The Advanced Leadership Program for Asian-American Executives at the Stanford Graduate School
The Advanced Leadership Program for Asian-American Executives at the Stanford Graduate School of Business is a combination of classroom instruction and unstructured, informal bonding over lunch or evening drinks. The informal sessions include frank conversations about career problems — such as an internal reluctance, given the cultural upbringing of many Asians, to be seen as too aggressive.
A collection of vice presidents, managing directors and partners in their 30s or 40s, the executives ranged from native-born Americans and life-long residents who spoke with a Southern drawl, to foreigners from various Asian nations. But all were ethnically Asian, attending a unique leadership program where many said they learned how a combination of their cultural upbringing and organizational bias could hamper their careers.
Representing a range of Silicon Valley companies, including Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Juniper Networks, Chevron and PG&E, as well as farther afield companies such as Pepsico and KPMG, the 21 men and 17 women were selected for last week’s six-day Stanford program because they were judged to be potential candidates for top corporate jobs, including the CEO suite.
Studies show that a “bamboo ceiling” can hold back qualified Asians from landing top management jobs. A new report from the Center for Work-Life Policy found that while Asians are more likely than whites to aspire to a top job, Asian men are more likely to feel stalled in their careers than any other group, while Asian women are hurt by career “tripwires” like failing to stand out by offering new ideas.
A corporate “census” done in 2009 by Buck Gee and Wes Hom, retired executives from Cisco and IBM, respectively, found that Asians are under represented in top management compared to their share of the overall workforce.
Armed with their findings, Gee and Hom convinced Stanford’s graduate business school last year to launch a first-of-its kind leadership development course for promising mid-career Asian managers at Western companies. The first course attracted 26 executives from 17 companies. This year’s program grew to 38 participants from 25 companies, and ended Friday as executives departed for offices as close as Mountain View and as distant as Bangalore.