Unlearning Asian values to succeed in corporate America

@lora.yaps

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Why it worked

The video resonated with a specific audience by addressing a nuanced cultural conflict many children of immigrants face when navigating professional environments. The personal and relatable nature of the topic, combined with the speaker's direct address, likely encouraged engagement and sharing within relevant communities.

Summary

The speaker discusses the challenges of unlearning traditional Asian values, such as deference to elders and filial piety, to succeed in the more individualistic and assertive corporate culture of America. She explains how these ingrained values can conflict with the need to express new ideas and question authority in a professional setting.

Structure

1Introduction to the topic of unlearning Asian values for corporate success.
2Explanation of traditional Asian values like respect for elders and deference.
3Contrast with American corporate culture valuing individuality and assertiveness.
4Personal experience of unlearning and retraining to express new ideas.
5Reflection on the difference in social interactions and expectations.

On-screen text

Unlearning Asian values to succeed in corporate America

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Transcript

This is something I haven't heard many people talk about, but as a child of Asian immigrant parents, it took me a really long time to unlearn some of these Korean, Asian values in order to succeed in corporate America. Asian culture, especially Korean culture, is all about respecting your elders, filial piety, and deference. I grew up in a household where my parents said, "Always went, they always knew best." They were not to be questioned. So there was a lot of these ideas in my head of if someone is more senior than me, then they're an authority figure and I'm not to question it. It took a lot of unlearning and retraining to understand that even if I'm younger or more junior, that I am capable of having novel new ideas that may be better than a senior person's, or that a senior person can be wrong and I can question them. Even interacting with these more senior people, just socially, in American culture, they value individuality and being bold and assertive, even if you are more junior. Just something I've been thinking about recently, and I'm curious if any other immigrant children can relate. In Korean culture, you speak to your elders with honorifics, you address them with respect and deference, and things are a lot more casual in American culture. In American culture, they value individuality and being bold and assertive, even if you are more junior.