norms at odds with Western ‘masculine’ leadership concepts, racialized sexism/sexualized racism, and disproportionate work expectations due to perceptions of being content with self-sacrificing, hard-working, and delivering high performance standards. In terms of microaggressions, the term “interchangeable Asian” has come to qualify the frequent experience of being mistaken for someone else alongside the presumption of the perpetual foreigner.

Experiences of Exclusion Despite Representation in Tech

Ascend previously found that while Asian Americans comprised the largest cohort of entry-level, non-managerial employees with a college degree in Silicon Valley (47%), they are half as likely as white men and white women to hold positions within two reporting levels of the CEO.

Due to representation, Asian women are often excluded from DEI initiatives, but a Center for Worklife Law report released in April on women of color in tech reveals that the experiences of diverse Asian women in tech more closely parallel other women of color who are underrepresented.

East Asian women report lower engagement and career satisfaction. They are 66% less likely than white women to see a long-term future in tech, 42% more likely to have felt demeaned, disrespected, left out of the loop, or treated as invisible, 47% more likely than white women to have their competence and commitment put into question when becoming mothers, and 38% more likely to have difficulty getting administrative support.

South Asian women were 60% less likely than white women to see a long-term future in tech, 54% more likely to be given work beneath their skillset, and 54% more likely to feel that distancing from those like them was a politically savvy move at work. Whereas Southeast Asian women were 29% more likely than white women to leave a job for the workplace culture, 57% more likely to feel called on to perform emotional labor, 51% more likely to feel corralled into traditionally feminine roles, 45% more likely to feel perceived as a team player not a leader, and 43% more likely to feel expected to be a worker bee.

Diversifying the Image of Leadership

We previously called out that organizations are blatantly overlooking Asian American women leaders, who are already in the talent pipeline but getting caught in a career plateau, and organizations need to diversify the image of leadership:

  • Western leadership norms that are too narrow and over-emphasize “assertiveness,” not even the best indicator of an effective leader, are keeping East Asians from the US C-Suite. Too often, the cultural norms of humility and conformity are perceived as a lack of confidence or motivation, which they are not.
  • Insights into successful C-Suite Asian American Executives reveal many source their leadership in the non-visible values of continuous learning, collectivism and humility – but a too narrow definition of leadership inhibits companies from recognizing and promoting diverse leaders in, and for, their authentic leadership styles.

Asian-American Bain Partners and researchers, Karthik Venkataraman and Pam Yee, observe that equitability in systemic enablers (relative to everyday behavioral enablers) – such as performance management, promotion and recruitment – are more meaningful to Asian-Americans in creating inclusion. This is not surprising when statistics reveal that systemic inequities are at play in creating unequitable outcomes – and real interventions need to happen.

For one, clearly Asian Americans need to be included in equity and inclusion strategies, and formal executive sponsorship programs are needed to support Asian American women into those leadership spaces. If you’re a leader, considering being the sponsor that supports with visibility and exposure, and advocates for high-profile work and opportunities, for an Asian American woman who is being overlooked. If you’re an Asian American woman and you don’t have one now or have never had one, truly consider finding a sponsor to advocate for you, even if it’s uncomfortable to ask.

Inclusion means that individuals feel equitably valued and supported as their authentic selves, empowered, and able to fulfill their potential in the workplace. Bain Partners Venkataraman and Yee reflect on the leadership gap for Asian Americans, that also exists in their organization, and the potential cost of assimilation their generations made: “We believe that our junior colleagues are going to insist on being able to bring more of their cultures and experiences to the workplace than we did so that they can feel as though they belong as their authentic selves, and we need to do our part to make that possible for them.”

Indeed.

By Aimee Hansen

/by

Diversify the Image of Corporate Leadership to Include Asian American Women

,

Asian American Women LeadersIf more Asian American women are to reach leadership positions, Corporate America needs to integrate a wider and more inclusive image of what leadership looks and feels like.

Nearly 40% of Asian American women identify as entrepreneurs. According to the 2019 State of Women-Owned Business Report, Asian American women-owned businesses represent 9% of all women-owned businesses.

Between 2014 to 2019, the average revenue for women-of-color-owned businesses shrank, according to the report, with the exception of Asian women-owned businesses. The average earned revenue for these firms indexes 33% above all women-owned businesses and represent the highest number for any racial/ethnic group, though Asian American businesses have been been disproportionately devastated by the virus of racism since the pandemic began.

Asian American women know how to lead and the results of their businesses prove they lead well. Last week, theglasshammer talked about the insidious harm of stereotypes, mythology and microaggressions when it comes to obstacles to reaching corporate leadership for Asian American women.

Now let’s question a definition of leadership that closes the gates to women that are compelled to lead – especially East Asian women.

The Over-Valuation of Assertiveness

Asian American women leaders are far from a monolith and are not represented equally in leadership either. Another factor at play in inhibiting East Asian women, in particular, in attaining executive leadership roles is a status quo of narrow leadership norms that close the gates to a diversity of leadership qualities and approaches.

A report on diversity among Fortune 500 CEOs from 2000 to 2020 indicates that 35 Asian-Americans were CEOs Of Fortune 500 companies during this period: 13 were East Asians and 22 were South Asians. Only six were women.

Among Standard & Poor’s 500 companies between 2010 and 2017, there were 1.92 white CEOs per million in the U.S population, 2.82 South Asian CEOS per million in the population, and only .59 East Asian CEOS per million in the population.

Recently released research from MIT Sloan associate professor Jackson Lu explored why East Asians, but not South Asians, are uniquely underrepresented in leadership in U.S. business, concluding that this inequality is “an issue of cultural fit — a mismatch between East Asian norms of communication and American norms of leadership.”

While non-Asian Americans exhibited greater “prejudice” against South Asians than East Asians, this did not correspond with the leadership gap. “Motivation” was also equal between the groups. What the researchers posit is that the over-evaluation of “assertiveness” in U.S. leadership, which East Asians consistently scored lower on, is why East Asians are less likely to attain leadership positions.

Whereas South Asian cultures often encourage assertiveness and debate, East Asian cultures often emphasize humility and conformity, but this is not indicative of the lack of confidence nor motivation that it can be perceived as through a Western lens.

“Importantly, assertive leaders are not necessarily the most effective ones. American organizations need to diversify the prototype of what a leader should look like,” states Wu. An overly assertion-based leadership ideal not only has a cultural and gender bias but an inclination towards more toxic shadow traits of leadership.

Diversifying The Leadership Norm

Part of valuing and respecting Asian American women leaders involves changing the cultural norm and implicit prototype of what we value in leadership.

A September 2020 paper from Russell Reynolds Associates suggests that companies “reconsider internal definitions of who is qualified to lead”—pointing out that a too narrow definition of good leaders is what inhibits the wider objectivity needed to promote the best leaders in their own authentic leadership style.

“Past efforts to fill this leadership gap have mainly focused on how Asian Americans should individually moderate their leadership styles to adapt to the dominant culture. Yet this approach opens the possibility that they will be criticized for another reason: failing to match American expectations of stereotypical Asian American behavior,” writes the authors. “We consider this a ‘double-edged sword,’ with neither path allowing them to be recognized and rewarded for their authentic leadership styles, wherever they fall on the spectrum of cultural expectations.”

“In our experience, the leadership gap is not a reflection of how well Asian Americans can lead,” the authors continue, “but rather how narrowly companies define what a successful leader looks like and how he or she should behave.”

“While many organizations value assertiveness and self-confidence in their leaders,” says Deborah Ancona, professor of leadership at MIT Sloan and founder of the MIT Leadership Center, “it is important to note that there are many different leadership capabilities that organizations also need to foster and reward.”

A qualitative LEAP Asian American Executive Leadership report revealed that among successful C-Suite Asian American executives, the non-visible values of continuous learning, collectivism and humility were at the root of their successful leadership.

Along with recommendations for individuals that would frankly apply to any aspiring leader (self-reflect, observe others, push (your own) boundaries and be open), the LEAP authors recommend, in their words, that organizations take three actions:

  • Redefine leadership – reconsider the definition of leadership combining the uniqueness of Asian Americans and, organizational, and societal needs
  • Create spaces – offer programs that embrace leadership styles, mindsets and values that develop and align to Asian American leaders
  • Reach out – include Asian Americans’ diverse perspectives and mindsets when navigating change and uncertainty

The cultural and personal influences that characterize the leadership of any given individual will be unique—the point is for more varied expressions to be invited in, to reveal their own strengths and benefits.

Our definition of leadership is dated and limiting the range of talent that gets in and leadership approaches. In order to create more diversity in leadership, we need to diversify the way we think about leadership, to begin with.

By Aimee Hansen

/by

Why Asian American Women In Business Need You To Not Be Passive

,

Asian American WomenIt’s been well-documented that Asian American women in business are often the professional but too rarely the executive.

As written in Forbes, Asian American women are the demographic group most likely to have graduate degrees but least likely to hold positions within three reporting levels of the CEO or to have line or supervisory responsibilities. Asian women outnumber Asian men among associates at U.S. law firms, but Asian men are nearly twice as likely as Asian women to be promoted to partner (64% vs. 36%).

Recently, in a national outcry against anti-Asian racism, micro-assaults, commercial discrimination and hate crimes that have risen across the pandemic, culminating in the March Atlanta shootings of eight people (six of which were women of Asian descent), nearly 1000 Asian-American business leaders have pledged $10 million to support Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

The Danger of the “Model Minority” Mythology

Asian American often women encounter a convoluted web of cultural myths that create a plateau in their career path. In one study of Asian American women who experienced discrimination, 34% reported that others assumed they were passive while 14% felt others viewed them as incapable of leadership.

The discrimination and bias faced by Asian Americans is often invalidated and made “invisible” due to being labeled as the model minority (due to having the highest educational achievements, highest median income, and one of the lowest crime rates) while actually being held back from the success of leadership and promotion. Not to mention blinding us to the reality that Asian-American women have been the hardest hit by Covid-19 job loss, with 44% out of work for six months or more.

The insidious impact of the harmful “model minority” mythology upon the Asian American community is that it’s both gaslighting and obscuring of the myriad discrimination and anti-Asian racism that very different groups of Asian American women actually face. Not only that, but it squeezes out room for the voices and diverse experiences of Asian Americans to be heard.

Aspects of the bamboo ceiling Asian American women confront include cultural ignorance and lack of ethnic discernment; the presumption of the perpetual foreigner; both imposed cultural stereotypes, as well as real cultural values and communication styles, that are at odds with Western masculine stereotypes of leadership; perceptions of hard working, discipline, intelligence and self-sacrificing that perpetuate an expectation of (quietly) carrying disproportionate quantities of work at a high performance standard; and racialized sexism/sexualized racism.

Yet when Asian American women do break prescriptive stereotypes to show assertiveness, they can be perceived as threatening and penalized in likability. Meanwhile, Hollywood has been no ally in challenging the stereotypes and simplistic tropes that Asian-American women are cast into, but rather reinforces them.

Speaking Up About Microaggressions

“In a workplace culture, racist acts usually play out as microaggressions—those small verbal or nonverbal slights, snubs, or insults. For example, being asked where you’re really from or being told that your English is really good assumes if you’re Asian, you’re foreign, and not a “real” American,” states Serena Fong, Vice President, Strategic Engagement, at Catalyst.

“Experiences of being invisible and forgotten surface through assumptions that because Asians are smart, quiet, and hardworking, they don’t experience racism at all,” Fong continues. “However, research shows that Asian Americans are the least likely group to be promoted to management positions, and Asian women hold the smallest share of total management positions in the US. Think about what’s conveyed when you say to an Asian colleague, particularly an Asian woman, you should “speak up more”, or “you’re so quiet”. Is that true or based on stereotypes?”

Microaggressions lower implicit self-esteem among Asian-Americans and induce stress, and when related to the “model minority” stereotype or perceived foreignness, are correlated with higher odds of poorer self-rated health. As part of AAPI Heritage month, the Los Angeles Times is currently polling to know strategies for countering microaggressions.

Fong advises, in her words, what not to do when you witness a microaggression:

  • Don’t act like you didn’t hear or see it. Racism is not going to go away if we ignore it. In fact, ignoring it can be seen as tacit agreement—and this failure to address it can add insult to injury.
  • Don’t make excuses. Explaining that somebody didn’t mean to be racist doesn’t make the remark or action any less hurtful or less racist. When somebody asks, “Where are you really from?” and isn’t challenged, their question reinforces stereotypes and perpetuates inaccurate information.
  • Don’t become immobilized. This happens more often than not; you witness something but are at a loss for what to say or do—and end up doing nothing.

Instead, Fong recommends:

  • Address the microaggression by responding with a non-judgmental observation or asking a thoughtful question. Doing so signals support for your colleagues and models inclusive behavior and courage to others. It may not be easy, but it’s worth it.
  • Talk to those involved. Doing so can break down stereotypes and provide comfort and support to the targets, particularly during such a scary time in the world. Check in with your colleagues to signal that you’re open to listening without putting the burden on them. If they don’t want to talk, be okay with that.

When it comes to disrupting the conscious or unconscious, not-so-small and harmful expressions of discrimination, we are all responsible. We do not need Asian American women to learn how to “speak up more.” We all need to be brave enough to speak up and out, more.

By: Aimee Hansen

/by

Grace Lee: Treasurer & Head of Financial Planning and Analytics, S&P Global

,

Grace Lee“I’m completely open to, and actually encourage, my team telling me when I’m wrong. I invite them to convince me that I’m wrong. I love that!” says Grace Lee. “I want us to have the best ideas, and that’s only possible when we are all contributing, debating and challenging each other.”

Lee speaks to ramping up the opportunity for responsibility, why motivating others makes the real difference in impact and why the ability to have a constructive relationship with healthy debates means you must be willing to challenge and be challenged.

Following The Call To Responsibility and Impact

“You do things for three years and then you look for a new challenge,” laughs Lee, recalling what the Head of HR at a previous firm said to her. She is motivated by massive strategic challenges with fast growth curves—and the desire to manage more responsibility while seeing the direct impact of her work.

Having planned to become a lawyer because of her love for formulating a thesis, supporting an argument and conducting a robust debate, Lee deferred law school to follow the investment banking hype out of Columbia University, and took an analyst position in Asia.

While in Asia, she discovered that she was far more drawn to the financial analytics and investor storytelling components of investment banking versus the work she partnered on with international corporate lawyers when on deals.

“The thing that I appreciated about certain aspects of investment banking is you can see the direct impact of your work. When working on an IPO of a company, if the competitive analysis and valuation work you’ve done is compelling, you should see that play out in the markets. Similarly with M&A, if investors deem that the merger makes strategic sense and the valuation is reasonable, you see that reflected in the price performance of those companies,” says Lee. “For me, seeing direct impact is so important.”

After three years in Asia, she moved back to the U.S. headquarters of the same investment bank. Subsequently, she went for a rewarding full-time Harvard MBA, which allowed her to focus on learning and traveling. She highly recommends a full-time MBA, rather than an EMBA, if you have accrued both the experience and finances to give yourself the opportunity.

After Harvard, Lee moved to the equity research group within the same investment bank. The firm had just acquired an asset management firm and she was able to join its financial institutions research team, where she was able to build upon her experiences in investment banking but now, formulate her own theses on which companies made most sense to buy vs. sell. After another few years, she thought “instead of analyzing these companies and the strategic direction that they go, I’d love to participate in the strategy making of a company and see how that transpires.”

She took a big leap to Voya Financial, helping to lead the IPO of the U.S. business for what was formerly ING, a top global financial powerhouse before the crisis.

“In my early 30’s, that was a really transformational experience. We were basically in a start-up environment, but for a massive company with leading businesses,” says Lee. “Before IPO-ing the company, we had to create the story of how the sum of the businesses made strategic sense together, and were far greater than the individual parts.”

When that role eventually evolved to maintenance, Lee moved onto a couple Executive Chief of Staff roles at other firms, before landing at S&P Global, which she came to be familiar with as her mentor from a prior firm had recently joined the company.

Merging Strategic and Analytical Outlook

“Coming from an investment banking and equity research background, we were trained to formulate both the high-level strategic picture, as well as be comfortable with the underlying analytics that support the strategy. For example, the investment case wouldn’t hold for a certain stock if the secular trends for the industry were all deteriorating. It’s valuable to be able to both see the big strategic picture and back that up with analytical horsepower,” says Lee.

Lee feels the ability to influence people is important and something she has honed, as is staying abreast of the macro-environment.

“Our job isn’t static, so to constantly keep educated on how the economy, markets and world is evolving is important,” observes Lee.

Inspiring Greatness In Others

Through both executive coaching and mentorship, Lee has realized that while striving for personal achievement has delivered her this far, the true opportunity for incremental growth and impact now lies in inspiring greatness from others.

One of her mentors shared that a mentor once advised that if you’re operating at 100% as a high achiever, it takes a lot of work to ramp yourself up to 110%. But if a whole team is operating at 70% of their performance potential and you are able to elevate the team to 80%, the incremental impact of that shift is much, much greater.

Lee has embraced this philosophy, particularly as in recent roles, her direct reports and management responsibilities have increased. While she still rolls up her sleeves and does her own modeling or formats her own PowerPoint presentations from time to time, she realized that her impact is no longer measured solely on her performance, but on the camaraderie and achievements of her broader team. “The joy I used to get seeing the price performance of a successful IPO I worked on, I now get watching my employees grow and succeed.  Some of the greatest compliments I have received recently were from my staff who have told me about the profound impact I have had on their professional development.”

More deeply embracing empathy and the softer skills is part of her current leadership approach, qualities which she admits wer not central to her personal achievement mindset.

“Earlier in my career, I focused on quick and seamless execution,” she reflects. “I didn’t much appreciate the softer skills, but now that I oversee a range of initiatives, it is impossible to be that strong individual contributor across all of these. I am also recognizing that what I need to do is empathize and elevate those I work and partner with, as collectively we can all achieve more than any single contributor,” says Lee.

She also notes that leaders she most admires, including executive management at her current company, demonstrate these skills and she feels inspired by them to always do her best.

Setting the Tone And Encouraging Women’s Voices

As a Korean-American woman, Lee is often a unique face as finance in corporate America tends to be white male-dominated. But growing up with a younger brother, all male cousins and having two sons, she isn’t necessarily out of her element.

“At my level you don’t see that many females, but that has not been a deterrent for me. My personality is a bit more direct, and I think that resonates more with my male colleagues,” says Lee. “That being said, the people I’m closest to and develop the closest relationships with are female. The higher you go, there’s fewer women but we really support each other.”

Naturally assertive herself, Lee will often encourage or even nudge her female reports to speak up. “In the reviews I give them, I tell them ‘I know you share good emails and insights with me, but I think everyone would benefit from you sharing those ideas.’”

In the virtual meeting room, she will take the initiative to volunteer other women to speak, mentioning that she knows her female coworker (by name) has ideas to share on this topic. She also IMs with managers and peers when topics come up, either to bounce off possible points or let a colleague know her input would be valued on this topic.

Being Willing to Challenge and Be Challenged

Lee emphasizes the value of being willing to challenge, as well as being willing to be challenged as a leader. “I have strong opinions, but I am the very first person—if you tell me why I’m wrong and give me data points— to say, ‘I’m wrong. Let’s shift.’”

Equally, she is unafraid to challenge her current boss, when she has a different perspective on how to approach an issue. “He’s a very logical man and he doesn’t want ‘yes people, because they add less value than people who will think strategically and then push back. I appreciate this about him and have tried to emulate this in my own management style.”

Lee thinks one of the best and important decisions she’s made is choosing a husband who is also an advisor and coach to her. She also appreciates that he always challenges her, and keeps it real and her grounded. She enjoys spending quality time with him, her six and nine year old sons and also watching Korean dramas.

By Aimee Hansen

/by

Nhaman Pelphrey: Director, Abbot Downing

,

Nhaman Pelphrey“If you’re asked to the table, or opportunities present themselves to you, don’t second guess it,” says Nhaman Pelphrey, a director in the Los Angeles (LA) office. “There’s a reason people are asking for your participation—you have inherent value to add.”

Pelphrey speaks about moving from private law practice to wealth management at Abbot Downing, and the valuable insights in personal development she’s gathered.

Be Open to Unexpected Opportunity

“Although it may appear from my bio that my career path was by design,” says Pelphrey, “looking back, each opportunity that was presented at the time felt like a departure from what I was thinking I would do.”

After graduating from The Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law in 2004, Pelphrey had her eyes set on becoming a real estate lawyer in the booming southern California commercial market. “I wanted to represent developers and be at the forefront of the action.” Minutes into an interview, she realized she had neither the experience nor the know-how.

Though she was quickly told that they needed someone with requisite training to hit the ground running, she remained curious about the firm and built a strong rapport with the managing partners. Although the firm did not have capacity to train a junior attorney in real estate, they took a chance on her and offered her a position in their trusts and estates practice. It was not what she had set out to do, but she gave it a try.

Eleven years later, she had already disrupted her career, two years into it, for the unexpected step of a master of laws degree in taxation from Northwestern University School of Law, and was now sitting in a premier boutique planning firm in Century City, with a client profile of ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

Feeling successful, having served on the executive committees of the Beverly Hills Bar Association and the LA County Bar Association, having cultivated many strong network relationships with the ability to elevate one another, she felt at the peak of her law career—so she ignored the recruiter calls.

Until a colleague and friend, who had herself left private practice for Wells Fargo, urged her to consider going for an informational meeting—emphasizing opportunities at Abbot Downing do not often come around.

“I was accomplishing all the things that defined success to me,” recalls Pelphrey, “so leaving private practice was not a decision I took lightly.”

Six years later, Pelphrey calls the move to Abbot Downing the best career decision she’s made so far, rising from a senior wealth strategist to a director and multi-generational relationship manager for ultra-high-net-worth families.

“When opportunities present themselves, even if unforeseen or not necessarily what you were looking for,” says Pelphrey, “be open to them for they can lead you down paths that you didn’t even know were right for you.”

Rewarding Client and Team Relationships

Pelphrey enjoys the depth of value that she can add through nurturing long-term relationships with her family clients, and feels she works with “the brightest and most personable team.”

Back in the billable hours of her private practice legal days, her journey with clients would often end after counsel and creation of the plan. Now she partners with clients from the inception of formulating the plan to the most important and crucial aspect—implementation.

“We really get to know these individuals and their families very well,” says Pelphrey. “We become a trusted advisor and that’s a very gratifying position to be in.”

One thing she appreciates at Abbot Downing is the collaborative nature of her dynamic team. “We raise each other up and put our client’s best interest at the core of what we do.”

Mentors Who Raise You Up, Higher

One of Pelphrey’s first mentors, a big-time tax attorney, taught her a valuable lesson through a bit of playful testing.

As a young associate, she was asked to research and draft a memo on how to structure a corporate reorganization. In the tax partner’s explanation of the assignment he referenced multiple Internal Revenue Code sections that she had never heard of before. When she got back to her desk, she immediately googled the sections. After combing through multiple legal research databases to educate herself on the code sections, it was clear that the code sections were not applicable or even worse, she might have jotted them down incorrectly. She mustered up the nerve to knock on his door and let him know that the sections he quoted cannot be used as part of a structural reorganization.

He congratulated her with a big smile for saving herself several agonizing hours of spinning her wheels, only to fit a square peg in a round whole.

“From that moment on, I realized its okay to ask clarifying questions,” says Pelphrey. “He taught me that asking questions is the best way to ensure that you understand what you’re being asked and what the other person really needs.”

Later in her career, she had another mentor who was highly skilled and well-respective modeled the ability to express complex, technical strategies in a simple and easy to understand manner with clients, treating them like partners.

But what most impressed upon Pelphrey as a lesson was his approach to mentorship in supporting her to learn, hands-on.

“He said to me, ‘I know that you’re capable and my goal is to help you become a highly technical attorney and to be better than I am,’” she remembers. “I heard the selflessness. He wanted to help me be even better than him, not just good as a reflection of him—and his actions were aligned with that.”

At Abbot Downing, Pelphrey eventually assumed the position of her retiring mentor, who groomed her to take over much of his client book. The mentorship first arose because they appreciated each other’s wit and banter, and could together devise creative client solutions.

Not only did he encourage her to expand roles using more of her talents, but he also taught her that being a generous, genuine resource for others will come back to you ten-fold in opportunities.

Embody Your Place at the Table

Throughout her career, Pelphrey has often been the most junior person at the table.

“One of the lessons I’ve learned is if people are asking you to participate, they see that you have an inherent value,” says Pelphrey. “More so as women, we’re invited to be part of something and it’s often easy to second guess ourselves – ‘Am I too young? What is my role?’”

Cultivating personal confidence has become key to her success.

“If I’m at the table with successful and savvy clients, it’s because they know I have value to add,” she says. “We come in as a team and we’re confident as to what and how we can provide for our clients.”

Supporting Each Other and Being a Mom

Pelphrey enjoys gatherings that merge the wisdom and experience of her colleagues and her clients.

She participates in annual events designed to connect with, inform and inspire the younger generations among her client families—as well as women focused activities – where colleagues and clients support each other.

Having a competitive personality, Pelphrey calls herself the tennis and basketball “Kris Jenner equivalent” of a sports mom to her two sons, six and eight years old.

She enjoys supporting their participation and the valuable life lessons that is organically gained through sports.

Pelphrey feels the same when her sons get the opportunity to witness their normally organized parents navigate unknown territory and unexpected turns during international travels.

“I love the kids to see that we don’t always have it all together,” she laughs. “But we end up on a great adventure even if it wasn’t the plan.”

By Aimee Hansen

Abbot Downing, a Wells Fargo business, provides products and services through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and its various affiliates and subsidiaries. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is a bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

/by