Black In Business

I have lived in Chicago for 13 years. In baseball I am Yankee fan, but I have adopted the Chicago White Sox as my 2nd choice. The dynamics of baseball in Chicago is interesting. Most Sox fans hate the Cubs and same in reverse. Earlier this summer, I had my Sox baseball hat on, near my office in far North Western Chicago, near OHare airport. You would have thought I had on the hat of a team from a different city. My New York Yankee hat does not upset as many people.

This city had suffered through 2 teams with no world series victories for nearly a century until the Sox won in 2005. This year was the 100th anniversary of the Cubs last world champion in 1908. Dusty Baker became one of the most successful managers the Cubs ever had since 1906. He came within 5 outs of going to the world series when a fan’s interference with a foul ball may have caused the Cubs to fall apart and lose.

Dusty being black was overly criticized and run out of town on a rail. This man was NL Manager of the Year 3 times but was torn down as if he knew nothing. This loser franchisee had their scape goat.

The losers hired Lou Piniella, a former New York Yankee. The mangement spent heavily in the free agent market and gave Piniella the tools Dusty only wished he had.

The reason people hate the Cubs is because of their fans. They are uninformed and want everybody to know they are Cubbie fans. If they are near a TV and the Cubs get a hit, they yell and scream like the world series had been won.

The Sox, over achieved this year, no one expected them to be in the playoff’s. So I tip my hat to their gallant effort and their 1 playoff win.

The Cubs, the best team and record in baseball, with 8 all stars, got swept for the second year in a row. Pinella’s record after 2 years in the playoff’s is 0 wins and 6 losses. Swept again, nobody seems mad at Piniella but his playoff record is pitiful.

Bring Dusty back!!!

Last night’s Vice Presidential debate reminded me of a method I used successfully to help develop a team concept. In my first management gig, I was 30 years old and managed a team of 12 people. There was a wide degree of different back grounds to this team. We had a couple of retired military offiicers, some sales veterans and a couple of young guys wearing a suit for the first time.One of my favorite guys was a gentleman named Bill McCarthy.

Bill was one of the leaders in my district and a man of enormous judgement. When I had to interview for openings, often times i would ask Bill to screen the interviewees.Bill would interview and draw up a list of finalist.

This helped to cement Bill as a leader in the district and motivate other to want the same recognition.We also had team leaders for certain products. During our team meetings, I would have team members present in an area of skill for the presenter. This way we all had a stake in the success of the team, and key members had earned respect from the other team members.

OK, back to last night’s debate. Bill McCarthy was a guy that loved everybody. One day he and I did a joint interview of a lady. The lady was pretty good, so after the interview when I asked Bill his opinion. He stated thumbs down. He was not impressed, I asked why because Bill and I were often on the same page.

Here is why Bill convinced me this lady was wrong for our company. He felt the lady was a BSer, her first answer was something that no matter what our question would have been, she was going to regurgitate her answer, that upon closer review said nothing. The thing that really turned Bill off, was the lady keep winking at us.

Bill could not believe this lady thought we were that dumb that a few winks would win us over.

Last night Sarah Palin winked and BSed her way through a debate. America do not be sucked in by this pathetic game Palin is playing. Who do you think won?

I came across a interesting article in the New York Times today that speaks to the challenge of job hunting.

In my early days of job hunting, my father was my adviser. His advice which worked then was to get up early and knock on doors all day. He said sometimes a site would put you to work right away.

I passed on the same advice to my son. In today’s low end jobs this method of job hunting is not nearly as effective as in days passed. My son found his job in a warehouse, from a job board site.

The point of the Times article is that you need a mix of technology; sites like, Career builder, monster.com, Ladders, etc, with the old fashion way of meeting people that may be the hiring manager.

Given the uncertainty of today’s job market, many people will be job hunting, some for the first time in many years. Read this article on job hunting and then come back and let us hear your comments.

You have to admit, the Republicans are making fools of themselves. John” Let suspend my campaign and fly to Washington to save the day!” McCain, hates that a Black Man is running against him, he refused to look him in the eye. His running mate,Sarah “I have foreign policy experience because Russia IS OUR NEIGHBOR AND WE KEEP AN EYE ON PUTIN WHEN HE ENTERS US AIR SPACE,” Palin, could not attend the debate because she is too much of an embarrssement.
Her interview where she was alarmed by the number of foreigners at the UN and vowed that her and McCain would return those jobs to Americans, was a joke by Tina Fey, I think, wasn’t it? Or was It Palin and Tina Fey was the one interviewed by Katie Couric? Conservative columinist, Kathleen Parker, asked that Palin be replaced now! That is not the worst. I received this from my friend Daryl Gresham, with a perspective from South Africa.

What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said “I do” to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no
longer measured up to his standards?

What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain
killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable
organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5?
What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election
numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes
positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in
another when there is a color difference.

You are The Boss… which team would you hire?

With America facing historic debt, 2 wars, stumbling health care, a

weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc.

Educational Background:

Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Now, which team are you going to hire ?

PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter….

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A part of the discussion on “Morning Joe,” during this morning’s discussion on last night’s debate was how Barack Obama looked different. Joe Scarborough, the host of the show, asked quest and Washington Post Editorial Board Member, Jonathan Capehart, if he noticed how Obama looked different. Capehart, a light brown skinned, well dressed bipartisan, mentioned, he was not sure if it was the lighting, or if Barack had gotten a tan in Florida, but Obama looked darker.
Capehart was concerned but he noticed from other angles the darkness was not as bad. I am a very dark skinned black American, I thought, wow, I would not have a chance under those conditions. Scarborough, pointed out the darkness was not as bad as the OJ, News Week covers, where OJ was made to look menacing.
The rest of the panel was very uncomfortable, but I had to wonder. Me, Michael Jordan, Clarence Thomas, and about 85% of Black Americans that are darker than Barack would not be able to run for President. Even if we had the plan to solve the financial crisis, end the war, find a cure for Aids and provide everyone’s life with bliss, we would be viewed as too black.. Is this true?
Obama is half white. His mother was a white woman. What if he had married a woman that was white? Would he still be a Presidential candidate, same man different wife? Help me out, should Barack stay out of the sun. Does his color make him more acceptable to whites, how about to blacks? If he had married a white woman, would whites support him more or less? How about blacks?
These are explosive topics and many may fear commenting, but if it is on a newscast debating the debate for President, we should be able to discuss it here. We the people who are darker than blue, have to compete in this society as well, are dark skinned blacks at an advantage or disadvantage?
Lastly, now that Sarah Palin has interviewed twice, are you sure you trust John McCain’s judgment? As John McEnroe would say, “You can’t be serious!”