Maya Hu-Chan's Blog, page 11
August 11, 2020
Maya Hu-Chan Speaks with Sylvia Becker-Hill at the Juicy Life Leader Conference
Through this replay from the online conference, you will discover from me and other handpicked experts how you can be the leader the world needs right now without sacrifice or compromise.
Learn how to get top results, big impact, and the joy of being just you!
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August 6, 2020
Challenges of the C-Suite with Maya Hu-Chan
CB Bowman interviews Maya Hu-Chan about the challenges executives face in leading an organization.
About Maya:
Her book “Global Leadership: The Next Generation” was a Harvard Business School Working Knowledge book. Her new book “Saving Face: How to Preserve Dignity and Build Trust” was published in 2020 (Berrett-Koehler). She is a contributing author of 10 business books and a columnist for INC.com.
Born and raised in Taiwan and living in San Diego, California, Maya is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English. She earned her Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and B.A. from National Chengchi University in Taiwan.
Maya has lectured at the Brookings Institution, University of California, San Diego, University of Chicago, University of Southern California, and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
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August 4, 2020
4 Tips to Avoid a Communication Breakdown When Working Remotely
As your employees become remote workers, communicating with awareness is crucial for success.
If your small business is transitioning to work remotely, the way you communicate will have to evolve. Our reliance on tech-driven communication, whether its email, videoconferencing, or platforms like Slack, is already becoming the norm.
It’s more important than ever to pay close attention to how you communicate. The nuances of your choices can have a big impact. Whether you intend to or not, you can much more easily cause others to lose face.
Here are four tips to help avoid any miscommunication.
1. Raise your human antenna.
Whether you’re leading a virtual meeting or facilitating a team brainstorm on a Slack channel, take a step back and become more aware of the signals your team is sending. What’s behind a pause in typing, a brief silence on a conference call, or someone’s shifting body language on a videoconference? Nonverbal cues can give you the information you need to best lead a remote team. Do people feel safe? Are they fully contributing? Are they engaged?
2. Know your audience.
When using technology to communicate, think about whom you are speaking to and whether you need to provide more context to your message.
When working with new team members, be aware that some of the common ways we bond with others–like inside jokes or references–can reinforce an insider-outsider dynamic that might cause people to feel excluded.
Are they native English speakers? If not, avoid language that can confuse or alienate, which can include sarcasm, culture-specific humor, or figurative language tied to exclusively Western concepts (baseball metaphors like “hit a home run,” for example).
3. Assume the best intentions.
Subtext and nuance are often lost in written communication because helpful cues like body language and tone of voice are missing from a person’s message. Although it’s easy to jump to conclusions, don’t assume the worst. Ask questions, and, if possible, hop on the phone with someone before firing off an angry retort.
One of my clients recently emailed a remote worker to ask him to complete a project by a certain day. The worker immediately replied with just this: “No way.” My client was taken aback. How could he be so dismissive and disrespectful? He started writing an angry response, but then stopped and took a moment to think. This employee had been on the team for a year, and had always been hard-working and polite, he thought. There must be something else behind those words. A quick phone call cleared it all up: The worker was facing two other deadlines that same week, and wouldn’t be able to juggle all three. Why the curt reply? “I didn’t know it was rude. I see Americans doing that on TV shows and movies, and I wanted to be direct–like Americans!”
For my client, knowing his audience would have been the first step. But he took the next step and gave someone the benefit of the doubt–asking questions before reacting with anger.
4. Beware of public criticism–or praise.
Remote teams will often use platforms such as Slack to communicate, with messages often in view of everyone on the team. How we communicate on these platforms can lead to others losing face if we’re not careful.
One of my clients recently received some critical feedback. Slack is her main method of communicating, and she’d often use the platform to give direct feedback to specific team members–in full view of everyone else. Mistakes were pointed out, and her language was “brutally honest,” causing the people whose errors were broadcast to feel embarrassed and humiliated. She had started to create a fear-based culture, with the members of her team scared of making mistakes and losing face and credibility.
My client’s intentions were noble–she was just acting out of efficiency. But the effect was harmful. After receiving this feedback, she started taking all direct-feedback conversations offline.
If critical feedback in full digital view of others can cause someone to lose face, can praising someone do the opposite? Again, know your audience. Don’t assume everyone is comfortable with public recognition just because you might be. Always treat everyone as unique individuals, not with a one-size-fits-all leadership approach.
In this current world and the one that awaits us, we must remember that thoughtful communication is key, no matter the medium.
This article was originally posted on Inc.com
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July 27, 2020
Lessons in Resilience From Health Care Leaders During the Pandemic
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, leaders have had to rely on one essential trait to weather the storm: resilience. In no other industry has this skill been more crucial than in health care, and these leaders have a lot to teach the rest of us about remaining strong in the face of hardship.
Since the start of the crisis, I have joined many of my colleagues in providing leadership coaching services pro bono to health care leaders around the country. One of the leaders I have been working with is the head of a hospital nursing unit. The health care workers in her hospital form a very close-knit team. They care for one another, check in on each other frequently, and feel like family.
The team shares their unique burdens with one another so that they can draw on each other for strength. The nursing unit’s leader, in turn, feels that she must remain strong for her team. She carries the same stress, sadness, guilt, and fear as her colleagues, but has no one to do for her what she does for her team.
During one of our first sessions together, I asked her, “How can I help?”
“I just want to know what more I can do, to support others,” she replied.
I asked her what she does to take care of herself. She couldn’t answer the question.
As leaders move through a crisis, it is as if they are climbing a hill while carrying a backpack. As they climb, they fill their backpack with the emotions of the people they lead. These emotions, heavy, like rocks, ease the burden for those who unload them, but make the backpack heavier and heavier, eventually breaking the back of the person who wears it.
I have been collaborating with health care leaders to identify strategies they can use to increase their personal resilience. In the midst of crisis, these leaders may not be able to take off the backpack, but they can learn how to lessen its weight–and fortify their backs.
These strategies, while distilled from my work with health care leaders, apply to anyone who would like to build their personal resilience so they can be a positive force for their companies.
Give yourself permission to let go.
As leaders, we must accept there are things we cannot control and problems we cannot solve. Be intentional and identify what you can let go of. Think to yourself, “I’m going to put this backpack down, unload some of these rocks, and let them go. I need to lighten my load so I can continue to climb this hill.”
Lead with your head, heart, and gut.
When we lead with our head, we use logic and reasoning: What can I do more of? How can I fix these problems? When we use our hearts, we lead with emotion. We empathize with others’ pain, and leverage our emotional connection to what we do and the people we lead.
Most leaders operate from the head and heart but ignore the gut. I have asked many of these exhausted, overwhelmed health care leaders, “What does your gut tell you to do? If you were your own adviser, what would you say?” Many have sighed deeply and said, “My gut tells me I need to treat myself with kindness. I need to care for myself so I that can care for others.”
Lead with your whole being–head, heart, and gut–and you’ll find more balance in your decisions–and have less chance of neglecting yourself along the way.
Rethink “strength.”
The nursing team mentioned earlier finds the strength to care for their patients by relying on one another for emotional support. The leader, however, does not feel she is able to show that same kind of vulnerability. Many leaders, in fact, feel that showing any kind of emotion is not “strength.”
I encourage leaders like you to look at strength from another perspective. Strength also means authenticity. When you let your guard down, ask for help, and show vulnerability, you give others permission to do the same. You help create an environment of psychological safety, one that says, “We’re all in this together, and we will support one another through it.” What’s more, your team wants you to be able to lead–and they know you can’t do that if you don’t take care of your own emotional health.
Whether we want to be a positive force for our clients, our teams, our families, or our communities, leadership during crisis requires great personal resilience. Find it by letting go of what you cannot control, leading with your whole being, and showing strength through vulnerability.
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June 20, 2020
Why the Smallest Acts of Leadership Are the Most Important
When I was in first grade, my teacher made a decision that would affect the rest of my life.
In Taiwan, large classrooms aren’t unusual. In fact, my first-grade class had 72 students. Each school day was divided into six periods. At the start of each period, the teacher would sit in her seat while a student who had been assigned the role of class leader stood before the class.
The class leader would ask the students to stand up, loud enough to cut through the noise of 72 giggly first graders. He or she would lead the class in a bow and a greeting of “good morning, teacher” or “good afternoon, teacher.” Finally, the leader would ask the class to sit down.
I was very shy when I started the first grade. I hardly ever spoke a word. So you can imagine my surprise when my teacher, Mrs. Liu, appointed me class leader.
I still remember the first time I had to go through the sequence. I was terrified. I remember my voice, small, like a little mouse–barely loud enough to be heard by one student, let alone 72.
But Mrs. Liu didn’t scold me. “It’s OK,” she said to me privately, gently. “Speak a little louder. Try again.” Even when other kids laughed, she would encourage me to keep trying.
She would give feedback. “See those kids in that back corner,” she would say. “You need to make them hear you.”
She taught me how to recognize my own progress. If only half the room stood up, it meant only half the students heard me.
After about a week, I found my voice. I started to say the words–“stand up,” “good morning, teacher,” “sit down”–loud enough so everyone could hear, even in the noisy, post-recess chaos. After a while, it became so natural that I automatically said the words, day in and day out.
Mrs. Liu was always encouraging. She never criticized. And because of that, other students respected me. And my confidence grew–enough that, decades later, the same shy, quiet, terrified student who could barely speak in front of a class of 72 can now confidently address audiences of hundreds.
That one decision from Mrs. Liu had a profound influence on my life. It is an example of the butterfly effect–a small event that can create a much bigger impact. If you’re a leader, ask yourself: What are the effects of the actions I am taking with my team? What kind of impact will my choices have in five years? Ten years?
As you think about creating your own butterfly effect, consider these lessons, inspired by Mrs. Liu.
Use words and actions
Mrs. Liu didn’t say, “Believe in yourself! You have the ability to be confident deep down inside.” She made me experience the meaning of those words. By appointing me class leader, I was able to discover and develop my confidence on my own. That’s much more impactful than just hearing about my potential.
Think about what the members on your team need to experience to grow. Then, inspire them with words, but lead them with action.
Don’t let people plateau
After about a half semester as class leader, Mrs. Liu enrolled another student and I in a public speaking contest. This was a step up from my role as class leader–we had to prepare stories and tell them in front of a new audience.
Mrs. Liu could see that I had met the challenge of class leader, and that it was time for a new challenge. Look at your team. Are people coasting in their roles? Even high performers can get bored. New challenges keep people on their toes, invested in their jobs, and on a path to growth.
Rethink your go-to people
Mrs. Liu could have assigned class leader to the most outgoing student in class. Instead, she chose the most quiet. Why? The outgoing student would have easily excelled in the role, but I had the most to gain.
Leaders tend to give assignments and tasks to the people who are already good at those things. The most high-profile, challenging work goes to the most capable workers. But this means the rest of the team may never get the chance to break into that high-performing circle.
Don’t forget the coaching aspect of leadership. If someone is ready for that high-profile project, let them take it. If not, pair them up with someone who is. Set them up to collaborate with others who can help them build their skills–and their confidence.
This article was originally posted in Inc.com
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May 19, 2020
Honor in Asian Culture
Keynote for PF Chang’s Operators Conference in Nashville, TN (2019)
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May 12, 2020
Appreciate Diversity
What does it take to build a high performing team where people feel valued, respected and safe to be themselves?
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April 22, 2020
Saving Face: How to Preserve Dignity and Build Trust
Learn more about my new book, Saving Face: How to Preserve Dignity and Build Trust, releasing June 2020!
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April 10, 2020
4 Tips to Avoid a Communication Breakdown When Working Remotely
Today we sit down with Maya Hu-Chan to talk about how leaders can navigate communication in this new, virtual world in order to help employees to continue to feel engaged and motivated.
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January 17, 2020
Don’t Stay in Your Lane: The Secret to Developing Your Career
When it comes to developing our careers, we often focus on exterior sources to help us get ahead, depending on recognition from others to propel us forward. But we often overlook one of the most powerful tools: self-advocacy.
In the book Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level, author and executive coach Joel Garfinkle’s PVI model, which stands for perception, visibility, and influence, is a practical way to think about self-advocacy and break down the barriers. First, know your perception — how peers at all levels see you. Second, increase your visibility. This magnifies the third point, your influence.
But what does it look like on a day-to-day basis? Here are some examples of tactics for self-advocacy.
Own your voice. When I was in my early 30s, I once answered a call from a telemarketer who immediately asked to speak to my parents. I was surprised and annoyed. Why did he think I was a child?
A few weeks later, I happened to replay a voicemail I had recorded earlier. I was horrified. My voice was high-pitched, I talked much too fast, and I rambled when I should have been succinct. It was a wake-up call. From then on, I made the conscious effort to speak from the diaphragm, end my sentences on a lower inflection, and slow down. I made my voice catch up to my age, experience, and abilities.
Sometimes, owning your voice simply means sharing it more frequently and strategically. A recent client of mine, Brian, a talented middle manager for a global sports brand, gave the impression of being quiet and disengaged at work, despite being accomplished at his job. In meetings, he would only comment on technical details.
Together, we worked on the goal of making his voice heard. Brian did his homework, thoughtfully anticipating and preparing contributions he could make during meetings. He practiced linking his comments to someone else’s, which lets colleagues in on his thought process and builds bridges in conversation. As Brian practiced these skills, he became more comfortable jumping in and making his voice heard. By adding his perspective to the conversation, he added visibility, which changed others’ perception of him and increased his influence.
Raise your hand. As leaders, we must learn to raise our hands and make ourselves more visible. We must not wait for others to pick us, invite us, or give us permission to be involved. We must also become comfortable with telling people what we want.
One of my clients, Yvonne, a Chinese woman from Hong Kong, works for a global luxury brand in Japan. Her manager is an Italian man with a very dominant personality. He used to often interrupt her and cut her off in meetings. Over time, she became more and more quiet and very unhappy. She was passed over for promotional opportunities, and started to even feel invisible. When I coached her, she was in tears and on the verge of quitting.
I encouraged her to speak up and find her voice. We devised an action plan, which started with talking to her boss. We created and practiced a script: “I want to develop my leadership and I need your support. At meetings, please do not interrupt me or cut me off. I have a lot to offer. Can you support me on that?”
Her boss was impressed. He changed the way he behaved in meetings. She also raised her hand to present at a global meeting, representing the Japanese marketing team. It was a big success. She has found her voice and got her mojo back. By finding and using her voice, she enhanced her visibility, influence, and perception of her abilities.
Find a mentor or sponsor. A guide, in the form of a mentor or sponsor, is one of the most powerful tools for growing your career.
What is the difference between a mentor and a sponsor? A mentor offers professional advice to someone younger in their career who benefits from the guidance. It is often a one-way relationship.
A sponsorship goes deeper. It involves an established leader investing in someone younger who shows promise. The sponsor opens doors, offers coaching, and helps develop his or her career. In return, they learn something from the person they’re sponsoring — whether it’s generational perspective, a new technology skill, or a new way at looking at a particular business problem.
Both sponsorships and mentorships can be invaluable resources. But how does one go about finding a sponsor or a mentor? Start by looking for opportunities to be involved in, projects that allow you to make a contribution, do an outstanding job, and build relationships with senior leaders. Once someone sees your talents and appreciates what you have to offer, raise your hand and ask for that mentorship or sponsorship relationship.
Without that established relationship and evidence of your promise, finding a mentor or a sponsor can be an uphill climb. So don’t stay in your own lane. Find opportunities to speak up and add value.
By owning our voices, raising our hands and asking for what we need, and being proactive in finding mentors and sponsors, we can advocate for ourselves and take more control for our destinies.
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