Dean Dreaming

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News broke that the LPGA would require all of its players to speak “effective English” next season. If they “can’t pass an oral evaluation of English skills,” they will face suspension. Note that there are 45 Korean female golfers on the LPGA and well over 100 international players on the tour. It’s an understatement to say that this will impact how other non-American female golfers will break into the tour. Unlike the PGA, which is still predominantly white, the LPGA has been very progressive in having non-white female players on the tour.

I was watching the Republican National Convention and looked at the faces in the crowd. All I saw were pretty blondes and white males. Hardly a speckle of a black face. Asians or Latinos? Don’t even think about it. You’re better off looking for a needle in a hay stack.

These two occurrences this past week is a reminder of The Old Boys Network and how much it still exists. While the incidents themselves are not meant to encourage nor revert back to old ways of doing things, it somehow is a reminder to me of that era. Thus, I am forced to ask myself, “Where is the progress?”  It is a reminder of how important is for people who don’t belong to that network to be more cognizant of breaking it down. The only way to break down those barriers is to build up and strengthen our networks all the while supporting our own.

As an Asian and one who is also an entrepreneur, I have always been cognizant of the need to have my own network. One that is supportive of my endeavors and my vision. While it is important to have them support me, it is just as important that I am supportive of my them. It is a two way street.

They say that it takes a village to raise a child. I say it takes a network to build a network.

You know one of your own is struggling to succeed. Do you reach out without being asked or do you ignore her and continue about your daily business? You know that one of your own just needs one extra contact to make it over the top but you know it’ll be an inconvenience to you. Do you still lend a hand or do you keep it in your pocket because it is too inconvenient? You know one of your own has fallen on hard times. Do you help to pick him up or do you walk by ignoring the fallen?

At the Saddleback Church Leadership Forum, Rick Warren, author of the best seller, The Purpose Driven Life, asked Barrack Obama, what he thought the greatest moral moral failure of this country was. Obama responded;

I think America’s greatest moral failure in my lifetime has been that we still don’t abide by that basic precept in Matthew that whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me, and that notion of — that basic principle applies to poverty. It applies to racism and sexism. It applies to, you know, not having — not thinking about providing ladders of opportunity for people to get into the middle class. There’s a pervasive sense, I think, that this country, as wealthy and powerful as we are, still don’t spend enough time thinking about the least of us.

While Obama spoke of the importance of this from a general sense, I believe this ideology is even more important to minorities in every vertical—for those who do not yet have a keeper. For those who struggle to feel included and need a support network of their own.

How often have I seen us ignore the fact that we are our brother’s keeper? Do we truly take the time to help our own climb the ladder of opportunities? Do we truly understand that the least we do for our own kind means it is the least we do for ourselves?

We are all truly connected. What happens to one of us, happens to all of us. The failure of one will impact the rest.

The next time that you see one of your own struggle, help pick him or her up. Open up your own network. Lend your wisdom. Be attentive of their needs. Reach out and pull them up.

What would happen if you don’t support your own network? What would happen if we are not vigilant of looking after our own? What would happen if we do not become the keepers of our own brothers?

See first two paragraphs.

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Just a few of the people that I know whom I can proudly say are the keepers of their own;

1. Cynthia de Lorenzi. President and Founder of Success In The City- a networking organization for business women in DC.
2. Navdeep Kathuria . Founder and Chief Editor for ABCD Lady - an online magazine catering to South Asian Women.
3. Wendy Sung. President of the NAAAP-DC- The DC Chapter of the National Association of Asian American Professionals
4. Christian Oh. Officer to NAAAP-DC and President of the DC APA Film Festival. A non-profit focused on bringing greater awarness of Asian Pacific American produced film and arts.
5. Maria Sipka. Founder of the Global Business Women forum. An online community with over 10,000 members all over the world.
6. Krista Goon. Founder of Women Biz Sense of Penang. A business networking group for business women in Pengang, Malaysia.