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3 Strategies for Millennials

Battling ‘Boardroom Sexism’

Over the last several decades, women have made strides in the corporate world, in many cases launching their own enterprises and some taking the helm at Fortune 500 companies.

Despite such progress, sexism remains a significant hurdle in business, says Phuong Uyen Tran, a Vietnamese business executive and author of Competing with Giants: How One Family-Owned Company Took on the Multinationals and Won (www.competingwithgiants.net).

“Sexist attitudes are certainly well entrenched in Asia,” says Tran, who is deputy CEO of THP Beverage Group, the leading Vietnamese beverage company founded by her father.

Having her own experiences with sexual harassment and gender inequality, Tran says she identifies with the #MeToo movement that swept the United States. Not only has she had to deal with inappropriate behavior by business men during meetings, she is constantly asked when she will marry. She has even started her own #StandTaller campaign to combat gender bias and promote better dialogue between the sexes.

“It’s a real battle to strive to eliminate the structural sexism that exists in society,” Tran says. “One of the challenges we face is that gender stereotypes start very early.”

Tran, a millennial herself, has advice for women rising up the corporate ladder.

• Don’t Behave Like a Man. To compete with men, some women might believe they should act like men, which can translate into being abrasive and domineering in conversations. Tran says that’s not how women highlight their natural leadership qualities. “I think there is great strength in a woman’s negotiating skills and ability to listen,” Tran says. “There is plenty of research that demonstrates how a company’s operational abilities improve when there are more women on the board.”
• Stand Up and Be Counted. Tran cautions that even a woman who holds a significant position in a company sometimes can be expected to perform menial duties, such as taking notes or making coffee, especially if she’s the only woman in a meeting. Avoid that trap, she says, and certainly don’t volunteer. “It’s best not to offer to make everyone else a cup of coffee until you reach a senior enough position where this is viewed as a positive gesture, rather than a given,” Tran says. Speaking of note taking, a supervisor once asked a friend of Tran’s to do just that. She declined, telling the supervisor it’s always women who are asked to take notes and until they refuse it will stay that way. This is one example of ways women can stand taller in the boardroom.
• Seek Male Allies. In order to dismantle sexism, we need men to help. “Women cannot eliminatesexism on their own.” Says Tran. The good news is that more and more men are eager to do this. Tran offers five words she calls “boardroom bridge builders” – Do I have your support? “Those five words – do I have your support – are critical because the create unity not separation. They encourage support,” Tran says. “For me, in the boardroom, I have found these five words to help push forward in the most challenging times.”

When it comes to gender equality, Tran does her part by ensuring that THP Beverage Group offers women the same opportunities as men.

“We have 10 senior directors and four are women,” she says. “My sister is also a deputy CEO, and she and I try to set a very strong example for women leaders in our company. We work to boost the number of female employees overall, as well.

“It helps that our father has never discriminated between men and women. It did not matter to him if we were sons or daughters. He just wants the right person for the job.”

About Phuong Uyen Tran

Phuong Uyen Tran, author of Competing with Giants: How One Family-Owned Company Took on the Multinationals and Won (www.competingwithgiants.net) is deputy CEO of the THP Beverage Group, a leading beverage company in Vietnam that was founded by her father. She is responsible for the company’s marketing, public relations, and CSR programs nationally and across Vietnam’s 63 provinces. She also leads THP’s international marketing programs across 16 countries where THP’s products are distributed including Canada and China.

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UNWILL

Premieres New Single

"Slaves"

via Substream Magazine

Sophomore Album

Can't Kill Me

Out on November 16th, 2018

"The guitars are still undeniable from a place of straight

rock and roll, while it's overall a bit more relaxed and willing

to take the listener on a melodic journey..." - Substream Magazine

Previously Featured on Alternative Press, Loudwire, 

New Noise Magazine, 

PureGrainAudio, and more

October 24, 2018 - Rochester, NY - Rock and roll trio Unwill is thrilled to share "Slaves," the latest single from the band's forthcoming sophomore record, Can't Kill Me. Fans can check out the track now, streaming exclusively via Substream Magazine. A growling collection of straight rock songs, Can't Kill Me is set to be released on November 16th, 2018. For more information, please visit: www.unwillband.com.

On the new single, the band shares: "If 'Can't Kill Me' is a journey through spirit and ego then this track represents the spirit. Everyone questions what's going on here and there's only one answer..."

Formed in Rochester in 2015, Unwill signed with Entertainment One shortly after. Since then, Unwill has shared the stage with 

letlive., 

Vanna, 

He Is Legend, 

Norma Jean, and 

Ghost Key, as well as performing at select dates of the 2016 Vans Warped Tour.

They released their debut album Past Life in 2017, which garnered praise from Loudwire, New Noise Magazine, and PureGrainAudio, amongst others. Now Unwill is back and preparing to self-release their sophomore record, Can't Kill Me, on November 16th, 2018.

Unwill is Roc Tracy (vocals), Ethan James (guitar), and Jeffrey Jean (bass).

For more information:

Website: www.unwillband.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/unwillband

Twitter: www.twitter.com/unwillband

Instagram: www.instagram.com/unwillband

Youtube: www.youtube.com/unwillband

Can't Kill Me Track Listing:

1. Keep It Gold

2. Big Dog

3. Getaway

4. Fault

5. The Circus

6. Intention

7. Slaves

8. Say What?

9. I'll Be Damned

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Truth and Reconciliation for Gender-based Offenses

By Matthew Johnson

509 words

I was very inspired by the bold New York Times piece “Eight Stories of Men’s Regret,” published in response to the polarized debate over now-Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Not only is it brave to confess one’s past transgressions, but it is also necessary for accountability, which is the missing link of #MeToo.

Perhaps most importantly, these actions will inspire others to do likewise. #MeToo should get much of the credit: Its hashtag inspired other, albeit less catchy, offshoots (#HimThough and #IDidThat) that focused on male accountability. This was the necessary counterpart to the outpouring of sexual assault survivor solidarity in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein exposé.

It is likely that these offshoots lacked the staying power of #MeToo primarily due to the reluctance of men to participate. Nonetheless, there is a tendency within #MeToo and beyond it to chastise men for speaking up in areas deemed sensitive to women — arguing that men need to listen rather than speak, defend, mansplain, etc. — but the question remains: What does male accountability look like? It certainly cannot be reduced to passive listening. This is how you would scold a child with some poor parenting. In the case of an adult, passive listening can only be the beginning of accountability.

This effort by men to publicly confess in a thoughtful, self-reflective manner is a major step forward in the fight for accountability. I can recall that one of the most powerful and inspiring moments from my years of anti-war activism (which led me to anti-violence and women’s rights activism) was watching the teary-eyed testimony of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans confess during the Winter Soldier testimonies the crimes they committed against civilians. I can also recall, on video, the steely-eyed white South African police officers recounting how they tortured and murdered black freedom fighters during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

While the latter example was far less inspirational, truth is critical to any resolution of conflict or reparation of harm. It is the fulcrum of the lever of accountability — and of justice by extension.

It must be noted for the sake of fairness that accountability cannot be limited to one gender, and we cannot assume that men only harm women or that men are the only ones who cause harm. A major flaw of truth and reconciliation processes has been selective justice — that they have only scratched the surface in most cases. If these eight regretful men had gone deeper into their pasts, the reader may have learned where their lack of respect for boundaries originated. While they were all influenced by rape culture and violent socialization to some extent — just by being American men in their particular cases — no boy or man is immune from direct victimization. A victimized man is often a dangerous man due to the hyper-masculine need to disguise weakness or compensate for it in (often) violent ways. 

While mainstream society has come a long way in recent months in propping up survivors and calling out perpetrators for violent and sexist behavior (despite the painful lurch backward so evident in the Kavanaugh confirmation process), it is time that we hear more from those perpetrators in the context of truth and reconciliation.

–end–

Matt Johnson, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is co-author of Trumpism.

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