a quick hello
Hello, friends! There’s not a week that goes by when I don’t think about SOAR and Part 2 of this post I owe you. At first, the delay was because I arrogantly thought that writing it would be easy (and I tend to procrastinate on easy things). By the time I started getting into it, I was stumped by how I’d find a way to have everything I want to share make sense and worth reading. So here comes the good news / bad news:
Good news: I’m now organized enough and can’t wait for this bottleneck of a post to be done with, so know that it’s on the way.
Bad news: It’s going to take a little longer before it reaches your inboxes, and for that, I’m sorry; I really didn’t mean to leave y’all hanging like I have.
Why the delay?
Honestly, fun times with so many of you! May was particularly insane because it was AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander) month and celebrating it this year felt differently than in years past for reasons more personal than professional. But on the professional front, I was starkly reminded that there are people I’m close with who don’t feel like they can show up to work as themselves. Whenever I hear this, I can’t help but ask what’s driving it - the organization, person, or both? Some thoughts:
As an organization, I’ve heard people say that employees should feel free to show up as their full selves to work; I agree with the intention and disagree with the word-choice and potential interpretation. I hope that employees always feel comfortable showing up authentically to foster trust and productivity, but there are many ways someone can authentically do the opposite, so as much as I welcome a range of personal expression in the workplace, I don’t think it should get in the way of professionalism. (If you ultimately find that how professionalism is defined in your workplace doesn’t suit you, then the choice is yours to create distance. This is something that really varies by team, company, industry, and region, so it’s on you to do the work!)
As an individual, I tend to believe that I often have the power to set the tone (and am much more intentional about how I do so now). Whether a tone is embraced or rejected is beyond my control, but I find that there are instances when we assume an expectation and act accordingly without realizing that there’s appetite beyond it. If this is the case, then the only thing holding you back from showing up more authentically is yourself, and that’s a choice/boundary that you get to make/create; all I ask is that you don’t misattribute your behaviors to an organization when it’s really you(!).
Some AANHPI-month-stuff
The Asian ERG at the NBA asked if I’d participate in an employee spotlight; you can find the post here. I honestly wasn’t going to share this on SOAR, but a few things have led me to think that it might be helpful to…
Someone has since asked me if I feel like a pawn and ‘used’ for being Asian; I think you can guess that if I had, there would be nothing to post. I actually agreed to this request with more ease than had it been solely about my work because as much as I find meaning and pride in the work I do, I value leadership and the humanity in how we do it even more. Other reasons why I said yes:
I could lean into the prompt in ways that I decide, which is why you’ll see my responses getting longer as the questions get more personal.
I knew that my responses would be posted in my own voice and not heavily edited. (They made the smallest punctuation edit that I find a little silly, but all the words are exactly as I wrote them.)
People tell me that I have a way with words, and the interesting thing about some of the Asian communities I’m in is a tension I feel in whether and how we use them. That culturally, we speak about belonging, but then don’t always show up and/or don’t know how to do so in the most constructive ways (though we’re improving!). Personally, I get it…what you read today is a voice that I’ve found only by having floundered it, but knowing that my words might resonate with someone by articulating my Asian-American experience was something easy to say yes to.
The only thing about agreeing to write this was then actually doing it. In case you’re interested in some insight into how I thought about each response, see below.
Describe your role. I wrote the shortest answer I could to make space for the rest of the prompt.
What does being an AAPI employee mean to you? As important as I feel it is for sport to have Asian representation (which was 12.4% in the NBA league office last year), it’s not the primary identity characteristic that impacts my day-to-day. Being what the NBA would call a ‘casual’ fan is. I still have a lot to learn about and around the game, so everything I wrote reflects this perspective as well.
In what ways has your AAPI background influenced your approach and demeanor in the workplace? It may be hard to believe that this answer took me over an hour to write, but here’s why: First and foremost, I’m pretty critical of just talking to ourselves in these forums, especially when we’re seeking belonging and inclusion. As a result, I wanted to choose something that was relatable to people outside of the Asian community while also giving context to those who might be new to cultural mannerisms. The thing about context, though, is that there’s a fine line between explaining and mansplaining. Also, context alone isn’t going to close the gap, which is why I reference actions.
What is your fondest AAPI memory? The words came with ease, along with some tears.
Until next time!
I intended for this post to be a quick hello, but it’s turned into something completely different; I suppose that’s the beauty of writing. Instead of figuring out what to call it and changing the subject line, I’m just going to send this now before I change my mind. I leave you with this cheesy photo from my last day in May and hope you’re all doing alright - reach out if there’s something I might be able to help with.
