Immigration and Hispanics in Corporate America

Below is one long blog post that provides a high level summary of what I stand for concerning SHPE and a couple of topics of interest.

Immigration Reform
I support all the issues facing our members and my family (my daughter-in-law is an illegal alien as was my father) including the dream act and increasing visas for students from Latin American countries just to name a couple of topics.  However as one candidate put it, SHPE is currently nowhere close to being able to influence this topic from a national organization perspective.  That is why we added the topic of political influence to our national strategic plan (goals 2f, 4d,4e,4f). We can and should encourage grass roots political efforts by our members but because of our status as a non-profit organization we tend to be limited to what we can do because of laws governing such actions.  However, there are things we can and will do to drive these issues if I am National President. I have been part of other non-profit organizations that not only lobby but publish a list of recommended legislation that the organization supports and encourages to be passed.  I would start with that.  However, for this organization to have an power behind such publications and statements, the organization must grow.  Simply put, politicians only listen to voters and organizations with a large block of voters.  We're not there, but that is why I believe it vital that we increase the membership and influence of the organization.

Summary: I will help increase our membership so that we can increase our influence on the politics of our nation. I will implement a process for SHPE to publish a formal press statement on all political issues that we have an interest in stating our stance and support or non-support for each topic.


Hispanic Population in Corporate America
When you look at the make up of corporate america and fortune 500 STEM companies it is no secret that the diversity in the leadership, advanced technical positions, and executive positions do not mirror that of the current U.S. population. That is why SHPE has adopted a strategy (goal 4) to ensure that "The Hispanic population at all levels in STEM-related areas of corporate America, government and academia
will mirror the United States’ population."  So how does SHPE do this?  It starts with developing our members so that they will be become the managers, leaders, and executives in these companies.  But the part that comes next is the part no one wants to talk about... helping our members break into the "good ol' boy network."  This centers around the fact that unless someone in leadership likes or believes in you it is next to impossible to move up in your department, sector or corporation.  That's where my strategy to develop more company based chapters and engage employee resource groups (ERGs) for company development, mentoring, and networking come into play. SHPE can help our members either break into the network or create their own network that bypasses it all together. Below is a summary of these strategies:

Strategy 1: Developing Our Members:
If you have ever been to my "The Complete SHPE Leader" workshop, you would have seen that the path to promotion is much  more than just communication and project management.  The professional development strategy that I will implement as national president is centered around a complete cycle of skills.  This strategy starts with a program that I developed for region 5 called the Foundations of Leadership Program (FLP).  This was a core set of classes and mentoring sessions that were centered around communication; presentation skills; project management; planning, vision and innovation; marketing; time management; emotional intelligence; ethics; and leadership initiative. Once a member completed these courses and mentoring, they would become a SHPE certified professional leader.  The is the first phase that focused on entry level professionals and provided them the tools to quickly be successful in their companies once they were hired.  The next phase of my strategy is set up around our MGT strategy of supporting our members once they are in leadership and management roles with skill enhancements in these same areas but more importantly with senior manager and executive mentoring.  The final stage is centered around an executive level strategy set up around our ELI strategy of enhancing executive thinking and aptitude to position our members for high level executive roles and help them open the door within their companies to become high level executives.  The key to all this is implementation.  That is where we have failed in the past few years by failing to secure funding for MGT and ELI.  This past year we were able to develop a basic model for MGT that I will use as a basis for implementing MGT and possibly ELI.  I will also make it a goal for the CEO and staff to secure funding for these events every year so that we will never go a year without implementing these professional programs.

Strategy 2: Breaking into the "Network" with Company Chapters:
At my company we established the first ever company based chapter that has allowed our employees to get leadership development training that directly influences their position at work.  When I was chapter president, I established in our first year an executive advisory board and executive sponsor position that gives our board leaders direct access to the executives in our company. In addition, I was able to establish a formal mentoring relationship with executives of our company and the members of the SHPE board of directors.  When members received recognition from the company for their work at SHPE, we have executives recognize employees in a venue where their immediate supervisors participate. In many ways our SHPE chapter has acted as a leadership development program for our members helping them gain the leadership training that the company is not able to provide to every employee.  This is one of the driving factors has made our chapter national chapter of the year three times.  Members are not only motivated to make SHPE successful but can also see a direct benefit in the job for the work they do in SHPE.  In addition, we have now started engaging our Employee Resource Group (ERG) to create executive level mentoring for our members and will be establishing programs specifically to help members move up the management and technical leadership path much faster.

Strategy 3: Breaking into the "Network" through ERGs:
So what does a member do when a company based chapter is not possible?  My strategy is for SHPE to directly engage employee resource groups (ERGs) for our member development, recognition, and career growth.  When I have engaged ERG leaders from across the country many have stated that they are struggling to gain employee participation and retain Hispanic talent while others ERGs have claimed that they are extremely successful.  That is why I developed the ERG business plan for SHPE that engages and brings ERGs together through SHPE so that they can discuss best practices and can meet the needs of the SHPE member.  The plan is to launch this this year at the SHPE national conference with a set of workshops for ERG leaders and SHPE members.  The goal will be to bring these individuals together to discuss and develop the plans to make ERGs and SHPE members successful in their companies.

Summary:  In order to change the make up of corporations we need to develop and train our members but more importantly break into the networks that will help them get promoted.  I will do this by augmenting and expanding our professional development strategy centered around programs and mentoring. I will also move to establish more company based chapters and launch our ERG program so that members can both change lives and develop their careers at the same time.

My Best,

Michael Gutierrez
www.michaelgutierrez.net
michael4prez@gmail.com

SHPE Issues: Organizational Structure

Thanks to Miguel Alemany who wrote the following comment: 

"We need a President that brings unity and alignment and who does not let an issue go misaligned, and we need a board that once aligned, supports the decision, the President and the CEO, and importantly the implementation"......"We need to clean house of past issues and then take the organization forward. With the size we want to be, and the political power this organization carries, we need a professional organization whose job is to run the place, and have our board focus on strategy, direction and long term vision....

My Response:
Board/President Alignment
I will not comment whether or not the board was aligned under the Presidents that I have served with since they do not really have a venue to comment on my opinion. What I will say is that during the five and a half years I have spent on the national board, we have had many motions go through with a clear majority vote and only a small handful where the vote was close and there was a lot of tension.  I will say that after many of those close votes, there was a clear split on the board even to the point that grudges were clearly observed afterwards. That is where I believe a strong President needs to come in and ensure that the board works through the issues, that concerns are addressed, and that the entire board agrees to move forward with the decision.  As National President, I will not be dismissive of board member opinions and will implement a steady, balanced approach to manage the board.  I have worked under Presidents that have taken this approach and have worked with some that do not.  The board was clearly aligned better when we had a President that spent the extra time to address issues with board members.  I promise to the board that I will strive to do the same when I am National President.

CEO Alignment
My opinion is that today there is a misalignment between the NBOD, the CEO, and staff.  This stems back to the fact that the NBOD did not fully plan out and execute a transition plan from a volunteer run national staff to the CEO structure we now have in place.  I was on the board when we approved the new CEO, NBOD, and management structure for the organization.  I also remember being at the next NBOD retreat and asking at the end of the retreat, "where is the step by step plan and measures that ensure that we get from where we are today to the CEO structure that we just implemented?"  My opinion was that we did not have a complete plan, we did not have measures to know where we were in the transition, and as a result we struggled with our first CEO and we are struggling today with our current CEO.  As National President, I will ensure that we evaluate where we are today and identify the gaps.  I will ensure that we map out the remaining transition steps and then execute a plan to ensure we have an NBOD that is focused on strategy, direction, and vision.  Lastly, I will ensure that we achieve alignment between the NBOD, the CEO, and the staff.

I believe that it is important to point out that I have a very good working relationship with the CEO and the staff today and would have their full support if elected National President.  I also believe that I can bring everyone together to close the gap and ensure that SHPE performs to its fullest potential so that we can help Hispanics across the nation can realize their fullest potential and we all can realize the reality of our vision and our dreams.

My Best,

Michael Gutierrez
www.michaelgutierrez.net

SHPE's Issues and Problems

Yuliana Porras Mendoza asked me the following question:
What do you see are the issues and problems that SHPE faces today?

My Response:

There are many issues facing the organization but I am going to address two of the most pressing issues below.

Problem #1 - We have no meaningful measures/metrics:
I'll be direct... The CEO and staff currently work with no metrics put in place by the NBOD to determine if they are successful. The NBOD currently develops strategy, plans, and value for our members with no metrics to determine if they are successful. And finally, we hold national events but have no effective measures for success.

Problem #2 - Accountability
Since we have no metrics to measure and grade the organization, we have no way to hold anyone accountable for the disappointments that occur across the organization. The fact that we are a volunteer organization does not mean we should not hold staff, NBOD, and volunteers accountable for executing a plan to a set standard. If we are going to grow as an organization must be able to admit where we are falling down.

My Solution
As National President...
1. I will ensure that we work with all our stakeholders to develop a plan and execute it to gather all the data needed to have meaningful measures and metrics.
2. I will ensure that we have complete buy in on the measures and metrics from everyone executing our plans.
3. I will ensure that our measures, metrics, and performance at all levels are completely transparent so that all stakeholders in the organization have visibility into our performance.

Staying positive, moving forward
While it is important to measure, execute, and be accountable, we also have to remember that we will make mistakes and will fall down at times. My leadership approach is to ensure that we learn from our mistakes, pick each other up, and continue to move forward, together as one SHPE.

My Best,

Michael Gutierrez
www.michaelgutierrez.net

Positive Leadership

Those who know me know that I have a positive attitude and an optimistic leadership approach. This is an important trait that the leadership of our organization needs to have in order for the NBOD and our organization to be successful. I don't attack people or their ideas because staying positive will always be a better approach than negativity.

www.michaelgutierrez.net

Michael for SHPE National President Launch

SHPE Familia,

With less than thirty days left before the ballots go out, I will now officially start my campaign run for SHPE National President and explain to you why I am the best choice for SHPE National President.  My posts are short and to the point but if you ever have any questions or need more information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Your vote for Michael Gutierrez will bring stabilization to the National Organization.

Your vote for Michael Gutierrez will unite SHPE into a stronger, more focused organization.

Your vote for Michael Gutierrez will be for a leader with a proven record of success.

For more information about me please visit my website at: www.michaelgutierrez.net

My Best,

Michael Gutierrez

Michael for SHPE National President 2013

SHPE Familia and friends,

During the SHPE National Conference, I announced my intent to run for SHPE National President. I hope you will consider supporting me to be your next SHPE National President 2013 and will pass along the word to other SHPE voters.

I have served you all on the National Board of Directors for a little over five years now, three as Region V Vice President and two and a half years as your National Treasurer. Throughout that time I have always been focused on the issues that bring stability and growth to the organization. Most notably I have always championed the cause to grow and develop our professionals while continuing to develop the strongest part of our organization, our student and graduate members. Many of you already know what my platform is because I have run once before, however, you can find my goals have changes a bit with an emphasis on the issues and problems that SHPE faces today.

Thank you and I look forward towards your support,
Michael Gutierrez
michael.gutierrez@shpe.org
www.michaelgutierrez.net