Category: Certified Public Manager®

Coming up in her career in state government, Denise Matayoshi Miño felt that there were unwritten rules preventing people from existing in their whole identity while at work: “It was like you had to keep who you were as a person separate from the workplace and it wasn’t safe to show up as your whole self. You might put a few family photos up in your office but, otherwise, you leave your personal life at the door. That included anything about yourself that didn’t fit into [state government] workplace culture.” That didn’t feel right to her so she made efforts to change that over the span of her career – both for herself and her fellow state employees. 

While the bulk of her career was spent in Information Technology, Miño found herself drawn to volunteer on workplace committees like the Multicultural Workgroup at the Department of Health, where they focused on celebrating diversity and creating some space for employees to be themselves. During her time with it, the committee was also able to start an employee resource group for veterans in their agency. Miño is incredibly proud of the role she played helping to establish the Washington State Latino Leadership Network for state employees in 2015. Starting the Certified Public Manager^® program at UW Tacoma in 2018 led her to seek an internship with the Workplace Transformation program at Results Washington. Miño now serves as an advisor to ‘A Human Workplace’, the organization that spun off that initiative.

Her eyes light up as she talks about the future of work – a future she sees as grounded in love, caring, concern, creativity, autonomy, and equity. While an authoritative, top-down style of leading might work in certain, limited circumstances, Miño chooses to “lead with the heart.” She applies this principal as she coaches leaders and develops and delivers leadership training, saying

I feel like we’ve got to connect with people as human beings and part of that is taking interest in their personal lives – their likes, their dislikes, who they are as people. Once you get to know your employees, you also get an opportunity to know what they do well, what their strengths are, and then what they aren’t able to do or what they don’t do well. That’s a basis to then know how you can support them – sending them to training, developing them in certain areas, or moving something off their plate so you aren’t setting them up for failure. 

As people and employees, we need immediate feedback. We need to know what we’re doing well and what areas we can improve in. We shouldn’t be waiting for a person’s annual review to point out something they need to work on or to praise them for a job well done. That post-World War II model of managing employees doesn’t work anymore. And we need to be sure we are giving more encouragement than criticism.

Why is this approach radical, necessary, and of particular importance as we work to build inclusive agencies and organizations? Because, says Miño, our work “really is about relationships. It’s relationships with your peers, those that you supervise. It’s your stakeholders. It’s your community members. It’s the citizens. It’s all about relationships.” Keeping the focus on these relationships and the mission you’re working towards often requires you to set aside your ego and a desire for “credit,” which can be a challenge for leaders entrenched in older ways of thinking.

Miño is also dedicated to bringing this heart-led and relationship centered approach out into the community. She co-created and co-leads “Community Conversations on Race,” a program in her small, rural community that provides space for participants to have structured, facilitated conversations on race-related topics while also learning how to become anti-racist. “I’m learning right along with them,” Mino says.“There’s so much that society has taught us that we need to unlearn.”Miño is also a part of the YWCA of Olympia’s Intercultural Foundations Community Institute – a program designed to build inclusive communities by identifying systems of oppression and shifting culture.

How the WA CPM^® Fits In

Miño began the Washington Certified Public Manager^® program in the fall of 2018, with more than 20 years of state government experience under her belt but a desire to change careers and focus more on developing leadership skills.  So why choose a program like this?

According to Miño,

I wasn’t really sure where the [CPM] program would take me. But, reflecting back on my career, I can see how things develop over time. Early on, you start out on the front lines and you’re in the weeds. Then you take it a little higher; you get more specific in your field, becoming an expert in certain areas. As you elevate yourself, you start seeing things from a larger, higher perspective.

Through my experience and education, I was at the 30,000-foot level. The CPM^® program helped me take things to the next level by validating some of the thoughts, ideas, techniques, and patterns that I had already learned established over the years. But it then also introduced me to new ideas and ways of thinking. New books. New content authors, thought leaders, inspirational speakers, techniques and tools that then elevated me to the 50,000-foot level.

Miño says she continues to use the skills and tools she learned in the CPM^® program. “The tools and skillsets I learned throughout the program are so helpful! I still refer back to my notes! Sometimes I’ll read them before I go into a meeting, and then I’ll be prepared to propose a new structure or process.”

And it’s not just the content or the resources from the program that she thinks makes the CPM^® a powerful program with lasting impact. It’s the combination of content, cohort, and contributing instructors!

You’re around a cohort of professionals who have their own set of experiences, their own struggles [in the workplace], and their own perspectives that help awaken within yourself a new way of thinking. So it’s not just “I read a book, and I got smarter.”

It’s “I read the book. I did the assignments. I interacted with the class. And the instructors were helpful. Long story short, I loved being a part of the CPM^® program!”

Learn more about the Washington Certified Public Manager^® program or contact Saralyn Smith for more information!