Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Info to Know: Insights from the Leadership Journeys of African American Executive

Transcript

Info to Know: Insights from the Leadership Journeys of African American Executive · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome to money Making Conversations.
0:07
Speaker 2: It's to show that she is the secrets of success
0:08
Speaker 2: experience firsthand by marketing and Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I
0:12
Speaker 2: will know he's giving me advice on many occasions. And
0:14
Speaker 2: in case you didn't notice, I'm not broke. You know
0:17
Speaker 2: he'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry.
0:21
Speaker 1: Decision make because it's what he likes to do. It's
0:23
Speaker 1: what he likes to share.
0:24
Speaker 2: Now it's time to hear from my man, Rashan McDonald
0:27
Speaker 2: money making conversations.
0:29
Speaker 1: Here we go, Hi, there, this is Rashi McDonald. And
0:32
Speaker 1: it is cold in the south. That's right. Move to
0:36
Speaker 1: the south is won no, no, no, no, move to
0:39
Speaker 1: the south. And it is very cold. So this is
0:41
Speaker 1: my air in summer. I'm got me tell you something.
0:42
Speaker 1: Why I'm doing this interview right now in January. It
0:46
Speaker 1: is cold. So whenever you hear this interview, if it repeats,
0:49
Speaker 1: it's cold when I'm doing this interview. So when I
0:52
Speaker 1: finished the interview, I'll be snuggling up in my gloves
0:54
Speaker 1: and my big hat and my big coat and going
0:58
Speaker 1: home and getting in the bed. That's going to keep
1:00
Speaker 1: you warm all night. Yes, I am Rowshan MacDonald. I'm
1:03
Speaker 1: the host of this weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show.
1:07
Speaker 1: The interviews and information that this show provides are for everyone.
1:11
Speaker 1: It's time to start reading other people's success stories and
1:14
Speaker 1: start living your own. My guest on the show today
1:17
Speaker 1: is doctor Chuck Wallington. He is the author of A
1:21
Speaker 1: Seat at the c Suite Table, Insights from the leadership
1:24
Speaker 1: Journeys of African American executives. Please work with the Money
1:28
Speaker 1: Making Conversations Masterclass, Doctor Chuck Wallington.
1:31
Speaker 3: How you doing, sir, I'm will Rashaan. How are you doing?
1:35
Speaker 1: And you someplace warned my brother, please tell me yes
1:38
Speaker 1: I am.
1:38
Speaker 3: I am not. I wish I were a Greensboro, North
1:41
Speaker 3: Carolina and it's.
1:44
Speaker 1: Well, you know this is a climate change. Well I'm
1:47
Speaker 1: experiencing the climate change because brother, it is a chili
1:50
Speaker 1: chili chili. But I'm born and raised in Houston, Texas.
1:52
Speaker 1: So I'm a Southern boy. So you're in Greensboro, so
1:55
Speaker 1: you know that's that's the South too, So that there's
1:59
Speaker 1: those statement that you so is woman in South. That's
2:01
Speaker 1: not true today for you, nor I And how you doing?
2:04
Speaker 1: You got a book out, book coming out? Tell us
2:06
Speaker 1: about it right quick.
2:07
Speaker 3: I am doing well and I do have a book
2:09
Speaker 3: that's in the market and it's called A Seat at
2:11
Speaker 3: the C Suite Table. And I was inspired to write
2:14
Speaker 3: this book after having worked in corporate America for now
2:18
Speaker 3: thirty five plus years. I'm still working in corporate America,
2:22
Speaker 3: and I've always wondered, are there journeys for other people
2:25
Speaker 3: who look like me the same as mine or are
2:28
Speaker 3: they different? And so that's what inspired me to actually
2:31
Speaker 3: write the book. And I reached out to thirty black
2:34
Speaker 3: men who are currently working in the US corporations in
2:39
Speaker 3: C suite roles, and I asked them if they would
2:41
Speaker 3: share their leadership journeys with me, and they did so,
2:44
Speaker 3: and this became my doctoral dissertation research and it's now
2:49
Speaker 3: a book that's available in the marketplace today.
2:52
Speaker 1: I have to ask you the question, why did you
2:54
Speaker 1: not include a woman?
2:57
Speaker 3: You know what, there's been a lot of research already
3:00
Speaker 3: about women and their stories are important for sure. As
3:05
Speaker 3: a black male, though, I wanted to understand and to
3:07
Speaker 3: highlight the unique journeys of black men. So that's why
3:12
Speaker 3: I chose to narrow my focus and focus on black men. Now,
3:16
Speaker 3: if there's a part two to this, who knows, maybe
3:18
Speaker 3: that could then focus on the journeys of black women.
3:21
Speaker 1: Well, you know, being a former employee of IBM, I
3:24
Speaker 1: worked at two and a half years undergraduate two and
3:26
Speaker 1: a half years graduate of undergrads in mathematics. So I
3:30
Speaker 1: was a guy who's journeying in that direction to an executive.
3:34
Speaker 1: But we all need to be educated. So what exactly
3:37
Speaker 1: do you mean when you say c suite? What does
3:40
Speaker 1: that What does that term mean?
3:41
Speaker 3: Great, that's a great question. So that term broadly refers
3:44
Speaker 3: to people who are the chiefs of the areas for
3:47
Speaker 3: which they're responsible. So think of the chief financial officer,
3:52
Speaker 3: the chief executive officer, the chief operating officer, the chief
3:56
Speaker 3: marketing and communications officer. It's the most senior person in
4:00
Speaker 3: an organization who's responsible for that particular function and the
4:05
Speaker 3: collective of those So the eight or nine or ten
4:08
Speaker 3: on whatever the small number tends to be, those folks
4:10
Speaker 3: typically report to the CEO and they're the ones who
4:13
Speaker 3: make the strategic decisions for the organization. So that's the
4:17
Speaker 3: C suite. There are not a lot of people there,
4:20
Speaker 3: and for people of color, it can be a challenge
4:22
Speaker 3: at best to get there, and then you have your
4:24
Speaker 3: own unique experiences once you're there.
4:27
Speaker 1: Yeah. You know the interesting thing about it, like I said,
4:29
Speaker 1: I was it was, like I said, I went to college.
4:32
Speaker 1: I graduated in eighty three. So I worked for IBM
4:35
Speaker 1: from eighty three to eighty six. And so a good
4:39
Speaker 1: is about mentorship, and that word wasn't used back then
4:41
Speaker 1: as it is used today about who you turn to,
4:44
Speaker 1: who you communicate, because that helps you, that helps you
4:48
Speaker 1: total line, you know. So I had no one I
4:51
Speaker 1: could turn to, even you know, there was above me.
4:54
Speaker 1: I have people on my same level, you know, but
4:58
Speaker 1: no one above me that can tell me, you know,
5:00
Speaker 1: reach back and pull me up or tell me what
5:03
Speaker 1: I had to do get up. Did any of them
5:05
Speaker 1: discuss that mentorship availability as they will growing their career objectives,
5:13
Speaker 1: you know, sending the ladder.
5:15
Speaker 3: Yes, there was great conversation among the thirty of them.
5:18
Speaker 3: And remember I interviewed them individually and I kind of
5:21
Speaker 3: pulled the data together collectively. So Yes, one of the
5:24
Speaker 3: themes was that these men would love to have had mentors, coaches, sponsors,
5:30
Speaker 3: and allies. Some of them did and some of them didn't.
5:33
Speaker 3: Those who did have mentors, talk very finally about the
5:37
Speaker 3: role the mentors played for them, how the mentors opened
5:40
Speaker 3: doors for them, how the mentors helped them to navigate
5:44
Speaker 3: the corporate culture. For those who didn't, they talked about
5:48
Speaker 3: how they yearned for mentors. Even today, even though they've
5:51
Speaker 3: reached the c suite, many of them still yearn from mentors.
5:54
Speaker 3: They talked about if you didn't have a mentor, how
5:57
Speaker 3: they had to navigate the system themselves, had to figure
6:01
Speaker 3: things out, how they had to figure out what the
6:03
Speaker 3: culture of their organization was. And they talked about how
6:07
Speaker 3: challenging it was. It wasn't impossible for them, but it
6:10
Speaker 3: was more challenging. And they talked about how they just
6:12
Speaker 3: wish they'd had mentors and sponsors and coaches and role models,
6:16
Speaker 3: or at least more of them.
6:18
Speaker 1: For sure, I know it's very important I can. I've
6:20
Speaker 1: shared my story of my experience of being hired full time,
6:24
Speaker 1: because when you work part time, there's some you know,
6:27
Speaker 1: there's some allowances on how you should dress, and because
6:30
Speaker 1: you're in college, you know so, so they won't be
6:33
Speaker 1: as saying they can be more accommodating to your clothes
6:36
Speaker 1: that you wear. When I came on full time. Then
6:40
Speaker 1: I still was in that college mindset, you know, kind
6:43
Speaker 1: of when and it was ibing. When IV's a M
6:45
Speaker 1: was really you know, you had to really dress a
6:47
Speaker 1: certain way. You know, had to have that great gray suit,
6:50
Speaker 1: their browsuit, that black suit, you know, that blue navy
6:53
Speaker 1: blue suit, red tie, all that stuff, because that was
6:56
Speaker 1: the that was the format that they had. Today, a
7:00
Speaker 1: lot of people, a lot more casual people pitch casual
7:02
Speaker 1: fridays a very major corporations. But I came on board.
7:06
Speaker 1: And that's why mentorship is important. Nobody told me, Rashan Rashank,
7:10
Speaker 1: You're not in college anymore. You're going to have to
7:13
Speaker 1: change the way you look. So I was rolling through, Chuck.
7:17
Speaker 1: I was rolling through wondering why I wasn't getting promoted,
7:20
Speaker 1: wondering why I wasn't getting invited into any inner circle
7:25
Speaker 1: meetings that I felt would benefit me to grow as
7:28
Speaker 1: a potential executive, because at that moment, that's what I
7:31
Speaker 1: wanted to be. I wanted to be an IBM executive.
7:33
Speaker 1: I wanted to go up the food change. But nobody
7:36
Speaker 1: told me. So I was walking in there with my
7:38
Speaker 1: little stylish pointy toe shoes and then I have a
7:42
Speaker 1: little my little skinny tie, and I would have I
7:44
Speaker 1: wouldn't wear a full suit. I would have a little
7:47
Speaker 1: blazer jacket. You know the pants they were they will fly.
7:51
Speaker 1: You know. Long as the ladies said they were looking nice,
7:53
Speaker 1: I was putting it on. You know what I'm saying, Chuck,
7:55
Speaker 1: and so you know what I'm saying. So but I'm not,
7:58
Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm just telling people was truth. That's when
8:00
Speaker 1: you don't have people telling you of pulling your coattail,
8:04
Speaker 1: telling you, young man, you look nice, but what are
8:08
Speaker 1: you trying to achieve here? If I had sat down
8:10
Speaker 1: to sir, I want to be an executive at IBM,
8:13
Speaker 1: they told you where you're dressing wrong, young man. That's
8:15
Speaker 1: what mentorship will do for you. And that's why I
8:18
Speaker 1: want to bring it up, because you can go through
8:20
Speaker 1: the whole process. And I'm gonna tell you something. I
8:23
Speaker 1: got hired with two white guys at the same time
8:26
Speaker 1: and they were just flying through. But they were not
8:28
Speaker 1: dressing like Rashan McDonald. They weren't as fly as Rashan McDonald.
8:32
Speaker 1: They were playing the roles. They had the white the
8:36
Speaker 1: white conservative Stacey adams On and conservative wing Tip shoes on,
8:42
Speaker 1: and they had the white shirts with the tide that
8:45
Speaker 1: there was appropriately deemed the role you should wear when
8:48
Speaker 1: you go into the corporate experience. And I had to
8:51
Speaker 1: go and talk to my supervisor and he had to
8:53
Speaker 1: tell me, Rashan in a professional way, because you really
8:56
Speaker 1: can't tell anybody, hey, you're dressing wrong when you're in
8:59
Speaker 1: the leadershle. He just told me, you may want to
9:04
Speaker 1: check how you are dressing. Look around, look around at
9:07
Speaker 1: the leaders, look at around at the supervisors. Do you
9:11
Speaker 1: see anybody dressed like you, ra Sean? And I had
9:14
Speaker 1: to admit no. And when I admitted to myself no,
9:19
Speaker 1: then I went out and bought me some suits and
9:22
Speaker 1: went in the store. At the time, I could buy
9:24
Speaker 1: three suits for ninety nine dollars each. And I came
9:28
Speaker 1: back through that door and my life changed. My life
9:31
Speaker 1: at IBM changed immediately because I played the role. And
9:35
Speaker 1: that's what you're talking about in mentorship. And I'm pretty
9:38
Speaker 1: sure those examples of what they were saying, if they
9:42
Speaker 1: had somebody, they may not be extreme ast mind, Chuck,
9:45
Speaker 1: but I tell you need some guidance when you walking
9:48
Speaker 1: into an environment that is predominant white.
9:51
Speaker 3: That's true, So you have to have the guidance. And
9:53
Speaker 3: certainly these men had some experiences as far as dress
9:57
Speaker 3: is concerned, but their experiences with mentors or the lack
10:00
Speaker 3: there went even deeper. So you know, when you go
10:03
Speaker 3: into any organization, you know there's a culture, right, there's
10:06
Speaker 3: a way that you do things in a way that
10:08
Speaker 3: you don't do things. And some of it's how you dress,
10:11
Speaker 3: but some of it's how that you act and how
10:12
Speaker 3: you conduct yourself. Some of it's just the more nuanced
10:16
Speaker 3: pieces of the white culture that some folks perhaps haven't
10:20
Speaker 3: been exposed to. All of that's important, and you have
10:23
Speaker 3: to learn how to navigate an organization's culture in order
10:27
Speaker 3: to be successful. So again, these men talked about how
10:30
Speaker 3: they learn how to navigate this white culture. And if
10:34
Speaker 3: you pause and think about it for a second, you know,
10:37
Speaker 3: the companies in the United States, for the most part,
10:40
Speaker 3: were created by white men for the success of white men,
10:44
Speaker 3: and so all the rules, all the regulations are for
10:47
Speaker 3: the success of white men. So think about what happens
10:51
Speaker 3: when a black man or a black woman or some
10:53
Speaker 3: other minority comes into an organization. The rules are already
10:57
Speaker 3: set against them. Right. It doesn't mean they can't figure
11:00
Speaker 3: them out, and many people do. It just means it's
11:02
Speaker 3: a challenge on the front end to figure it out.
11:05
Speaker 3: That's what a mentor or a coach can help you do.
11:09
Speaker 3: And the men talked about the advantage of having mentors
11:12
Speaker 3: and coaches, and for those who didn't, they talked about
11:14
Speaker 3: the struggle and fortunately they were still able to make it.
11:17
Speaker 3: So you're right, it's everything that includes dress. But it's
11:20
Speaker 3: not just dress. It's that and so much more.
11:23
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I'm talking to doctor Chuck Wallington his book A
11:27
Speaker 1: Seat at the c Suite Table, Insights from the Leadership
11:30
Speaker 1: Journeys of African American Executives, And I, you know, it's
11:33
Speaker 1: really interesting because, like you know, when I was you know,
11:36
Speaker 1: I come from inner city. I graduated from University Houston,
11:39
Speaker 1: which is in third Ward. I still hung out with
11:42
Speaker 1: my friends. I pledged amegasci Fi Fraternity Incorporated, so I
11:45
Speaker 1: my black culture. I came from a black neighborhood. I
11:48
Speaker 1: went to a white school. I was fortunate to be
11:50
Speaker 1: a vice president's student body while I was there, so
11:53
Speaker 1: I understood communicating with everybody. But it's still when I
11:58
Speaker 1: got to IBM, I didn't have a role model. And
12:02
Speaker 1: that's why I think the value of internship. Interning helps
12:06
Speaker 1: as well, because I'm just talking about not just these gentlemen,
12:10
Speaker 1: but we're talking about future. If you can intern at
12:12
Speaker 1: a company, it will help you and I also lead
12:15
Speaker 1: you into some mentorship roles, because I think your book
12:18
Speaker 1: is about more so about these men, but also how
12:22
Speaker 1: society is today and how you can take advantage of
12:24
Speaker 1: some of the things that are available today.
12:26
Speaker 3: Correct, yup, that's exactly right. And one of the first
12:29
Speaker 3: things that you have to do if you aspire for
12:31
Speaker 3: a seat at the c suite table is to take
12:34
Speaker 3: the opportunities that come to you now. And so if
12:36
Speaker 3: you are young and in college and thinking about business
12:39
Speaker 3: as a career, that's great, And to your point, speak
12:42
Speaker 3: out every opportunity to learn, Go in, ask questions. Yes,
12:48
Speaker 3: you want to be compensated for what you do, and
12:50
Speaker 3: you don't have to come in making a whole boatload
12:52
Speaker 3: of money as an intern. It's very okay to come
12:55
Speaker 3: in and be compensated and then go in and figure
12:59
Speaker 3: out what it is that you can learn so that
13:00
Speaker 3: you become even better at what you think you want
13:03
Speaker 3: to do. Internships also rule out things so You may
13:06
Speaker 3: go into an internship and think you want to pursue
13:09
Speaker 3: one area. You may decide I don't like that, right,
13:11
Speaker 3: you discover something else along the way. That is the
13:14
Speaker 3: value and the beauty of an internship.
13:18
Speaker 1: It's really amazing how you sit down and you know,
13:21
Speaker 1: I also encourage individuals to look at temporary employment opportunities
13:27
Speaker 1: because of the fact, like you said, I remember I
13:29
Speaker 1: used that a lot as well, Chuck, and laying out
13:32
Speaker 1: my aspirations because working at a temporary job, if they
13:36
Speaker 1: like you, then they'll keep you and hire you permanently.
13:39
Speaker 1: Because basically, especially the day a lot of companies are
13:42
Speaker 1: trying to avoid you know, unemployment insurance and laying people off.
13:47
Speaker 1: They'll hire people through through the through temporary inssignments. And
13:51
Speaker 1: the whole thing that this conversation is getting to that
13:54
Speaker 1: C suite and just seeing is that the company for you?
13:58
Speaker 1: Because I knew and I eventually left IBM, not because
14:02
Speaker 1: of a bad company. It wasn't a dream that I
14:04
Speaker 1: had for my life. I prefer entertainment. And that's all
14:08
Speaker 1: you're saying as well, Chuck, is that understand the culture?
14:12
Speaker 1: Understand is this your final goal is just the environment
14:16
Speaker 1: that you want to aspire and the only way you're
14:19
Speaker 1: going to do that is do interning mentorship as well
14:23
Speaker 1: as job experience. Correct.
14:26
Speaker 3: Yes, that's true. And you made a reference here that
14:28
Speaker 3: I'm going to follow up on. Think about the industry
14:31
Speaker 3: that you want to go into. So I had never
14:34
Speaker 3: thought about going into healthcare, and twelve years ago had
14:36
Speaker 3: a chance to come into healthcare in a leadership role,
14:40
Speaker 3: and that's what landed me in my C suite role
14:42
Speaker 3: that I'm blessed to hoole today. But I'd never thought
14:44
Speaker 3: about health care. I'd worked in financial services and consumer
14:48
Speaker 3: packaged goods and I'm a newspaper reporter by training briefly
14:51
Speaker 3: right out of undergraduate school. So I never thought about it.
14:54
Speaker 3: But everybody owes it to him or herself to think
14:57
Speaker 3: about what about the industry and can I see myself
15:00
Speaker 3: in that industry? Can I get excited about the work
15:02
Speaker 3: that happens in healthcare or in financial services or whatever
15:06
Speaker 3: your industry of choice happens to be. And again, for
15:09
Speaker 3: your younger listeners, the beauty of it now is you
15:12
Speaker 3: don't have to have it all figured out. You get
15:14
Speaker 3: to explore numbers of industry that you might be interested in,
15:19
Speaker 3: and you will eventually land in one that really resonates
15:22
Speaker 3: with you and speaks to who you are and what
15:24
Speaker 3: you're passionate about.
15:25
Speaker 1: Yes, you don't have to go to find you a botanica.
15:27
Speaker 1: You're that big old dictionary on that wall. Did you
15:29
Speaker 1: have to look through all the different words and figure
15:31
Speaker 1: out what's going on? I'm speaking to doctor Chuck Wallington.
15:35
Speaker 1: He's the book. It's the book is the author A
15:37
Speaker 1: Seat at the c Suite Table, Insights from the Leadership
15:39
Speaker 1: Journeys of African American Executive. When we come back, I'll
15:43
Speaker 1: be asking doctor Wallington, how did he select these mail executives?
15:48
Speaker 1: Know the he put them out of the hand, but
15:49
Speaker 1: they recommend it. How did he find he found thirty
15:52
Speaker 1: of them? Where did they come from? We write back
15:54
Speaker 1: with more money Making Conversation Masterclass. My guest is doctor
15:57
Speaker 1: Chuck Wallington. He's an author of the book book the
16:00
Speaker 1: c Suite and get correct name A Seat at the
16:03
Speaker 1: c Suite Table, Insights from Leadership Journeys of African American Executives.
16:08
Speaker 1: And these thirty African American executives are male? How did
16:11
Speaker 1: you line them up or how did they come into
16:13
Speaker 1: your book.
16:14
Speaker 3: That's a great question. The headline there is there's a
16:17
Speaker 3: God somewhere. And I say that with all sincerity because
16:22
Speaker 3: when I started this research, I knew four, maybe five
16:26
Speaker 3: of these executives myself, and I had a goal of
16:30
Speaker 3: thirty and I said, you know what, I can get
16:33
Speaker 3: to thirty. And the methodology that I used, quite frankly,
16:36
Speaker 3: was as I would finish an interview with someone, I
16:40
Speaker 3: would say, can you please refer me to someone else?
16:43
Speaker 3: And so I got to the thirty because a lot
16:46
Speaker 3: of the men that I interviewed and reintroduced me to
16:49
Speaker 3: someone else. I'll also tell you that I reached out
16:53
Speaker 3: to women that I knew and said, I'm doing this research,
16:57
Speaker 3: can you connect me with someone? And I am surprised, Well,
17:02
Speaker 3: I am not surprised, but women answered my call and
17:06
Speaker 3: they really reached out and they referred me to folks
17:09
Speaker 3: whom they work with or people whom they know. You know,
17:11
Speaker 3: a couple of cases, a couple of women referred me
17:14
Speaker 3: to their husbands, and that's how I arrived at the thirties.
17:17
Speaker 3: So I owe a huge debt of gratitude not only
17:20
Speaker 3: to the thirty men for saying yes, but to the
17:23
Speaker 3: people who referred me to them for them to open
17:26
Speaker 3: up and to share their story.
17:28
Speaker 1: Well, you've read of God and faith and how we
17:32
Speaker 1: get there. I know that faith for a lot of people,
17:35
Speaker 1: they show it publicly and a lot of people, especially
17:38
Speaker 1: in the corporate world, you can't really display your faith,
17:41
Speaker 1: you know. And so how have faith played a role
17:44
Speaker 1: in your life? And how do you allow it to
17:47
Speaker 1: be shared amongst people when you're delivering speaking and gave
17:50
Speaker 1: me or do you keep it within yourself?
17:54
Speaker 3: You know what, I have gotten to the point in
17:56
Speaker 3: life where I am not going to keep my faith
17:58
Speaker 3: to myself. That is a mean that I shouted from
18:02
Speaker 3: the rooftop when it's inappropriate, But it does mean when
18:04
Speaker 3: it is appropriate, I do not hide the fact that
18:08
Speaker 3: I believe. I'm a Christian and I believe in what
18:10
Speaker 3: I believe in. And so in the workplace, you know,
18:13
Speaker 3: there are opportunities in one on one conversations to weave
18:18
Speaker 3: in faith. There are times when people come to me
18:20
Speaker 3: and they want to close the door and have a
18:22
Speaker 3: confidential conversation and I will listen. I can tell if
18:26
Speaker 3: people believe in a higher being, and we can we
18:29
Speaker 3: can turn the conversation to that, and I can encourage
18:31
Speaker 3: them to be prayerful about whatever it is if they
18:33
Speaker 3: are concerned about. So I am not one to walk
18:37
Speaker 3: away from my faith. And it is crystal clear to
18:41
Speaker 3: me that you and I would not be having this
18:43
Speaker 3: conversation right now if the God that I choose to
18:46
Speaker 3: serve had not ordained all of it and set it
18:49
Speaker 3: into motion. So I am thankful for that, and I
18:51
Speaker 3: appreciate you giving me this chance to have this conversation.
18:54
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's really one that I want to have,
18:57
Speaker 1: you know. And I was speaking with a good friend
18:58
Speaker 1: like ylanda Adams gospel singing legend, and I was trying
19:02
Speaker 1: to get her to define the main difference between business
19:05
Speaker 1: and faith, and she said, rash on that one and
19:07
Speaker 1: the same, you know, because you know you you know,
19:10
Speaker 1: it's about efforts, about applying, you know, consistency and a belief.
19:16
Speaker 1: You know, if you believe in your business, you believe
19:18
Speaker 1: in your faith. They are tied together. Is that something
19:22
Speaker 1: that you can relate to? When when she says that,
19:25
Speaker 1: because I really thought you had to separate them, now
19:28
Speaker 1: you trying to bring them together, she said, no, don't
19:31
Speaker 1: try to separate them, embrace them and use them as
19:35
Speaker 1: dual motivation for your ultimate goal. Does that make sense?
19:39
Speaker 3: If what she says makes sense, and I'm going to
19:41
Speaker 3: broaden it to work for me. So my faith is
19:43
Speaker 3: a part of my life and who I am, right,
19:46
Speaker 3: and I choose to not separate it as I go
19:48
Speaker 3: through life. So I choose not to separate it from
19:51
Speaker 3: what I do at work. I choose to not separate
19:53
Speaker 3: it from home and family and friends. It is all
19:56
Speaker 3: a part of who I am and part of what
20:00
Speaker 3: matters to me the most. So that's how I choose
20:04
Speaker 3: to look at it. I choose to not separate it out,
20:06
Speaker 3: but look at it as you know, the way that
20:09
Speaker 3: I am, And that's a huge part of who I am.
20:11
Speaker 1: I mean, let me ask you, doctor Wallington. You know
20:14
Speaker 1: DEI Diversity Equity inclusion. You know it's two years ago,
20:18
Speaker 1: was really hammered. Oh and even Elon Musk has an
20:22
Speaker 1: issue with DEI, and he's getting in public spats with
20:28
Speaker 1: basketball owner Apartment used to be the owner of the
20:31
Speaker 1: Dallas Mavericks. He recently sold the team. Boyd, I does
20:35
Speaker 1: d I water down the accomplishment of the that being
20:40
Speaker 1: achieved by c suite executives.
20:45
Speaker 3: I don't think it does at all, because remember, C
20:47
Speaker 3: suite executives were achieving things long before diversity equity inclusion
20:52
Speaker 3: as we understand it now was a real, real, real
20:56
Speaker 3: focus of conversation. So those achievements are what they are,
21:00
Speaker 3: and I celebrate those who've done them. I think now,
21:03
Speaker 3: you know, diversity equity inclusion are a foundation for what
21:09
Speaker 3: folks are striving to achieve, and diversity equity inclusion, in
21:13
Speaker 3: my opinion, will always be important because there are gaps.
21:18
Speaker 3: There are clearly gaps between the world that we live
21:22
Speaker 3: in and function in the world that others are blessed
21:24
Speaker 3: to live in and function in. And so D and
21:26
Speaker 3: I simply acknowledges their gaps, and d and I says,
21:30
Speaker 3: here are ways that we can close those gaps by
21:33
Speaker 3: working together.
21:34
Speaker 1: You know, everybody has a title, No, every generation has
21:37
Speaker 1: a title, you know, Like when I grew up, I
21:39
Speaker 1: would just want to I'm asking you because you're in
21:41
Speaker 1: the game, you know, and some tim louse I'll only
21:44
Speaker 1: just suspect I grew upative Affirmative action was the termed
21:50
Speaker 1: that I grew up with, you know, And it feels
21:52
Speaker 1: to me that DEI is affirmative action, isn't it?
21:58
Speaker 3: You know what that's I can see why you would
22:02
Speaker 3: say that, And I don't know that I have a
22:03
Speaker 3: point of view one way or the other. What I
22:05
Speaker 3: will continue to come back to is that there are
22:08
Speaker 3: gaps right right, They're clearly gaps between Again, I'm going
22:11
Speaker 3: to talk about what I know. If you look at
22:13
Speaker 3: the US corporations, you know there are gaps between positions
22:17
Speaker 3: of power, who holds positions of power, who gets to
22:20
Speaker 3: make the decisions and doesn't get to make the decisions.
22:23
Speaker 3: There are gaps there. And so again, what I believe diversity,
22:26
Speaker 3: equity inclusion does is acknowledges that there are gaps, and
22:29
Speaker 3: it gives us a foundation upon which to simply have
22:32
Speaker 3: a conversation and say, if we all acknowledge their gaps,
22:35
Speaker 3: what are we going to do to close those gaps?
22:38
Speaker 3: And how can we work together to close those gaps?
22:40
Speaker 1: And the reason I brought up my listeners or let
22:43
Speaker 1: them know that, you know, it's so hard to achieve anything,
22:47
Speaker 1: especially when you are a personal color, especially a person
22:50
Speaker 1: who's black, and especially if you're African American male. You know,
22:55
Speaker 1: not the water down the achievements and say it's easy
22:58
Speaker 1: for African American females. African American males do place a
23:04
Speaker 1: much more crisis role in pursuing opportunities in the corporate
23:09
Speaker 1: structure that's predominantly male driven by whites. You know, what
23:14
Speaker 1: is the hopes for the next generation of black executives,
23:17
Speaker 1: doctor Chuck Wallington.
23:19
Speaker 3: So I'll tell you my hopes, and I'll tell you
23:20
Speaker 3: what the thirty men whom I talked to hope for.
23:23
Speaker 3: So the hope is that for those of us who
23:26
Speaker 3: are blessed to be in these roles now, that we
23:29
Speaker 3: will continue to do our very very best in what
23:32
Speaker 3: we have been asked to do and to leave the
23:36
Speaker 3: door open for the next generation of people who look
23:40
Speaker 3: like us. It's not enough to simply occupy these seats
23:43
Speaker 3: and lead. It is extremely important that we occupy these seats,
23:48
Speaker 3: that we're blessed to do well, and that we leave
23:51
Speaker 3: the door open so that others can come behind us
23:53
Speaker 3: and do even bigger and better work than we've been
23:57
Speaker 3: blessed to do.
24:00
Speaker 1: Go to this question. You know, the society were living
24:03
Speaker 1: in race is at its highest. I think racial issues
24:08
Speaker 1: of racial place itselfs out. The political climate is very
24:13
Speaker 1: racially driven, you know, is you know you either this
24:18
Speaker 1: side of the ledger or you this side of the ledger.
24:22
Speaker 1: How can we close that gap trying to move forward
24:26
Speaker 1: and just be recognized not that's the late doctor markin
24:30
Speaker 1: Luther King would say, not by the color of our skin,
24:34
Speaker 1: because it seems that we are still being judged by
24:37
Speaker 1: that and that's not fair because when I walk in
24:40
Speaker 1: the room, you know I'm not a white guy.
24:43
Speaker 3: Right right, Well, I think the first way of closing
24:46
Speaker 3: the gap is to acknowledge that there's a problem. If
24:48
Speaker 3: there is a gap, and so there's that we have
24:53
Speaker 3: to acknowledge that there's a problem or challenge or an opportunity.
24:56
Speaker 3: The second is to then bring together the right people
24:58
Speaker 3: and say, if we acknowledge if there's a challenge or
25:01
Speaker 3: a gap, what are we willing to do as we
25:04
Speaker 3: work together to close the gap. And again I talk
25:08
Speaker 3: about that in the book towards the end. You're a
25:11
Speaker 3: if you're a CEO and you know that you don't
25:15
Speaker 3: have representation from black men on your leadership team or
25:20
Speaker 3: anywhere in your ranks, you know, first of all, you
25:22
Speaker 3: have to acknowledge as a challenge, and then you have
25:24
Speaker 3: to be willing to put together a plan that will
25:27
Speaker 3: bring in, you know, the right people, and then you
25:30
Speaker 3: have to support them along the way. You have to
25:32
Speaker 3: prop them up. You have to give them the infrastructure
25:35
Speaker 3: so that they will be successful. You have to also
25:37
Speaker 3: hold your other leadership colleagues accountable because if they have
25:42
Speaker 3: opportunities or openings in their areas, are they interviewing diverse
25:45
Speaker 3: slates of candidates to ensure that people who look like
25:48
Speaker 3: you and you have a chance to introduce these roles.
25:51
Speaker 3: If they are great. If they're not, that's a problem,
25:54
Speaker 3: and what's going to be done about that? So you know,
25:56
Speaker 3: that's one way to do it. Acknowledge that there's a
25:59
Speaker 3: gap or a problem problem, and then bring the right
26:01
Speaker 3: people together focused on generating solutions that will help the close.
26:06
Speaker 1: Wow, how can we find How can we find this book?
26:09
Speaker 1: Is it online? Is it the website? Help us out
26:12
Speaker 1: right down? The book I'm talking about is A Seat
26:14
Speaker 1: at the C, Seat at the Seat the Letter C
26:17
Speaker 1: Sweet Table. Insights from the Leadership journeys of African American
26:21
Speaker 1: Executives by doctor Chuck Wallington. How can we find it?
26:26
Speaker 3: This book is available online at Amazon or wherever you
26:30
Speaker 3: buy your books online, but I would suggest that folks
26:33
Speaker 3: go to Amazon and.
26:35
Speaker 1: Pink up a copy.
26:35
Speaker 3: Would love to have you do that.
26:37
Speaker 1: Well, Doctor Chuck Waallington and I and George's conversation, I
26:41
Speaker 1: hope we was moving for you. I learned a lot
26:43
Speaker 1: and it's about exposing people to the next level of
26:46
Speaker 1: opportunity and you're providing with this book. The book was
26:48
Speaker 1: a very very good read, and I recommend it to
26:51
Speaker 1: anybody who's interested in this form of knowledge and learning
26:55
Speaker 1: because we always want to take the next step. In
26:58
Speaker 1: your book allowed that through my reading.
27:01
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity, and I
27:03
Speaker 3: wish you well, and I wish your readers well or
27:05
Speaker 3: your listeners well.
27:07
Speaker 1: Talk to you soon, and my friend, and be careful
27:09
Speaker 1: and stay warm.
27:10
Speaker 3: Thanks so much.
27:11
Speaker 1: My next guest, my next guest, he's on the call
27:13
Speaker 1: right now. And let me just tell you I used
27:16
Speaker 1: to be a little chunky dude till I met this guy.
27:18
Speaker 1: So if you're concerned about losing weight, if you're concerned
27:22
Speaker 1: about how to do it and still have fun, and
27:25
Speaker 1: I have fun. He's my guests is coming up next.
27:28
Speaker 1: Don't go nowhere is New Year's Residu New Year's New
27:31
Speaker 1: Year's Resolution time. Everybody always said someone in wanting it's
27:34
Speaker 1: about I think the number one is weight loss. Where
27:38
Speaker 1: my next guest is the man to talk to. Please
27:41
Speaker 1: come back to Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
27:47
Speaker 4: Thank you for joining us for this edition of Money
27:49
Speaker 4: Making Conversations Master Class. Money Making Conversations Master Class with
27:54
Speaker 4: through Sean McDonald is produced by thirty eight to fifteen
27:57
Speaker 4: Media Inc. More information about thirty eight fifteen Media Inc.
28:02
Speaker 4: Is available at thirty eight fifteen media dot com. And
28:05
Speaker 4: always remember to lead with your gifts