Black In Business

This is a business blog and although it may touch many subjects usually there is a business take away for the reader. My last post was about a black family and some issues that can arise from living in an affluent area. The business ramifications are that we may want the same things in a community our successful white peers do; i.e., nice homes, good schools, safe neighborhoods and good infrastructures, we could face resentment. You should not be shocked by it and try not to let it affect your happiness. Today I will post about managing managers and things to do the first 90 days. If you read this blog and find value, I would love to have your vote for blackinbusiness as the best business blog. All you have to do is click on the stamp in the upper right hand corner and follow the instructions.
It is a beautiful thing to witness the start of a blackinbusiness career. We are filled with hope, pride and excitement. In some cases we represent to hope of generations of our relatives because we are the only family college graduate. We want to win and will big, some of us think we have survived racism; surely our well educated corporate white peers are going to treat us like equals. Just like white women and Oparh have “The Rules,” for dating, there are rules for corporate success. In our case there is no book. An example for your consideration, years ago a major corporate giant analyzed their top executives to see what the commonalities for their success were. It was found, in that case, most of the high ranking executives had been a front line sales manager. The outcome was as high potential talents were identified, an action and development plan was put in place. The goal was to get that person ready for front line sales management ASAP.
Another key career move is proving you can manage managers. A person I hired at Abbott is ready to interview for a large opportunity managing managers as the regional sales director for a major life science company. He called me to see if I had any copies of a ninety day action plan. I did not but I was able to tell him what I did my first 90 days as a national sales manager and managing managers for the first time.
At Abbott, I was the first black to become a sales manager and the first to manage managers for my division. As a tall football build, very dark skinned black manager, I brought to the party a lot of baggage. All of my managers who were now to work for me were white of which were 2 women. The baggage I brought was in the negative portraits painted by the media of blacks in America. This manager is like me in many aspects but not as tall, but nerveless a big strong and proud very dark skinned black man. He may even run in to less understanding of the diversity of blacks in America than I did. It appears America is a less tolerant place. I did not go into details but spoke of the key things I did that enabled a team to win and from day one express a higher level of performance.
As follows are my key events over the first 90days.
1) Meet with managers off site. I chose Sanibel Island Florida. This was in the fall of the year; I introduced myself and reviewed why I was the man with a plan. I reviewed my expectations of them and the reasons for it. I provided them a lot of time to talk and explain the market. This team was way below plan. My job was to listen carefully, take away excuses, and build a bond. We went out and ate great sea food and even took time to play beach volley ball. At the top of my list I wanted to team to have fun and I wanted them to trust in me. The social settings helped bridge that gap. I had researched the top accomplishments of the management team so I was able to demonstrate the ability to look beyond the present to the past to provide hope for the future.
2) I had 70 something sales reps and I wanted to meet them all in the first 30 days and have them present their business plan for success the next year. I kicked off 7 meetings in 7 cities. My goal was to look each and every sales person in the eye and let them know, less than100% of performance was not an option. This was after I had communicated everything we would do to support and help them. It was most important for them to know we were in this together. We did some social things as well.
3) At the end of this string of meetings I was able to analyze every body’s strengths and weakness and attitude. I send each sales person a customized letter using information from their action plans.
4) I took to the field to visit key customers, prospects and accounts lost to competition. I wanted to see hands on the market, competition and objections to our product line.
5) I informed my boss what support I needed from him and what return he could expect.

There are much more fill in the blanks things but these 5 items were key to my kicking ass managing managers. For those of you wanting to be a manager or those of you wanting to manage managers, make sure you and your boss agree on the best path to get there and that you have their support. What are your thoughts.