A senior Asian executive is promoted and acknowledged by the broader community
Understanding Cultural Differences Leads to Promotion
Situation:
Employee was a naturalized citizen born and raised in Asia. While competent, the employee did not read situations correctly and had an expectation that their supervisor would proactively acknowledge and reward their contributions. Culturally, calling attention to oneself and one’s efforts was frowned upon. The company the employee worked within was run by people with a sales background and self-promotion was rewarded.
The company engaged us because they were struggling with what to do with this employee—was it possible that this person could move up the ladder or were their options limited because of their culture of origin?
Solution:
There were two areas we focused upon—reading situations and understanding how to appropriately call attention to your contributions especially since this employee was a super achiever who was giving credit away. Given that the employee had strong analytical skills, we leveraged those by having the employee assess the behaviors of others in meetings and in daily interactions. We listened to the debrief and helped the employee imagine different interpretations for the events. Over time, the employee got better at understanding the dynamics because they were able to view it from a more objective lens—as opposed to within their cultural interpretation of behavior.
In order to help the company understand the value of the employee we brainstormed ways that the employee could add value while still remaining comfortable with the attention achieving impressive results would bring. The employee decided to leverage their heritage to open up a new sales territory among the Asian population. The employee conceived of the idea, operationalized it and was able to identify the talent to create seminars and sales opportunities where the company’s products could be presented in the best light among those in the employee’s community. The approach was counter to the way the company marketed to other demographic groups but the rationale was so strong they were willing to pilot the idea. It was an immediate success and provided a platform for the entirety of the employees’ contributions to be appreciated.
Result:
The employee was promoted and was acknowledged within their cultural community as one of 50 Outstanding Asian American Business Leaders.
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