Unleashing the true potential of allyship: building bridges in the 21st century

The New Generation Leader - Your Tools for Winning in the Digital World

Co-host Jim H. Lee joined Aaron to discuss their experiences growing up in the United States and the cultural differences they encountered.

Jim is Korean-American, Aaron is white. They delve into the importance of recognizing biases and fostering allyship in the modern world. Jim reflects on the challenges of navigating cultural differences as a Korean-American, while Aaron shares his limited exposure to Asian culture.

They also discuss the importance of understanding and representing their culture accurately. We need dialogue and reflection to build cultural bridges, and we encourage you to share their own experiences.

Show Outline

Growing up with Asian and Western Biases (00:28) Jim and Aaron discuss the cultural differences they experienced growing up as Asians in America and the importance of recognizing biases.

Jim's Background and Cultural Transition (02:23) Jim shares his personal background as a Korean immigrant in the United States and reflects on the cultural differences he had to navigate as a child and throughout his life.

Navigating Cultural Identity (10:58) Jim discusses his journey of navigating cultural identity and the challenges he faced growing up as a Korean-American.

Cultural Differences in Western and Asian Cultures (12:04) Jim explains the differences between how Western and Asian cultures approach territory, expansion, and conquering.

Shift in Asian Community and Personal Experiences (15:41) Aaron reflects on his personal experiences growing up and how his perspective has shifted as he moved from childhood through school and into his career.

Growing up in a multicultural school (20:32) Jim discusses his experiences in a multicultural school where he didn't fully identify with either the recent immigrant Asian students or the non-Asian students.

Challenges in the workplace (21:53) Jim talks about the challenges he faced as one of the few Asians in his office and the need to intentionally communicate his identity and capabilities to his colleagues.

Building bridges across cultures (25:24) Aaron emphasizes the importance of intentional communication and understanding different perspectives to build bridges across cultures and foster allyship.

Building Bridges through Understanding (31:27) The importance of understanding and learning about different stories and cultures to build bridges of empathy and allyship.

Expanding Our Perspectives (31:45) The significance of embracing new experiences, such as trying different foods, and seeking to learn and understand stories that are different from our own.

Quotes

• “If we're to rewind the tape and understand what are some of the things that we might do in our Asian culture very well unconsciously, but realize it collides with Western culture in a way that isn't reflected in how we ought to be, that unconscious competency actually is unconscious incompetence translated into Western culture." - Jim @ 9:54
• “Different cultures can help bring out opportunities for better leaders and highlight areas that we have challenges, things that we can improve upon." - Jim @ 30:42
• "Our hope for each of you is that there is some part of your story and some part of someone else's story that you will begin to hear, you will truly understand and seek to learn and know about. That's not a story you would have heard or understood or asked questions about earlier in your career or in your life." - Aaron @ 31:45

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Connect with Jim

• @Jim Lee on LinkedIn
• @Aaron Lee on LinkedIn

Watch the Full Episode

Online @ YouTube: https://youtu.be/uyG3LvyBkyE

Episode 52 - Full transcript

Coming soon!