Career Talks for Cross-Cultural Professionals

Joseph Luk is a team lead at Bell Canada managing complex corporate deals. He has extensive experience in the telecommunications industry.   Outside his corporate role, he also teaches at local colleges and has spent years offer coaching services, with a focus on career transition to help students and professionals to achieve their career goals.  Joseph has successfully mentored individuals in the past 10 years by listening, providing support and offering timely feedback to help guide their careers.  You can find out more information about Joseph's coaching practice at: http://www.coachjosephluk.com  Joseph and I had a lively discussion in this podcast. Here are few key points: Take action in advancing your career - career development is a path with many baby steps.  The most important thing is not to stop. Collaborate with others to learn from others - it’s important to work with and learn from other subject matter experts Embrace the North American culture - the quicker that you can integrate yourself in the North American working culture the faster your career can grow Reach out to different cultural groups to stretch your social network and to gain a better understanding of different cultures For cross-cultural professionals, Take advantage of your cross-cultural heritage and offer different perspectives to your team.   Enjoy!

Hao Huang is the Director of Brand & Digital Strategy at Glentel Wireless.  Glentel is one of the largest mobile phone retailers in Canada. Prior to Glentel, Hao was the Head of Creative at Sony North America.  Growing up in Toronto, Hao started his career in copy-writing at an advertising agency. In this podcast, Hao shares career advice for cross-cultural professionals.  Here are some highlights: Deliver excellent quality of work is a baseline. Your career is not a straight line. Having had failures in the early stage of career can be valuable - it’s not just ok to fail, sometimes it’s good to fail so you can learn. Communication skill is the ability to tell your story and the ability to bond with your team.  To excel at work place, you will need sell your ideas like Hao did when he was at the advertising agency.  Come off as “likeable” can make your job much easier. Understand your audiences and adjust your communication style accordingly. Be open minded and be observant - as a cross-cultural professional, you probably were not raised as your North American peers who learned the subtlety of communications when they were young.  It’s important to be observant of your North American peers’ communication style and to keep an open-mind so you can adjust yours.

Sridhar Ramchanran is the Senior Manager of BMO Wealth Management in the US.  Sridhar has extensive experience across multiple industries from Consumer Products to Consumer Electronics / Technology to Financial Services.  He has worked in South East Asia, Middle East, Africa and North America.   Sridhar and I have known each other for over 10 years.  His positive attitude, empathy towards others and his authenticity help propel his professional life.  In this podcast, Sridhar shares practical career advice to cross-cultural professionals.   Here are some of Sridhar’s suggestions to cross-cultural professionals: Be determined - you have to back yourself up with confidence.  You overcame many obstacles to move to a new country so don’t let anything to stop you in developing your career in North America. Be solution driven - customize your unique experience with the problems of your new employers.  Be a champion of problem solving. Be open-minded with a positive attitude - there could be a tendency for immigrants to hold on to our past success at the home countries.  Be open to try new things.  Should things not come to your preferred way, you need to be open for new opportunities. Be authentic and be true to yourself and others - embrace changes and help others along the way. Learn how to effectively communicate to your North American peers.  There could be a tendency for cross-cultural professionals to mingle with colleagues from the same ethnicity.  Set up objectives to widen your social and professional network. Hope you’ll enjoy this episode.

Eric Xiao is a partner with Ernst & Young's Transaction Tax practice.  Eric has extensive experience in providing income tax advice to Canadian and multinational organizations.  He is also the president of CPAC, a non-profit organization that focuses on assisting internationally trained Canadian professionals. In this interview, Eric shares his unique career path as the first immigrant from China to become a partner with E&Y Canada.  Eric came to Canada about 30 years ago and has progressed his career from a controller at a small Toronto-based company to an auditor at Ernst & Young to now a partner of the E&Y’s Transaction Tax practice. During this podcast, Eric provides candid career advice to cross-cultural professionals.  Here are some highlights: Look for longer-term career growth opportunities vs. short-term financial goal. Strong technical background is just a starting point - always work at the highest level of integrity and always do the right things for your organization and your clients. Getting out of your comfort zone - shift in & out from your comfort zone to learn new skills. Give back to the community.

Joe Chan is the Director - Property and Casualty Insurance Group at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada.  Joe and I have known each other for over 20 years.  Joe has an interesting and diverse career path.  He worked in banks, insurance companies, capital market and now at a government agency.  While many people get hung up on titles, Joe focuses on what’s really important which is expanding his knowledge and building a well-rounded profile to offer values to his team. In this podcast, Joe and I talk about how horizontal career growth can be beneficial for cross-cultural professionals.  It is a way to create value for the organization and to the individual.   We also talk about the importance of challenging yourself to step outside your comfort zone.  Taking on projects outside your day-to-day works is not only a way to gain valuable knowledge, it is also a very good opportunity for you to gain visibility within your organization. Joe also shares few other additional pieces of career advice for cross-cultural professionals: e.g. in North American corporations, you need to be vocal about what you’re looking for in your own career.  The Asian cultural values of being humble and being respectful sometimes can be seen as weak in North American corporations.  I had a great time chatting with my old friend, Joe Chan.   I hope you’ll enjoy this podcast!

In this episode, I will discuss the story behind this podcast project. Let me first start with a brief self-introduction.  My name is Samuel Yip and I am the host of this show. Currently I am the Head of Marketing at eBay Canada.   Prior to joining eBay, I was the Director of Digital Marketing at Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson and Johnson.  At Janssen, I was the leader of the Employee Resource Group, ASIA (Asian Society for Innovation and Achievement), which has the mandate to provide leadership development opportunities to employees. I also spent over 10 years with Sony.  During my time with Sony, I lived in Tokyo for a year and led TV marketing for the Middle East region.   Outside of my work, I am a regular guest lecturer in marketing at University of Toronto and Sheridan College in Toronto. Throughout my career, I have worked with people from all around the world in different continents, and have developed a great appreciation of how people from different cultural background work together. Since many years ago, I have started my journey of looking into career development for cross-cultural professionals. I have done lots of research, from reading books to studying academic papers.  When I was at J&J I had the opportunity to interview many cross-cultural staff members to understand their stories.  Through my personal professional experience and interviews with successful professionals in North American corporations, I recognize that there are often the misunderstanding of the cultural values between cross-cultural professionals and their North American colleagues and managers in the workplace. As a first-generation immigrant to Canada, I have first-hand experience of how my Asian cultural values have influenced my way of thinking, my professional behaviors, career advancement and management style.  If I knew what I know now 15 years ago, I probably will do things differently in my career development.  I am hoping this podcast can provide insights and tips to cross-cultural professionals so they can achieve their goals with confidence. So why podcast?  I have been a mentor in many 1:1 mentorship, and I have been a speaker in different career development workshops. Although the experience is very rewarding, I feel the impact is limited as I can only interact with a small number of audiences.  When I discuss this challenge with friends in the industry, it came to me that it would be great if I can capture and broadcast the conversations and discussions with the business leaders that I know. Combining my personal experience and interviews with leaders in North American corporations, I hope this podcast series can offer our listeners valuable insights, practical solutions, and tools to help overcome the career challenges that they face in seeking career advancement.

Andi Shi is the executive director of CPAC.  CPAC was first founded in 1992 as a registered not-for-profit organization.  Currently, CPAC has over 30,000 members and has the mandate to assist internationally trained professionals.  Andi is well connected and has a stellar reputation in the community. He has held several senior positions in both the public and private sectors. In this interview, Andi shares the challenges that he has observed from cross-cultural professionals and the common traits of successful business leaders with an immigrant background.  These successful leaders all have strong work ethic and the willingness to give to their teams, their companies, their community and the society.  And they have spent the time and effort to build a strong professional network.  Andi also shares the importance to constantly improve yourself through learning and giving.

Allen Chiu, Senior Project Manager of Apple, shares his career stories in this episode.  I have known Allen since our school years in Hong Kong.  While I immigrated to Canada, Allen and his family moved to the United States.  In this interview, we have an open dialogue about the lessons that Allen learned throughout his career.  From speaking up, to taking recognition, to socializing, Allen provides useful tips to Cross-Cultural professionals who are looking for career development.   

In this episode, I interview Rebecca Yu, Head of JLABS Canada.  She was instrumental in setting up Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s first JLABS incubator outside the United States.  JLABS@ Toronto is a partnership with Johnson & Johnson Innovation, The University of Toronto, MaRS Discovery District, MaRS Innovation and the Government of Ontario in Canada.  In this interview, Rebecca talks about how she has overcome roadblocks throughout her career.  From a little girl who came to Canada without speaking a word of English, to become a clinical pharmacist, to be in the field of Government Affairs and to lead JLABS Canada.  It’s truly an honor to have Rebecca on the show.

YJ Oh, Managing Director of Edwards Lifesciences, joins Samuel Yip to discuss cross-cultural leadership.  YJ shares her personal stories of how her cultural background has helped her become more resilient in her career.  YJ also provides candid feedback and tactical advice on how to be an effective leader in a diverse workplace.  Her perspectives in career development, work-life balance and people management are truly inspiring.