I spent a couple days thinking about what I would say... how I would say it. There's the business environment thing to say. There's the ethical thing to say. There's the hot-take thing to say. And there's also the brutal, honest truth that's hard to say... but can't be left unsaid.
Some of the brutal soundbites
- 5000 years of civilization... there's a lot of pride... and a lot of fallouts and I quote, "as you can see with some of the geopolitical happenings"
- It's hindered me because I was raised to put my head down, work hard, and not rock the boat... that doesn't work in modern corporate America
- I brought attention to some of my personal heroes that's reshaped my upbringing... MLK, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson....
- I talked about the intersection / collision of upbringing and MTV/Nickelodeon culture
- I dropped "fearfully and wonderfully made..." to which I got a PM from an audience member - "appreciate you quoting Psalm 139:14"
- When asked, I admitted to shivering every time ppl mention Chinese spies... and I'm self-conscious enough to look around to see if anyone is staring at me
- I drew on the fact that our ELT and Csuite has evolved over the last 10 years... it will continue to evolve... and the call to action is... someone in the audience needs to be the first AAPI to sit in one of those spots
"Don't. Don't break it. The tensile strength of bamboo is greater than metal. Instead.. navigate through it. Remodel with it. Use it as a stepping stone (stick?) for your next endeavor. What I meant to say was...the ceiling is there for a purpose. It represents your past and who you are. Don't break or shatter it. Embrace it. Own it. And shape it where you want to go next."
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