compassionate vietnamese american ceos

7/27/2019 Compassionate Vietnamese American CEOs

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20660 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 210

Cupertino, CA 95014

CompassionateVietnameseAmer ican CEOs Book Excerpt

How Six High-Tech Entrepreneurs

Achieve Bottom Line Success by

Leading with Their Hearts

By Lena Tran


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ii

BOOK EXCERPT Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter I: Why Care about Vietnamese Americans' LeadershipStyle?

Chapter III: Profiles and Dialogues

About the Author

Getting the book from Happy About


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C o n t e n t s

Compassionate Vietnamese American CEOs iii

NOTE: This is the Table of Contents (TOC) from the book foryour reference. The eBook TOC (below) differs in page

count from the tradebook TOC.

Introduction Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Chapter I Why Care about Vietnamese Americans'

Leadership Style? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Why It's Useful to Understand Diverse Leadership

Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Chapter II History and Breaking the Glass Ceiling . . . 13

The Fly in the Research Ointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Entrepreneurship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Background and History of VietnameseImmigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Chinese Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18French Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Communist Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19From Wikipedia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Vietnamese Resettlement in United States . . . . . . .20

Creation of the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs . . . . . . .22

Traits of an Entrepreneur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Entrepreneurship and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

In the Final Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Chapter III Profiles and Dialogues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Participant Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29The Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Chapter IV The Journey to Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

How Vietnamese Americans View Leadership. . . . .43Family Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Social Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Immigration and Life in the United States. . . . . . . . . 55


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iv Contents

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions and the

Vietnamese American Entrepreneurs . . . . . . . . . . . 66Power Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66Uncertainty Avoidance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Individualism-Collectivism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Masculinity-Femininity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Confucian Dynamism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Similarities and Differences in LeadershipPractices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77Other Shared Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Importance of Respect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Compassion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84The Law of Karma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Leadership Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86Sales and Marketing Know-How . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Chapter V Interview Conclusions, Implications, and

Recommendat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Recommendations for Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Recommendations for Educating Leaders. . . . . . . . 95Research Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Final Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter VI Qualities of Relevance: Compassion,

Respect, and Karma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Compassion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Steps to Compassionate Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . 102Respect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

How to Lose Respect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Karma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Incorporating Karma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Chapter VII Personal Thoughts on Compassion,

Karma, and Respect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Compassion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Respect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Karma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118


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Compassionate Vietnamese American CEOs v

Au thor About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Books Other THiNKahaBooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125


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vi Contents


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Compassionate Vietnamese American CEOs 1

I n t r o d u c t i o n

Introduction

A well-known Vietnamese proverb states: "Tienhoc le, hau hoc van." Before I reveal the Englishmeaning, let me share a story.

Le Nguyen received an abrupt summons to J ohnNewman's office. J ohn was senior vice presidentof Golden Technology. It was 11:30 a.m. on the

day before Le was due to leave on his annualvacation. Strolling across the company'shigh-tech campus, Le pondered, What does thatguy want now? Did Newman, a millionaire,Harvard MBA, and golf junkie, need to brag (yetagain) about his new Porsche and his $15.7million home in Los Altos Hills?

When Le entered the office, Newman invited himto sit down and immediately began to outline hisideas for a new project he was startinga"high-bandwidth over the Internet"communications technology that he expected

would bring the company $150 million in newrevenue. Newman invited Le to join the team witha promotion and a management title. Without amoment's hesitation, Le politely smiled anddeclined. Newman was dumbfounded. He simplycouldn't understand.

When Le returned to his workstation, hismanager approached and asked him to explainwhy he'd declined the amazing offer. Le said thathe chose to work for people whom he respected.If he worked for Bob J ohnson, he knew that hewould certainly not lose face with the otheremployees when he walked into the cafeteria.


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2 Introduction

Nor would he be laughed at behind his back

during company functions. Newman could givehim wealth and status, but Le knew that he wouldnever receive the same respect as he had whileworking for Mr. J ohnson. Le worked with anengineering team that was highly supportive ofits members. Whenever an engineer ran intodifficulty at a client site, another team memberwould be on the other end of the phone to walkhim through the situation and help resolve theproblem. Likewise, all the engineers werecommitted to help one another pass multipleindustry certifications. Bob J ohnson encouragedand applauded this culture.

Most of his engineers deeply respected J ohnsonand chose to work for him. They respected himfor his hard work and his belief in being a rolemodel. He would often visit the client's site, alongwith the engineer, to help finish up a project.

There were nights when he and the engineersstayed late and slept at the company officeswhile trying to solve an intricate problem. Theengineers never felt that they were treated assubordinates, even though they fully knew whowas in charge. And even though they were oftenpaid less than what they could make at other

companies, most of the engineers didn't jumpship when receiving frequent offers from otherfirms. They truly respected Bob and what herepresented as a leader. His engineering teamfelt that the company was a family, and it wasn'tright to abandon their family. Money wasimportant, but they'd rather have greatcoworkers and friends.

The translation of the Vietnamese proverb "Tienhoc le, hau hoc van" is "Proper manners inhuman relations before knowledge." Most

Vietnamese parents teach their children at a veryearly age that if they want to develop into


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respectable human beings, they must work hard

to preserve their dignity and be forever carefulnot to "lose face," which would affect not onlythemselves but their family. In Vietnameseculture, this keeping face is considered far moreimportant than obtaining high education, socialstatus, or wealth.

It isn't surprising then that Le, Vietnamese in hisheart, preferred to remain with Bob rather thango with Newman, a man whose values he didn'tshare. The question, of course, arises: if Lecontinues to work for American companies, willhis cultural background and values remain

unchanged and continue to guide his decisions?

In my quest to understand leadership over theyears, I noticed something extraordinary. I'veread most of the popular books on leadership,including the classics: The Seven Habits ofHighly Effective People (Covey, 1990), The OneMinute Manager (Blanchard & J ohnson, 1991),Emotional Intelligence (Coleman, 1995), etc.

These books gave me valuable insights into thefactors that create effective leaders.

For example, Covey's work considers spiritual

attainment a key part of becoming a leader, whileColeman makes a strong case for the role of"emotional intelligence" in determining howeffectively a leader can deal with others. Besidesreading books and research studies, I havetaken many classes and seminars in my effort tolearn what kind of leader I amam I visionary, acharismatic leader, or a servant leader?

For all my reading and studying, I've beendisenchanted with these seminars and trainings,since in the light of the usual Western

understanding of leadership, my own views onleadership would probably be considered weak.


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4 Introduction

That's because I continue to struggle with the

many contrasts between western andVietnamese values. For example, I can readilyagree with the notion of accepting authoritywithout ranking; everyone is equal (western). ButI'm also quite comfortable with the idea that one'sfate and destiny are predetermined (eastern).Whereas western theories of leadership tend toespouse individual success, standing up forone's own ideas and opinions, making thingshappen by initiating them oneself, and takingrisks to achieve success, my Vietnameseheritage often tells me quite the opposite.

While adopting western concepts of leadershipthat I believe will help me be a winning leader, Icontinue to struggle to find a synthesis betweenseemingly opposite cultural concepts andpracticesopposites, both with which I can bequite comfortable.

After long study of the academic research onhow culture affects leadership, and afterreflecting on my experiences with two verydifferent cultural notions of the qualities of a goodleader, I have come to believe that developingsuccessful leaders requires, at a bare minimum,

understanding the individual's ethnicity, history,and cultural background.

Over the decades, major studies have exploredhow cultural values influence the leadershippractices of Chinese, Singaporean, Korean, and

J apanese business leaders and employees,compared to leaders in western countries suchas the U.S., Chile, Austria, and Germany.However, hardly any studies have looked at hownational culture impacts Asian Americans, andparticularly how these individuals fare when they

are offered leadership positions in American


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organizations. Fewer studies have looked at how

Vietnamese American managers' culturalbackground influences their leadership styles.

My motivation for writing this book was stronglyinfluenced by a desire to help two very differentbusiness cultures understand each other. In thechapters to follow, I will first look at certainattitudes toward leadership that are deeplyrooted in Vietnamese history and culture. I willdescribe my conversations with six successfulVietnamese entrepreneurs who now live andwork in the U.S. and will isolate some keyelements of their leadership styles that

contributed to their success.

This book is based on the research for mydoctoral dissertation at University of SanFrancisco. I have translated the often turgidformalities of "academese" into what I hope is amore readable style. My goal is to nurtureunderstanding and tell a good story.

In my research, I interviewed VietnameseAmerican business leaders who told me abouttheir life histories, and the rewards and pains oftheir journey to become successful high-tech

entrepreneurs in twenty-first-century America.My subjects were first-generation VietnameseAmerican entrepreneurs who were born inVietnam, had immigrated to the U.S. after theVietnam War, and had worked for Americancompanies but then left to form their ownentrepreneurial companies.

Of my six subjects, four have achieved extremelyhigh successtwo are millionaires, one abillionaire. Without exception, they all believedthat their unique cultural heritage, including their

inherited traditions, values, family teachings,family history, and the concept of karma, had


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6 Introduction

given them a priceless compass for their

leadership practices. They all also felt that thesecultural factors had played an essential role intheir success.

These individuals had all sought to blend theircultural beliefs with western leadership theoriesand practices of business management. Theirstated goal was to harmonize the two beliefsystems with the prototype that ethnic peoplesuch as themselves have in mind when theydescribe "the ideal leader."

What can they teach usnot only about

themselves and their successes, but aboutworking effectively with successful Asianentrepreneurs and business managers whoshare their background and beliefs? And whatlessons can we draw from the manner in whichthey achieved outstanding success, based on aleadership style that incorporates culturallyseated values of kindness, compassion, honor,honesty, and karma?

One personal noteseveral people have askedabout the circumstances of when the proverb,Tien Hoc Le, Hau Hoc Van, first entered my life,

and in what context. To tell you the truth, I can'tremember. It's one of many teachings that myparents repeatedly used as lessons about life.Each time I'm faced with a dilemma or acrossroads situation, that phrase comes back. Ithas often helped guide my decisions andsubsequent actions.


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C h a p t e r

I Why Care abou tVietnameseAmericans' LeadershipStyle?

Arriving in America at age eight, I worked hard to

realize the American Dream. Growing up in NewJ ersey, I completed my education; playedsoftball, basketball, and track along with theother neighborhood kids; and joined studentgovernment, student leadership empowermentclubs, and gifted and talented programs, hopingto gain perspective on my options for a careerand personal advancement.

I devoured every resource that I felt would makeme a better person, student, friend, worker, anddaughter, including books, seminars,conferences, and special classes. Along the

way, I developed an enduring passion forunderstanding human development in general,and leadership in particular.

For an eighth grader, being accepted and wellliked by friends and peers was more importantthat anything else. I clearly remember themorning of October 2, 1987, when the principal'svoice sounded over the PA loudspeaker toannounce that Alfred MacKinnon Middle Schoolhad elected a new student council president.When Mr. Saks announced my name, I was


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8 Chap ter I: Why Care abou t Viet namese Am eri cans' Leadership St yle?

elated. I had finally been accepted by my peers and was officially

"popular" among my fellow students. I couldn't wait to share the newswith my family.

When I got home from school, I ran into the kitchen, yelling andscreaming to my mom and siblings, "I am the president of the wholeschool, and not just the eighth grade president!"

Instead of congratulating me, Mom reminded me that a lady should notyell or scream. She then asked me to help her prepare the Vietnamesesweet and sour soup she was making for dinner. Later, I remember herasking my eldest sister if being president would give me good gradesin school. At that moment, I realized that I faced a challenge ofadapting to two very different cultures, each with its own unique

expectations. At school, I was a person who was active in sports, clubs,and volunteering. Away from home, I seized every opportunity toimprove my leadership skills. At home, I was the Vietnamese girl whowas respectful of my widowed mom's wishes.

Mom encouraged me to become a righteous woman, finish school, finda good job, and get married. She constantly reminded me to avoiddoing anything that would bring shame to our family's name.

I began to suspect that many of the older Vietnamese parents, like mymother, didn't grasp the concept of leadership. To many of them,running an army or holding a political position was consideredleadership. Very few viewed leadership as empowering the individual.

After high school, I entered Montclair State University, where I studiedinternational business, management, and marketing. Upon graduating,I transferred to Seton Hall, where I earned an MBA. After leavingschool, I took a job with a high-tech firm in New York City. Thecompany employed many engineers around the globe, particularlyVietnamese and Chinese. It was then I had my first exposure tounconventional leadership practicesparticularly striking were thoseof managers and employees born abroad but educated in the U.S.

My career path eventually led me to California. I served as a businessdevelopment manager for an interactive marketing company where,

once again, I witnessed the deep differences in leadership styles of


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engineers and managers from China, Vietnam, India, and the U.S. In

my spare time, I began teaching classes and workshops in leadershipdevelopment and in small business management.

Why It's Useful to Understand Diverse

Leadership Styles

Approximately 1.5 million Vietnamese now call the U.S. home, withmore than 800,000 living in California and more than 160,000 in theSan Francisco Bay Area. When I arrived in San J ose, I discovered thatit had the Bay Area's largest Vietnamese population, with over eightthousand Vietnamese-owned businesses. According to the Survey ofBusiness Owners (SOB) 2007 and Census 2010, the number ofVietnamese-owned businesses has increased to 229,000, withrevenues of $28.8 billion a year. That reflects a 56 percent increasesince 2002 compared to a 40 percent increase among the other Asiancommunities.

The Vietnamese business owners who agreed to be interviewed forthis book were born in Vietnam and have all lived in the U.S. for at leastten years. They formerly worked for private or public U.S. companiesbut left to start their own entrepreneurial businesses.

From the first interview, it was clear that their leadership practices,which had primarily motivated them to leave the American corporate

environment and become entrepreneurs, had been powerfullyimpacted by their cultural background and the transition of doingbusiness in the U.S.

In my interviews, I focused on the following topics:

1. How did their family, education, and social background inVietnam affect their present leadership practices?

2. How did the journey to America, and their subsequentexperiences in the U.S., influence their choice of businessventure and their leadership style?

3. How did they perceive themselves as leaders?

4. How did they perceive the leadership attitudes and practices ofAmerican business executives, managers, and entrepreneurs?


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10 Chapter I: Why Care about Vietnamese Amer icans' Leadersh ip Style?

5. What were the similarities and differences between how they

perceived their own leadership practices and how they perceivedthose of American business leaders?

6. How did these differences influence their decision to leave theAmerican firms they formerly worked for?

7. How did their leadership practices affect the success of theircurrent business ventures?

8. To what extent were their values strengthened or modified byliving in California?

Research suggests that it's important for business leaders tounderstand their employees' diverse cultural backgrounds, traditions,and values. As U.S. companies began to expand into Europe, Asia,and Latin America in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, theyfound it essential to adapt their business and leadership styles to thelocal cultures. The growing enthusiasm for understanding the culturesof the target countries coincided with the wave of Vietnamese refugeesarriving in America, with an estimated five hundred thousand refugeesescaping Vietnam in small fishing boats bound for Hong Kong,Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, in thehope of settling in the U.S.

The refugees who managed to reach the American shores foundthemselves quickly relocated by the U.S. government, with the resultthat many families were dispersed across this very large land.

Meanwhile, the companies that were now doing business abroad hadnarrowed their focus to learning about the cultures of the clients'countries as a step toward improving their profits, ignoring ordiscounting the growing diversity of the workforce at home.

When it came to diversity training, the newly arrived Vietnameseworkers found themselves generally overlooked. Few refugees werefortunate to have superiors and coworkers who could sympathize withtheir struggles with the language, culture shock, and social adaptation,much less who looked like them or spoke their language. Theirfrustrations were expressed by one Vietnamese immigrant, "Why werewe not warned? Was there no one going in who had any idea whatproblems we were likely to encounter?" (Mathews, 1982, p. 100).


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I have had a fascination with the endurance and accomplishments of

Vietnamese Americans. At the beginning, when thousands ofVietnamese refugees landed in the United States, our main goal wasto survive. Thus, we worked and worked so that each family could havea better life in the land of opportunity.

As time progressed, the community was further strengthened withflourishing businesses, new houses, and above-average lifestyles.Now the community has reached its next phase as it prepares for thefuture and seeks to move younger generations into mainstreamAmerica.

Vietnamese Americans have accomplished so much, yet they still facea major struggle in leadership development. Common statements that

you may hear are: "The Vietnamese community does not get along";"We don't work together"; "There's no unity in the VietnameseCommunity"; "Why can't Vietnamese build strong support systems forthe younger generation?"; and "Younger Vietnamese Americans aretoo Americanized and are unfamiliar with their own heritage." All theseconcerns are real, and thus exploring leadership among VietnameseAmericans has become one of my passions. I find significant meaningin my efforts because there are so many wonderful Vietnamese traits,values, and cultural aspects that adapt to leadership development.

It is often stated that a person cannot grow, experience success, andbe strong unless he has encountered struggles in life. I asked myself,Could this be the reason why many Vietnamese Americans are so

determined to make it in America?At the same time, could it be adetriment to younger generations who were born in the United States?

These individuals didn't escape Vietnam by boat or see other peoplekilled. Without these adversities, can they become the leaders thatmany older Vietnamese Americans would hope them to be?

As an educator and an avid leadership developer, I am heavilyinvested in the understanding and building of Vietnamese Americanleaders. I have several mentors who have advised me to "follow yourpassion; do what you love." But it's difficult to respond to such astatement because studying leadership and trying to apply thoselessons to help build Vietnamese American leaders is not a job

description that you can readily find on Monster.com.


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12 Chapter I: Why Care about Vietnamese Amer icans' Leadersh ip Style?

I believe it is my duty to contribute to the understanding of leadership

development for Vietnamese Americans in any way I can. If I can sharethe stories and information that may influence and encourage just oneperson to change his life for the better, then I am delighted andsatisfied. If an individual reads this book and can then understand whyhis dad quit his job and started working for someone else for less pay,or a CEO decides to reward his employees by insisting that eachVietnamese take the Lunar New Year off without a deduction in pay,then I have achieved my goal and have made a contribution that hashelped ensure our heritage will continue for years to come.


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C h a p t e r

III Profi les and Dialogues

In my interviews with Vietnamese American

entrepreneurs, my primary goal was to exploretheir cultural backgrounds and to understandhow culture affects their leadership practices andsuccess as entrepreneurs.

All of the subjects had worked for private orpublic U.S. companies before leaving to starttheir own companies, either because they madethe decision to become entrepreneurs or wereterminated. I interviewed each subject threetimes, asking them about the following areas:their life history, details of their experiences andleadership practices, and the meaning of their

experience.

The interviews included closed and open-endedquestions adapted from Geert Hofstede's 2001list of national cultural dimensions. Hofstedeinvestigated national culture by surveying overtwelve thousand employees from IBMCorporation working in various subsidiaries infifty different countries. His research examinedthe fundamental differences in which groupsperceived organizational work climate and theemployee's values regarding various ideologicalfactors.


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14 Chapter II: Profiles and Dialogues

At the first interview, I invited the participants to talk freely about

themselves and their life experiencestheir family, schooling, friends,coming to America, living in the U.S., and becoming entrepreneurs. Ifelt that asking them to speak about their life before they becamebusiness owners would elicit a more complete and insightful narrativeof their transition to entrepreneurship than if I had asked them directlywhy they had decided to start their own business.

In the second session, I asked them to share stories and details of theirexperiences relative to a number of national-culture dimensionsdefined by Hofstede:

1. power distance,

2. uncertainty avoidance,

3. collectivism-individualism,

4. femininity-masculinity, and

5. Confucian dynamism.

My goal in the second interview was to elicit their experiences in theirformer corporate jobs and their current business ventures in hopes ofshedding light on their motives for becoming entrepreneurs.

I wanted to understand how their experiences had shaped theirleadership practices and brought them to their present situation. I alsowanted to learn about their management conflicts, language barriers,

cultural differences, beliefs about leadership practices, and conceptsof entrepreneurship.

In the third session, the participants reflected on their past and presentexperiences. Although they revealed a great deal of what theirexperiences had meant to them, this session allowed them to focus onwhat one researcher called "meaning making" (Vygotsky, 1987). Theytended to talk about events that were particularly meaningful to themand to elaborate on why the events had special meaning. When Iinvited them to tell specific stories, they tended to frame the stories witha beginning, middle, and end, resulting in a natural "meaning making"process.


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The third session also gave them an opportunity to review the overall

meaning of their experiences and to find new meanings in retellingstories from their lives. The participants had held managerial positionsin their former companies, which were mostly non-Vietnamese owned.

They all had at least one year of business experience and careers thatspanned eight to seventeen years. Their ages ranged from thirty yearsand up, and the length of their business ownership was one to fiveyears.

All the respondents' companies had formerly or presently providedhigh-tech products and services. One interviewee, Luong, had led twotechnology start-ups and had recently retired. Another, Huy, hadfounded a high-tech consulting company that had been acquired fourmonths before the interviews. Huy now worked for the parent

company, running his own consulting division. Four other interviewees,Tri, Thu, J ohn, and Dung, had started companies that offered high-techproducts and services to manufacturers, retail stores, and midsizedcompanies.

All of the participants had graduated from college. Three had mastersdegrees, and one had earned a PhD. They were all married with oneto three children. Some had been divorced and remarried.

Participant Profiles

Luong

Luong, fifty, is a distinguished-looking, well-dressed, high-levelexecutive. He is remarried and has two sons from his former wife. Heholds the Vietnamese equivalent of B.S. and M.S. degrees inmathematics and physics. At the time of the interview, he had beenretired less than two months. His work experience spanned twenty-twoyears in global information technology and management, during whichhe held several senior positions and founded two high-tech start-ups.

The interviews took place at Luong's home in San J ose. At the firstinterview, I learned he would be flying to Paris the next day, so heagreed to meet me again upon returning a month later. We spoke in his


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home office, a separate workroom with magazines and newspapers

spread out neatly on a coffee table: The Economist, Fortune, WallStreet Journal, and Harvard Business Review.

Luong told me that he is "Vietnamese, French, and American" since hehad lived in all three countries and had adopted aspects of each culturein his daily life. He said that he often did his thinking in French andtranslated it to Vietnamese or English. Having spent many of his schoolyears in Paris before settling in America, Luong internalized a greatdeal of French culture and values and remarked that he found it easyto do business in Europe. Being Vietnamese, he also found it easy todo business in China. Somewhat surprisingly, he seemed equally athome in the role of an American executive.

In his earlier years, Luong faced significant hardship due to languagebarriers but eventually became so fluent that coworkers and businesscontacts often forgot that he is Asian. His adaptability is a majorstrength, and his demeanor reflects his self-confidence and businessknow-how. He attributes his business success to his mother's earlyinfluence, recalling how she advised him as a young boy in Vietnam tobe a person with morals, values, and integrity before considering howto become a successful businessman. By his own assessment, he haslived a full life and is now ready to enjoy retirement:

"I am at a point of my life, fifty years old, and I am retired. I had myshare of successes and failures. I started two companies. One wasa great success, and the other was a miserable failure. I have a lot

of choices ahead of me, and I feel very fortunate that I can providefor my children financially. Now it's my time to enjoy the beauty oflife. I am going to travel the world. However, I do see myself gettinginvolved in projects that will help reduce domestic violence inVietnam. This is my current passion."

Tr i

Tri is the CEO of the second manufacturing technology company hestarted, now in its third year. He previously founded a trackinginventory software start-up that was acquired by a Fortune 500company. Before making the decision to become an entrepreneur, he

worked as an engineer for several mid-sized Bay Area companies. Hehas always worked in technology.


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Tri has a B.S. in computer science and a graduate degree in

engineering, both from the University of Massachusetts. He arrived inthe U.S. in 1985 and took a high school equivalency test then beganhis college studies. He is married with a son who was less than oneyear old at the time of the interview.

I spoke with Tri in his office, which was typical of a Silicon Valley techcompany with bare walls and high-walled cubicles. The office wasfastidiously neat. As Tri walked me to his office, he declared that he is"an engineer at heart," a statement reflected in his appearance. He isslim, with unruly hair and large round glasses, and is fond of polo shirtsand khaki pants, the "uniform" of many Silicon Valley engineers.

Tri is shy and soft-spoken. At times, he seemed to hesitate before

making a statement, pausing to measure his thoughts and occasionallynot completing his sentences. Yet the atmosphere was more cordialthan at some of the other interviews. His office was small andwell-organized, with a few papers and files on the credenza and deskand a large whiteboard covered with action items and notes. There wasno art on the walls, but a large picture of his son was displayed on hisdesk.

He said that his determination to be a successful entrepreneurstemmed from his previous experiences working with incompetentmanagers who made more money than he did, and who had risen inrank based on their persuasive skills, self-marketing, and falsepretenses. As CEO of a company with seventy employees, including

offshore engineers, Tri described his greatest challenge: "I have adifficult time being a CEO and working with people who are much olderthan me, and who have more credentials and experience."

He believed his cultural upbringing had definitely affected hismanagement style since he had been taught to hold older people andthose with greater experience than himself in utmost respect. Thisoutlook made it difficult for Tri to confront older employees who showedup late for work or left early, talked excessively, or submittedincomplete projects. Other lessons learned from his parents made ithard for him to correct others' mistakes, especially if the employee hadgreater experience or education. His parents had taught him that

people with more experience and education were smarter and wiser.


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John

Upon meeting J ohn, I was immediately impressed by his outspoken,down-to-earth style. He decided to take American first and last namesthat wouldn't identify him as Asian. When asked to explain his reasons,he said, "I wanted a new identity" and changed the subject.

After he arrived in the U.S. in 1975, J ohn attended high school in NewJ ersey and then moved to California to study at the University ofCalifornia at Santa Cruz. He completed his education at the Universityof San Francisco, where he earned an MBA. He is married and has athree-year-old son.

For the last two years, J ohn has operated his own company in Santa

Clara. The company, which has five employees, provides serverservices to small and medium-size companies. Running the companyrequires him to have strong technical, business, and managementskills.

Although J ohn doesn't have an engineering or computer sciencedegree, he was confident that he could find engineers to help him withhis innovative business ideas. When I asked how he decided to get intoa business where he wasn't an expert, he laughed, "I cannot work fora company anymore. I need to spread my wings." After being laid offfrom his previous job as an engineering manager, J ohn was motivatedto find fresh opportunities rather than return to the corporateenvironment.

His office looked extremely "busy"every inch of space was coveredwith papers, books, files, and notes, reflecting his personal style of notneeding to impress anyone. J ohn was the most forthright of therespondents in expressing both his positive and negative thoughts.Mirroring his office environment, his dress fit the image of a busyscientistbusiness casual clothes, glasses, and rebellious hair.

J ohn talked frankly about his life and his professional strengths andweaknesses. He said that his parents had only finished seventh gradebut that family connections had enabled his father to be promoted tothe rank of officer in the military. The neighbors had treated the familywith great respect and honor, but J ohn considered it a false faade and

felt ashamed that his father's high title hadn't been earned.


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He said that his greatest professional challenge was finding the exact

combination of engineering talent and management skills that matchedhis personality and that could grow the company. He considered itextremely important to be surrounded by extraordinary engineeringtalentfeeling that it was the engineers' skills that would make orbreak the company. However, he relies heavily on his own businessexperience for sales and marketing. J ohn is deeply engaged in theday-to-day operation of the company and the development of theengineering, sales, and marketing.

Huy

Huy left Vietnam on a fishing boat in 1975 and eventually settled inCalifornia. When his family made the decision to flee Vietnam, his

father worked for the government and his mother operated a smallbusiness. He has six siblings. Contrary to the stereotype of theclose-knit Asian family, Huy is "an independent individual who has tomake it on his own without the family's support."

Huy completed a B.S. in engineering in Oregon, attended graduateschool at Stanford, and completed a Ph.D. at Harvard. He was the onlyrespondent with a doctorate. He is divorced with no children.

Huy started two technology companiesan engineering consultancythat was acquired by a major corporation, and a medical devicecompany that is currently operated by a partner. Huy walked away fromthe second venture because of disagreements about the company'smanagement and daily operations. He runs a consulting division,where he manages the operation as his own business with fifteenemployees.

I interviewed Huy at his office. The desk was neatly organized, withnothing out of order, and achievement certifications and awards weredisplayed on the walls. The office appeared to reflect Huy's meticulousorganizational skills and professionalism.

Huy said he decided to start his own company because of unhappyexperiences working for various managers at Fortune 500 companies.He felt there was too much disagreement between the employees and

managers, and he disagreed with common practices such aswithholding important research and development information from the


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engineers, allowing unqualified engineers to lead projects, and

rejecting promotions for deserving engineerspractices that, he said,conflicted with his personal beliefs.

Although he founded two successful software start-ups supporting themanufacturing industry, Huy perceives himself as "an unsuccessfulentrepreneur," referring to his accented English, which, he feels,makes other executives and managers superior to him.

Thu

Thu lost his father in early childhood. Before the family escaped on afishing boat in 1975, his mother taught in a Vietnamese elementaryschool. He said that he is incredibly close to his mother, sister, and two

brothers. When he left Vietnam at age thirteen, he remembersdesperately wanting to leave the turbulent land and start a new life.

As a teenager, Thu had difficulty learning English as a secondlanguage while growing up in a poor section of Chicago. But he learnedto survive on the streets and worked to help his mom, graduating fromcollege in Chicago but not pursuing a graduate degree. He is marriedwith three teenage children.

Thu's company has thirty-five employees and offers data sharingtechnology to major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Macy's. Hechose the field because he "saw a need for retailers to work withthousands of spreadsheets where they don't have to cut and paste."He started the company with his brother, and both are deeply involvedin the day-to-day operations. Before deciding to become anentrepreneur, Thu worked as a network manager for severalprestigious high-tech companies. When asked why he left those stablecompanies, he said, "I am not with the company anymore when Irealized that I have made enough money to be comfortable. Therefore,I wanted to leave and try something new. Besides, I was getting boredwith my daily responsibilities."

At the start of the interview, I was immediately aware of Thu's energeticpersonality, which lent excitement and enthusiasm to his answers. Hisresponses were alternately eloquent and reflective, and he was

exceptionally matter-of-fact in his thoughts and opinions.


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Thu admitted he still has much to learn, and he's afraid he might not be

as successful as he would like to be. He said that he finds it difficult toblend his Vietnamese cultural expectations with his workingrelationships with Americans. For example, his parents always urgedhim to be polite and respectful of others, even when he disagreed withthem, and to maintain harmony rather than seek confrontations. Incontrast to this deferential style, he finds that the American model ofworking relationships encourages the expression of disagreementsand the voicing of one's own opinions in order to achieve goals andobjectives.

Thu hired mostly Vietnamese employees because he embraces theirloyalty to the company and to himself. However, he finds it difficult tocommunicate with his Vietnamese employees in the American

business style of "business is business, personal is personalno hardfeelings."

Whenever there was a confrontation or a discussion of the company,its clients, and its projects, Thu found that the Vietnamese employeeswere apt to take any implied criticism as a personal attack on them.After these meetings, they would refrain from talking to him or to eachother for several days, until in time the communication channels closedcompletely. Thu is working hard to reopen the channels, partly byoffering his employees training in confrontation and conflict negotiationso that they can better understand each others' perspectives and theirpersonal views on business etiquette, while negotiating theirdifferences.

Dung

In Vietnam, Dung's father was a doctor, and his mother was a teacher.His three sisters and two brothers are doctors and lawyers. Dung isvery close to his family. He arrived in the U.S. in 1982, earned a B.S.in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986, andattended graduate school at Santa Clara University. Dung has twochildren and is remarried. When I asked him to describe his first yearin the U.S., he said that he worked and studied like everyone else andencountered no hardships.


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The last interview took place at Dung's office in Milpitas. He was

dressed in polo shirt and khakis, the standard uniform of a SiliconValley engineer who has been working all day at a computer. He ledme down a narrow walkway with open gray cubicles on one side andplain white walls on the other. His office featured two light yellow sofasand an oval conference table, with no pictures or other decorations.

The desk and table were clear, except for a few pens and some blankpaper.

My immediate impression was that Dung is an engineer of few words.Unlike the other respondents who shared their stories volubly, Dungstated that he is a private person and would only share what wasnecessary. His reticence often made it necessary to repeat questionsto be sure I had understood his answers. Dung's current business is

chip design. When asked why he chose the field, he didn't answer. Hewas formerly an engineer at several brand name high-tech companiesbut declined to share experiences from that period of his life.

He was more open about sharing his weaknesses than his strengths."I feel, as the CEO and president, I must know everything in thetechnical, marketing, sales, management, and operation fields so thatI can be strong for my employees. My employees look to me foranswers." Dung currently employs about fifty engineers in Vietnam. Hefeels obligated to be the kind of Vietnamese leader that they expect,but with American business know-how in sales, marketing, andoperations. The Vietnamese engineers perceive Vietnamese Americanentrepreneurs working in the U.S. as extremely competent in

engineering, sales and marketing, human resources, andoperationsthey are regarded as role models.

Dung's plans for the future include developing the company andexpanding it to other locations. He is actively searching for talent inmanagement and operations to help him run the company.

The Questions

In session I of the interviews, the questions focused on the subject'slife story. Session II centered on Hofstede's five cultural dimensions:power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism-collectivism,


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femininity-masculinity, and Confucian dynamism. It also included

questions about leadership practices. In session III, I invited thesubjects to reflect on the meaning of their experiences.

Session I: Research and Interview Questions

Research Questions Interview Questions

1. How do VietnameseAmericanentrepreneurs' familybackground, education,and social status in

Vietnam affect theirleadership practices?

1. Please tell me about yourfamily and their occupations inVietnam.

2. Please tell me about yourfamily in Vietnam.

3. Can you share stories aboutyour education and training?

4. How would a neighbor inVietnam describe your family?

2. How has immigrationand adaptation to life inAmerica influenced theleadership and businesspractices of VietnameseAmericanentrepreneurs?

1. Tell me about your journey tothe United States.

2. How long have you been in theUnited States?

3. Please share your experiencesas you began a new life in theUnited Statesafter one year,five years, ten years, fifteenyears, etc.

4. What is your current business?Why this field? How long?What were your prior jobs,occupations, and titles? Whyare you no longer working forthe former organization?


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Session II: Research and Interview Questions


1. Howdo VietnameseAmericanentrepreneursperceivethemselvesaccordingto Hofstede'sdimensionsof national culture

values?

1. In your previous job, what was yourview when it came to facing theunknown (projects, rules, changesin management, etc.)?

2. Do you generally operate yourbusiness and life with formal rules?What are those rules? Why do youthink you need them?

3. How frequently do you disagree

with your workers?4. How often did you feel nervous or

tense in your previous job? In yourpresent job?

5. How do you feel about status athome and in business?

6. Do you agree that people should betreated according to their status:employee, manager, owner, etc.?Why?

7. Do you feel that you must look afteryourself first before considering

others?

8. How do you feel about being loyal toyour extended family members?

9. What are the perceived roles forwomen and men in your family?

10. How important are long-term goals?What are those goals?

11. How important are short-termgoals? What are those goals?

12. How important is it to make a realcontribution to the success of your

company or organization?


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2. Howdo VietnameseAmericanentrepreneursperceive Americanbusiness leaders'practices,accordingto Hofstede'sdimensions ofnational cultural

values?

1. How did your manager andcoworkers handle the unknown inyour previous job in an Americanorganization?

2. When your manager made adecision, did he/she considerothers in the process? Why?

3. Did your manager look down onother groups of employees? How?

4. Did your manager treat people

according to their status? How so?5. Did your manager get involved in

details of your job? How?

6. Did your manager operate thedepartment on an individual orcollective level? Did the company?

7. How would your manager describethe roles of women and men in yourcompany?

8. Would you say your manager wasmore concerned with short-termgoals or long-term goals? Why?

9. Would you say your manager wasconcerned with maintaining a goodworking relationship with hisemployees and coworkers? Why?



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3. What aresimilarities anddifferencesbetweenVietnameseAmericanentrepreneurs'perceptions ofthemselves and thepractices ofAmerican business

leaders?

1. How would you describe yourleadership and management style?

Your former managers?

2. What are some differences you seebetween Vietnamese Americanbusiness leaders and Americanmanagement?

3. What are the leadership andmanagement challenges you feelyou have in common with yourprevious managers?

4. In your opinion, what are someimportant leadership traits in thecorporate workplace? In yourcurrent business? Why?

4. How do differencesin leadershippractices induceVietnameseAmericanentrepreneurs toleave American

corporations?

1. Would you say the differences inleadership practices of yourmanagement led you to leave thecompany, or were you fired? Why?



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5. How doVietnameseAmericans seetheir ownleadershippractices asaffecting theirsuccess in theirbusiness ventures?

1. Was there a specific person orsituation that helped you get to thispoint?

2. What are some personal attributesthat you feel helped you rise to thislevel of entrepreneurship?

3. Describe the culture of your currentbusiness.

4. How effective do you feel you are asan owner of your business?

5. How would you describe theleadership and management stylenecessary to become a successfulVietnamese Americanentrepreneur?

6. How haveVietnameseAmericanentrepreneursfound their valuesto be strengthenedor changed as a

minority groupliving in the UnitedStates, who wereconsidered to be apart of a majoritywhen measured interms of the overallVietnamesepopulationthroughout theUnited States?

1. Do you think your values have beenstrengthened or changed by beingin America? How?

2. Given what you have said aboutyour life before you became abusiness owner and what you havesaid about your work now, how doyou understand business in yourlife?

3. Where do you see yourself going inthe future?



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Session III: Research and Interview Questi ons

I asked all of these questions during the interviews and allowed someflexibility to change the order of the questions as the flow of

conversations dictated. In some cases, the participants asked me tostop recording because they didn't want their comments noted, and Ihonored their requests.


1. Reflection on meaning. 1. Are there any questionsyou would like to revisit?

2. Are there any points youwould like to make thatwere not covered in thequestions?


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A u t h o r

About the Author

Dr. Lena Tran is Director of Education andBusiness and Management at the University ofCalifornia Extension, Santa Cruz. She lectureson various topics involving leadership andempowerment, Vietnamese and Asian Americanculture and experiences and ethnicentrepreneurship. Her professional experienceincludes working with established technologyfirms in New York City and start-up enterprises inSilicon Valley. Dr. Tran earned an MBA fromSeton Hall University in New J ersey and aDoctorate in Education from the University ofSan Francisco in California. In 2009, SiliconValley/San J ose Business J ournal named Lena

Tran to its list of "40 Under 40" rising stars of theSilicon Valley Community. She serves on theBoard of Directors, East Meets West, and SiliconValley FACES.


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