Internal and External Blog

The thoughts expressed here are strictly my own and do not reflect necessarily the view of Diversity Council.

Goal - Stephen Covey
Welcome Home...A personal reflection of the dedication of MLK monument: I gave the following speech at my IBM Toastmaster Club.
Board Review Activities Calendar
Connecting the dots: I believe in the rippling effect of service. What goes around comes around. Last night my wife and I had dinner with a dear friend. In passing, she mentioned that she just installed a new air conditioning unit in her house. It had been broken for a while and a couple of weeks ago the heat just became unbearable. She was trying to get someone to look into it--she could only find one company open on that hot weekend.
DC3 Activities Log: Keep track of things that I am doing for DC3
Looking at the Bamboo Ceiling: July 5, 2011 Michele Norris talks with writer Wesley Yang and business adviser Jane Hyun about the challenges of Asian assimilation — and the challenges of busting stereotypes and the "Bamboo Ceiling."
Business Leadership Model: I got this from Ashok and it resonates with many things that I try to do.
Core Concepts of the Vision and Mission and Meaning of Diversity Council: I was privileged to participate in the April 30, 2011 DC Board Strategic Planning Meeting. We did a "team-building" exercise in the form of a facilitated conversations (thought storm) surrounding the meaning of Diversity Council's vision and mission. Here is a summary (or core concept) from the conversation:
Educating DC Staff on DC3: DC3 is Diversity Council Collaboration Center. The DC Board' IT Task Force has been prototyping and in fact put into operations how a virtual team can better use Web 2.0 (cloud computing) technologies to better collaborate. Now there is a potential to put that to wider adoption and operationalizing the use of DC3 to staff programs as well. This is a set of "training" meetings that Al is conducting to make measurable progress toward a wider deployment.
Stop Hate Speech Now: I thought I had put it behind me. But Rush Limbaugh's public imitation of President Hu Jintao brought back memories. I was in Toronto, Canada visiting my parents who had just moved there from Hong Kong. My dad was an accomplished businessman--a self-starter who created a jewelery business. They immigrated to Hong Kong to be closer to my sister.
MLK Event will remember King 'for trying to help people' (from Jan 17, 2011 08:00 AM to Jan 17, 2011 05:00 PM): The keynote speaker at the main commemorative event, Gwendolyn Webb-Hasan, is a Texas A&M associate professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development.
Higher Purpose and Style: President Obama's Full Speech at Tucson Memorial. Quotes from the President's Speech Moral Imagination and listening "Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together." About decency and goodness "We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us."
Diversity Council Annual Meeting -- Stop the Silence (Rochester Art Center, from Jan 20, 2011 05:30 PM to Jan 20, 2011 07:30 PM): Please join me in supporting the Diversity Council: let’s stop the silence and continue talking to one another about being welcoming and inclusive. I look forward to seeing you at my table!
Stop the Silence: Today, I reflected on the theme of the 2011 Diversity Council Annual Meeting (see open invitation below): Stop the Silence. Being an admirer of the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu who espouses the Taoist quality of stillness, introspection and yielding, the natural question becomes does Diversity Council's call to action, to stop the silence, not go counter to my pursuing the Taoist ideal of achieving stillness: Let It Be?
Leadership and Practice: Among the "sharpening the saw" activities I do, I am a member of the Leadership Practice Group (LPG). From that association, I got the following words of wisdom from a fellow LPG member. My friend shares that: ' ...... I've always admired leaders who humbly serve all, educate all, and give all to make a positive difference in the world. This past year has opened up my worldview about the capabilities of such committed 'saints', exponentially.
Al Lun's Calendar: As a board member I need to watch my time and also make my schedule known to other members of the DC community. So, here it is.
Power of boycott: A conversation with a veteran who did keep peace mission at the Suez Canal in the fifties: I was working the 6-9PM Race Exhibit shift as an exhibit assistant, which consists of walking around the room, being pleasant and at the right moment talk to visitors. Two older gentlemen were standing at the last set of stations near the exit and were about to leave. But they paused and wanted to write something on the guest book. "How do you like the exhibit?" I asked.
We have a Muslim President!: A conversation with a visitor to the Race Exhibit I was volunteering at the Race Exhibit last night. Looking at the front poster, a fellow remarked within ear-shot of us the docents, "We have a Muslim President." If ever there was a "teachable moment", here it was So I asked him, "I'm curious. Why do you think that?" "I know because he is Arab," he answered. "Oh, why do you think that?"
DCCC (DC3) Tutorial: Power point to explain the why, how, and what types of questions of DCCC.