Dear AAPAAN<\/p>\n
Why can’t and why shouldn’t new employees get to present to Senior Management?<\/p>\n
Signed Anonymous<\/p>\n
Dear Anonymous,<\/p>\n
I am a big advocate of getting oneself in front of Senior Management so one can shine. You need to get noticed in order to move upward. However, exposure to Sr. Management is a two edge sword. Yes the upside is to show the Boss you are a star, but the downside is he might think you are an idiot. There\u2019s a lot of pressure in such a presentation and a lot can go wrong. I don\u2019t advocate exposing a new employee. It\u2019s especially risky for a minority (Asian American) employee.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s backtrack a bit. If you are a new employee but you are highly experienced, then such a presentation is probably beneficial. But if you are an inexperienced recent hire, then you are not ready.<\/p>\n
First, I applaud you for having the confidence that you think you can handle such a meeting. I am sure you are smart and think you have lots of \u201cout of box\u201d ideas which the Boss wants to hear. No matter how smart you are, there is much you don\u2019t know, and you don\u2019t know that you don\u2019t know. A meeting with a Sr. Manager requires a lot of breadth and depth. His\/her purview is a much larger enterprise than you are seeing and he\/she likely will have concerns you have no idea even existed. In a free form discussion, you might come across simply as na\u00efve and arrogant. <\/p>\n
Another issue is corporate culture. In a prior blog, I wrote that working well within a corporate culture is a key to success. You have to understand \u201chow things work and how things are done here.\u201d Without this knowledge, some ideas may be doomed at the outset. But you thought they want \u201cout of the box\u201d thinking. They might say they do but quite often they don\u2019t. Plus if you want to lead a revolution you\u2019ll need a lot of depth and experience to have the gravitas to argue your case. <\/p>\n
Why do I say it is more risky for an Asian American to make such presentations? Besides making a business case you\u2019ll also have to overcome group stereotype. In general, Asian Americans are viewed as nerdy techies with weak social skills. Asian Americans are regarded as \u201ckeep your head down types\u201d rather than leaders. Your presentation and follow-up discussion will either dispel or re-enforce the stereotype. That\u2019s a lot of pressure on not only you but, like it or not, you are representing other Asian American employees. <\/p>\n
I had been a Sr. Manager for many years and had been the recipient of many \u201cemployee exposure\u201d type presentations. Those that left me a favorable impression, I kept on my list of people to consider for future moves. Those that left me cold are dismissed. A negative impression is extremely difficult to overcome in your career! When you get to present to Sr. Management, do your homework and make the most of it. There are so few chances.<\/p>\n
I recall my first chance, as a mid-level manager, to present to the Chairman of the Board. It was a unique opportunity to talk about a controversial topic and therefore quite risky. In the days leading up to the meeting, my people prep me and gave me a cigar for the event. I don\u2019t smoke. In my company at the time, every member of the Executive Committee smoked cigars. It\u2019s one of those Corporate Culture things. I was to have the cigar in my pocket for luck and I could be one of \u201cthe Boys.\u201d When I retired, I was cleaning out my desk drawer and I found that cigar. It must have worked.<\/p>\n
Wee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear AAPAAN Why can’t and why shouldn’t new employees get to present to Senior Management? Signed Anonymous Dear Anonymous, I am a big advocate of getting oneself in front of Senior Management so one can shine. You need to get noticed in order to move upward. However, exposure to Sr. Management is a two edge sword. Yes the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n