Black In Business

I got 2 more votes yesterday for 11 totals. The votes for best business blog were given to me by the distinguished Ted Demopoulos, The King of. Blogging. Ted is a big time guy and I am proud to have his vote. Another heavy gave me a vote, Manchild, read his bio and you will see what I mean. Now that I have 11, I wonder if 15 is possible? Just click on the stamp and follow the instructions. By the way I got no additional votes for best looking!

Yesterday I posted about being a manager for the first time. I referred to being a black manager of a all white team. The experience I entered into could be similar for a woman manager on a all male team, a young manager, a gay manager, a obese manager,ect. The point is what worked for me could work for many.
I wrote about my first team meeting. I traveled a lot with my salesmen and my objective was to get to know them and to exhibit I was of value to them. It was important for my team to see me as a person and to feel comfortable with me. I wanted to have fun at work and wanted my guys to have fun and be productive as well.
I entered business when managing by intimidation was in vogue. I had the advantage of having worked for managers who only goal in life was to make people miserable. My goal was to “Do onto others as you would have them do on to you.” I wanted my people to feel respected and cared about.
It was weird at first to be the boss. I wanted people to like me but mostly I wanted to be a success. I was the first black sales manager in the division’s history and felt that if I failed, there would be no more black managers. It was a burden I accepted, I had confidence I would succeed.
I spent a lot of time speaking small talk, my guys taught me the importance of St. Patrick’s Day, introduced me to Bruce Springsteen music. I turned them onto Louis Farrakhan and showed how he and Ronald Reagan had similar views on many things. I had my team understand the importance of diversity as we became 40% black and improved performance
I understood why each of my people went to work and what they wanted out of life. I had action plan for each person and would tied their business objectives into personal goals. If someone wanted to buy a home, we would put together a plan to earn the bonus needed to earn the down payment. It was about team success but individual reward.
I prided myself in helping my people get promoted. I made sure their talents were recognized and that we had development plans to improve weakness. In 4 years I had two people quit but only one that I felt I did not reach and make better.
In closing, for a new manager, be of value, understands the goals of your people, reward performance, have fun and treat people with respect. A key to our winning was building a diverse team of winners and respecting each others cultures. My next post we be on building team.