Black In Business

I have to tip my hat to the candidates, their supporters and the pundits. !5 months of non stop bs about our nation and the future there of. I thought about some of the silly stuff we have been subject to. I tip my hat because these are amazing people to exhibit the endurance of long days, 7 day work weeks and either giving, hearing or analyzing the same speech for this amount of time. That being said lets have some fun!
10: Ambassador Andrew Young claiming Bill Clinton is blacker than Barack Obama, and adding Clinton has slept with more Black women than Obama. Now that is dumb

9: Governor Rendell of Pennsylvania, saying a Blackman could never win a state wide election in his state. It may be true but it is certainly dumb to say it as the state’s top Politician.

8: Rev. Jeremiah Wright, “God dam America and other rants. I support and agree with most of the Rev’s stance. I do not agree with swearing from a church leader, and there is sentiment that he did not swear. If you most famous parishioner is running for President, be careful what you say.

7: Governor Huckabee, a man of the cloth, saying the confederate flag, is a southern tradition and it should be up to the state to decide. Governor, the flag represents the largest symbol of racism and hate to over 30 million Americans.

6: Senator McCain, I must admit, I do not know much about the economy. Either do I but I am not running for office to be President and by implication agreeing to fix the economy.

5: President George Bush, Gas is near $4 I did not know, I will check into that, on the economy, don’t worry, I got this I am on top of it. Don’t you feel better now? The 28% that approve of him will.

4 Senator Hillary Clinton, I was ducking sniper fire!

3 Senator Hillary Clinton, Her 3 am advertisement, if Hillary is on the phone at 3 am, it is to tell Bill to bring his ass home.

2: CNBC’s Anderson Cooper, Barack’s wife is hurting his campaign, She is more elitist than he is. Anderson’s mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, “The Poor Little Rich Girl,” At one time the Vanderbilt’s of New York were among the nations richest families. Michele Obama, grew up on Chicago’s Southside.:

1: A Tie, Anyone whom said, Barack transcends race, and Senator Obama, There is no white America, no Black America but one America.

How about you guys, Have you heard dumb crap, if so comment and add to my list. Keep Hope Alive.

Business People, there is a lot we can learn from this years Presidential Democratic Primary Season. If you own a business or work for a large company, the campaign of Barack Obama provides hope. I love politics but this year has been like none other. In 1984 and 88, we were excited and proud of Rev. Jackson’s historic run for President. With out the precedent being established by Rev. Jackson that led to changes in how delegates are awarded, Barack would not be ahead today.
Having said that, we knew Jesse could not win. Barack can and will win the nomination and remains a solid choice in the general election. For that reason, more democrats than ever are involved in the primary, providing campaign funds, and following the daily pundits.
After the Potomac Primary, I boldly predicted, Barack would be our next President. My 25 year old son, who has a more positive outlook on race relations than I, reminded me, I said America would never elect a black President in my life time.Barack is different, he was able to transcend race. That is until recently. He has become the black canidate, a black elitist, which up until now, I thought in white America, was an oxymoron.
The race for President is all about power, and the access to it. White folk may be able to handle an Ivy League educated half white non treating Black President. What has happened, Bill Clinton brilliantly began in South Carolina to make Barack the Black canidate.
After the distinguished Rev. Wright episode, Barack is seen as a treat. People like Rev. Wright and other blacks could have access to power. The small donors that average 90 dollars a donation have prove more important to this campaign than the traditional fat cats. This means they could lose their all important access to power.
If you are left to wonder, why the coverage suddenly seems so bias in reporting against Obama, it is about power. His campaign of change represents a change in power brokers. For some reason, this morning my understanding of the pundit’s message is the tide has changed and Hillary may be the nominee. I finaly had to put ESPN on for some sanity.
Business people of color, if you ascend to a position of power, and have to interface with whites in business, they may accept your color. The potential they will become angry when they witness others of color having access to your power is real. It will make you a treat to their normal lives.
Now the train has left the station. The transcending race thing is of the past, I saw on Morning Joe this morning, 17 % percent of Pa voters said race matters. Why, Catholics appear to have a problem supporting Barack, why, the case is being made Barack can not win. This is no accident. If you are black in America, unless you know your place, or be a Tom, race always matters. It is the only chance Hillary has.
Wake up America, we need Barrack’s leadership. He is the only chance we have for this nation to return to greatness. Keep Hope alive.!

The thing shocking about being an adult is how little free time you have. In the states we spend an incredible amount of time earning a living. Let’s do the math. The average adult sleeps 6 hours a night. Work, and related aspects there of; commute, getting ready, etc, takes 10 hours a day. That leaves 8 hours of so called free time. Many business owners and business people work 12 hours plus per day.
I recently heard 70% of people hate their jobs. That could mean they hate 35% of their day. I have had positions where I hated the work, sometimes the boss, sometime the hours of work. I was young and needed the money. Most of the jobs were summer jobs or part time. I was raised in a very blue collar environment, and most of the adults I was around had very little positive to say about their work except it paid the bills.
As an adult I have been a strong majority of my career one of the 30% of happy workers. Do you love your work? Why? What would cause you to love it more? Before you say money, consider this; money is way down the list of why people leave jobs. Here are some other considerations. Poor boss or leader, lacking tools needed to do job well, lack of empowerment, and little or no recognition.
I am thinking about this stuff because I was reminded of why some people love their work. As a recruiter, I speak with business people all day on the phone. I speak with employers and people looking for a new job.
The CEO of a 50 million dollar business in health care I spoke with use to report directly to me for a period of several years. He is a very talented and compassionate person. He smiles a lot, is very bright and is a people person He is fun to be around! The senior VP of sales for this company is another former staff member of mine. He is quieter than his boss but shares many of the same traits, nice smile, compassionate and a great leader.
The CEO told me a compelling story about his vision for this company and a promise he made to his grandmother. The vision is to place information in the hands of a family doctor so a serious and potential deadly disease can be treated by the trusted doctor. Often times the vision of leadership contributes to how well the team feels about their work. This team had a vision that was important, easy to remember and everyone knew their role.
As a part of my looking for some business for my firm, I needed to speak with the regional director of the West Coast sales. I speak with business people all day. Nothing prepared me for the energy that leaped off the phone when I spoke to the sales manager. He was enthusiastic, happy, and professional and spoke glowing about his company. It was like he won the super bowl and was headed to Disney World. It reminded me of my career and the tremendous energy and fun we all had for a period of close to 20 years.
In 18 months of doing this, this was a stand out call in terms of the energy exhibited by the sales director.
Here is why;
1A clear vision
2 great leaders
3 the team is treated with respect
4 very little ego
5 great recognition
6 excellent support from leadership
7 The company does what they say they will
8 Inspiring leadership, the senior VP of sales leaves a group message every day at 4:30 am for the whole team by voice mail.
9 They are winning
10 They are having fun and making money.
It sounds simple, right? Why do so many not do these things. Energy and excitement are contagious, if you want to love your work, look for a place where the employees have it.

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When in an interview for employment you often are asked to review your work history. You will be asked to explain why you left certain positions or companies. On the flip side you may be asked why you stayed so long. There may be a situation where your performance was below par and you are asked to explain why. The interviewer will have interest in your answer but your body language and composure offers just as much insight. If you are not comfortable it will show, if you are smooth as silk and confident in your answer, it will turn a potentiality bad situation into a neutral or positive one.
Prior to going on a interview, anticipate areas in your past that you could be challenged on.Develope a logical explanation that is fact based and with out anger and resist the temptation to bad mouth. For example, if your results show years of great numbers, but suddenly you have a bad year, you will have to explain. The numbers may have been poor due to something the company did and was beyond your control. Let’s say your company suffered a recall. Quickly explain the situation and the fact you anticipated customer resistance. Now talk about the tremendous effort you made to reach your goal and the things you tried different. The numbers are what they are but you can articulate a never say never attitude and tactical mind.
After the interview, review the salient points of discussion. You will want to send a follow up correspondence and remind the interviewer of your value, point by point. Some top interviewers provide a 90 day action plan. The action plan can be reviewed during the interview or sent attached to the thank you follow up letter.
Interviewing is a science and it is something you may not want to an expert at but need some knowledge of. I hope to hear from you guys about your best and worst interviews, either as the interviewer or the person being interviewed.

There are some highly talented and experienced people looking for jobs. Your resume represents you as a part of the job search process. We discussed the resume in my 3 previous posts. Let’s assume your resume has piqued interests in your candidacy for a position. Are you ready to present your self as the best choice for hire? Normally this is done in an interview.
People look for jobs for different reasons. Some are fresh out of college, some have been out of the market for various reasons, and some are dissatisfied with their current job status. What ever your reason for seeking a job is, you will need to be able and willing to articulate it in a positive confident manner. This is critical to comprehend. If you hate your boss, or were unfairly let go, dress it up. If you are angry about your current status, take the time to understand why and calm yourself prior to job hunting. Do not be bitter, don’t worry, be happy!
We mentioned an executive profile statement as an introduction to your resume. That profile describes you as a executive. The traits you use to describe your self should be pointed out during your interview. You can refer to positions and what your outcomes of accomplishment were. Now you can describe how you used the traits you referred to in your profile. Your accomplishments are proof of performance and if need be you should have documentation to back your story.
You need to understand what your goal for the interview is. In most cases it will be to receive the approval and backing of the person your are speaking with. You also want to know their goal. “Ms. Hiring manager, Thank you for having this interview with me today. I am very excited about this opportunity and wondering what your goals for todays are meeting?” The answer will be to access your fit for this position. “Ms Hiring manager, I know your time is valuable, and I want to be sure to address the right criteria to help with your assessment. What are the most important things about myself I can share that will with your decision making?” The answer could be your experience managing change, your track record of hitting profits, and the logic of the career decisions you have made.
“Ms. Hiring manager, if we are fortunate today and I am able to successfully show you examples of change management I led that provided record sustainable profits and additionally explained to logic of my decision making, would you support my candidacy?” You only ask this question one time because most managers will not commit but it will show you are confident.
Answer all questions with examples from your resume of accomplishments and preferably those that can be numerical. Do not speak poorly about your company or boss, be positive and be confident. It is important to dress well and you are better being over dressed rather than under dressed. I prefer a business suit and tie for men and like wise business wear for women. Even you are told the company is business casual, you are better with at least a sport coat and nice slacks, with a tie for men. It is the same for women; do not show up casual for a business interview.
Ask the interviewer for feed back, “Did I answer your question to your satisfaction?” As you are closing the interview, you need to have researched the company prior so you can ask about their strategy, competition and new products. The internet or an annual report will provide a lot of information.
Your last question provides you an opportunity to learn how the interview went. “What are the first projects you need me to take off your hands when I start? How about you, any interview tips for us, any stories from either side of the desk? Keep Hope Alive.