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CAC organized its First Successful Seminar
Communicating with Conviction

By Rioma Kam

In a room filled to capacity, over 30 Asian American actuaries gathered to participate in a 3-hour seminar on effective communications and leadership specifically designed for Asians in the American workplace. On November 14, 2005, at 3:30pm on the first day at the 2005 SOA Annual Conference in New York City, the mood in the meeting room was decidedly full of excitement and anticipation. The attendees came expecting to gain better insight into the workplace and to hear career advice from Jane Hyun, executive coach, speaker, and diversity strategist to Fortune 500 companies, schools, and professional associations.

The seminar Communicating with Conviction addressed not only the standard career advice of networking and creating one’s personal brand, but also confronted the difficult question of why there are so few Asian American managers? Why companies such as those in Silicon Valley for example, with 30% Asian technology professionals, had only 12.5% of managerial positions held by Asians versus 80% by Caucasians?

Jane highlighted the misunderstandings and misperceptions stemming from cultural differences that could become barriers to career advancement. For example, not speaking up frequently may be interpreted by mainstream U.S. as being not interested or knowledgeable. Not being outwardly assertive may be interpreted as lacking leadership ability. Furthermore, quality that is traditionally valued in the East like being modest and humble could result in one’s effort not being recognized or, worse yet, being overlooked for a promotion.

Group exercises and role playing followed presentations on topics like Elements of Assertive Communications, Responding to Challenges during Meetings, and Developing and Using your Personal Marketing Pitch. Although the materials presented were practical and informative, the group activities generated a great deal of engaging exchanges and a few good laughs. A case study further reinforced the concepts introduced (See article written by Mark Yu for more details).

The seminar affirmed what some attendees had already come to realize over the years and also brought to others details that should be considered when evaluating one’s career development and making adjustments to one’s plan. It is important to raise and answer difficult questions for oneself:

• Do you come across as assertive and confident or unsure and tentative at the workplace?
• How effective are you at interfacing with internal/external clients and managing up, down, and across the corporate hierarchy?
• Are there cultural influences that impact the way you relate with your colleagues?

After the seminar, a book signing event was held on Jane’s new book, Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: CareerStrategies for Asians. Some attendees also decided to head for the banquet that followed the
book signing.

Our club had made a real connection with our member tonight. Our members enjoyed this hands-on seminar very much and have made requests for more future professional development opportunities.

Seminar on Effective Negotiation Skills

By Rioma Kam

On March 21, 2008, CAC members took advantage of a rare opportunity to hone their negotiation skills in an interactive seminar organized by CAC at the New York Life conference center in Manhattan. The professional development seminar was titled For All the Marbles: Effective Negotiation Skills, designed and led by Michael Braunstein^†.

The mock negotiation centered on a make-believe sales event where a marble seller, 2 buyers, and an observer were drawn together. The attendees had assigned roles and were motivated by predefined objectives. They knew only of their own objectives and particular situations but not much of others.

With their “personal profiles” in hand, the attendees headed into separate breakout rooms to start the negotiation game. Each team was given 30 minutes and must follow some basic rules. The presumption was that people valued their reputation and relationships in business negotiations. As such, the attendees were asked to abide by business ethics and steer clear of gross misrepresentation.

The role players brought different styles and strategies to their respective teams. For example, players in one group formed an alliance to strengthen their bargaining position. Yet some explored incentives and collected more information before making a move. Sellers from 2 teams even isolated the buyers to limit sharing of information and to prevent them from joining together or making side agreements.

As the clock was ticking down, the role players became more willing to make concessions. No talks broke down and they negotiated to the last minute. Although walking away was always an option, all groups reached an agreement at the end.

During debriefing, the speaker went over the results, trying to identify the reasons behind the difference in performance among the groups. The attendees visited concepts like anchoring, isolation, framing, and “BATNA” (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement). Learning these concepts seemed to come naturally then as everyone had already “lived” through them.

Attendees learned that being aware of the positions and open to the needs of others were essential. Successful negotiators were able to develop trust, discover what were important for others, and remain flexible in exploring tradeoffs between values and concessions in the process of negotiating. Negotiators must also be mindful of the flow of the negotiation since outcome was path dependent. The speaker also cautioned against losing discipline and objectivity in the “eleventh hour” when everyone was trying to close a deal. Costly mistakes tend to occur at this stage.

Negotiation is a discovery and communication process that requires much practice. Thanks to Michael, the attendees were off to a good start.

†Michael M. Braunstein, ASA and MAAA, is a committee member of the SOA Professional Development Committee and has been training others in his company and for the SOA for years. Michael is a seasoned and enthusiastic presenter who gave his time and energy to help bring this unique professional skill development opportunity to CAC members.

CAC would also like to thank Ms. Mei Dong and Mr. Jordan Ge, for their time, effort, and initiatives as CAC member volunteers.

Chinese New Year Celebration – Chicago

By Nian-Chih Yang

The CAC Chicago Chapter had the Chinese New Year Celebration Brunch on 2/17 at the Phoenix Restaurant in Chinatown.

Only 8 showed up. We reserved for two tables, but there were many last minute cancels. Since we have met each other before, there was no early silence. We quickly got into eating and talking.

Due to the abundance of snow this winter, many locals took to the nearby slopes. Unfortunately, one of us had a mishap. Lawrence talked about his awkward fall and the long rehab to come. We tried to tell him all the suffering is worthy of the thrills.

We also learned Jamie is going back to Taipei (ING- life) after two year sting on the P&C side here. We wished her luck and asked her to be our correspondent in Taiwan.

Some commented that we need more experienced actuaries to participate in our program to provide their wisdom.

Ed talked about his recent trip to Paris and the exorbitant prices for simple meals and other items.

A few members have changed employers and in some cases, have taken the positions left by other Chinese actuaries.

We got into the often-discussed topic of career prospects in the different specialties. The old actuaries' response was the in-thing today could very easily be the out-thing 3 or 5 years down the road. The only protection is keeping oneself valuable to the employer all the time.

Tong will start to plan our summer picnic. Tentative date was set at 6/28. We will play team Frisbee on the North Street beach. According to the rehab schedule, Lawrence can only be the referee.

We had a brief survey of our employers’ arrangements to help actuaries’ compliance with the new continue education requirement for US actuaries.

We ordered many dishes but had a difficult time to get the chicken feet. At very end with the restaurant manger’s persistent effort, we ended up with more than we asked for.