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