Hi, I’m Loc. I’m a project manager at Montana Aerospace, based in Vietnam.

I am going to tell a story where I started an English-speaking club at UAC Vietnam and the lessons learned in communication and leadership skills.

Every day, as a project manager, I have the privilege of working in a global environment — with people from different backgrounds, cultures, and ways of thinking. And while that diversity is what makes our work so meaningful, it also brings its own set of challenges.

The biggest one? Communication!

When you’re part of a team spread across borders, communication isn’t just about exchanging information.
It’s about connection and making sure ideas are understood the way they’re intended.
And I’ll be honest — there were times when I felt I wasn’t getting my message across as clearly as I wanted. And there were times when I felt I wasn’t fully understanding what others were trying to say.

That’s when I realized something: if I wanted to be better, I couldn’t wait for communication to get better on its own. I had to take action.

So, I started small. I set out with one simple goal: to create a safe, supportive space where my colleagues and I could find our voice, build confidence, and strengthen our English-speaking skills together.

At the beginning, I took on everything — I selected the themes, designed the meeting program, drafted the agendas, and spent time persuading colleagues to deliver a speech.
But over time, something more meaningful happened. I started encouraging others to take on these responsibilities — roles they had never tried before, like leading a session, setting the agenda, or helping a speaker to rehearse.
I focused more on supporting them: offering constructive feedback or celebrating their progress.
After several months, I realized that we were all improving — not only in speaking English, of course, but also, surprisingly, in our communication and leadership skills.

For me personally, this has been not only just realizing a goal, but it has also nurtured a bigger sense of belonging to my workplace and to its people.
Now, I always look forward to our weekly gathering at the English-speaking club.

I thank my manager Richard Gollnow for endorsing this project.
I thank my colleagues for their spirit and enthusiasm.
I thank my company for supporting its employees in always striving for success.