The Competitive Advantage To Being Black

By Sonia Alleyne
Black Enterprise

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Diversity just doesn't address the issues associated with blacks in corporate America," says a black male vice president with a major financial institution in New York City. "When you unravel the implementations of diversity programs, black men and women are still the last hired and first to be dismissed."

Although "diversity" has become the hottest buzzword in business, with an increasing number of corporations making "Best Practices" lists, many black employees in corporate America seem unimpressed with the accolades extolled on their organizations. Even chief diversity officers have confessed that in some organizations employees see them as little more than public relations vehicles for the company. So who actually benefits from diversity? The New York City executive responds, "The corporations -- easily."

Kenneth Arroyo Roldan, CEO of Wesley, Brown & Bartle Co., a firm that specializes in recruiting minority executives, understands the frustration, "Often those companies that have received the most recognition, exhibit the least amount of diversity in practice," he says. "Or the activity that is seen is at the entry level. Many will recruit from such programs as Inroads, a nonprofit organization that trains and develops minority youth for professional careers. But African Americans and Latinos transition out of these programs after five to seven years, never making it to the senior levels. [As a result,] young African Americans are frustrated because when they look up the ranks they don't see anyone who looks like them."

Roldan, author of Minority Rules: Turn Your Ethnicity into a Competitive Edge (Collins; $22.95), offers tips on navigating corporate culture, networking, selecting a mentor, and developing vehicles for trumpeting achievement -- all in the context of leveraging ethnicity.

Roldan, and other experts believe that although many companies are still struggling with how to develop and implement successful diversity programs, the current business climate around diversity can actually present opportunities for minority executives -- if they are proactive, strategic, and unafraid to use their ethnicity to their advantage. The latter, however, is often psychologically burdensome.

"Sometimes we worry about being hired just because we're African American," explains Sharon Hall, a managing director for the executive search firm SpencerStuart in Atlanta. "I would encourage us not to worry about why you're hired, because the only reason you'll be allowed to stay is if you're doing a good job. So, whatever gets you a leg in the door is worth it.

"You can be hired because you're African American and the guy next to you could be hired because he's the chairman's godson. He has no shame for being hired for that reason. The difference is, he'll probably have his job 10 years from now regardless of his performance," Hall continues. "Just worry about how you're going to perform and how you're going to succeed. Those are important things to think about."

Race is just one attribute that can be used to someone's benefit, says Joe Watson, CEO of StrategicHire, a Virginia-based diversity consulting firm. "It used to be that being African American was always a disadvantage. That has shifted."

It's important, however, that minority candidates realize ethnicity is not the single determining factor for hires or promotions. "You still have to deliver results, and expect to deliver at a higher level. You still have to know that your mistakes will be magnified relative to the mistakes of others. You still must be vigilant in your social interactions in the workplace," Watson says. "But if you are all those things, then for the first time in a long, long time, your ethnicity will be your advantage."

Experts agree that the psychological weight black professionals carry about how they are perceived in an organization is probably the biggest obstacle to why many don't use ethnicity to their advantage. Here are several ways it can be leveraged:

Stop hiding it on your resumé. "We were trained at one time to sanitize our biographies, to remove any trace of ethnicity for fear that we would be removed from the process," says Watson. But today, your resumé should provide a full and total picture of who you are and what you represent. "If you're a member of a certain sorority or fraternity, list it. If you are the president of the black student union, list it. Don't make it hard for people to find you. You can assist recruiters by self-identifying."

Don't be a silent participant. Roldan says many minorities walk into an organization feeling disadvantaged, wondering how they will be treated and regarded, and underestimating the wealth of knowledge and experience they offer simply because of who they are ethnically and culturally. They should not be afraid to engage colleagues in cultural issues, topics, and concerns that relate to clients, customers, or new markets, or even to further the diversity efforts of the company by mentoring other blacks and bringing in people of color, says Roldan. Watson concurs: "If somebody is from the West Coast and the company is looking at expanding to the West Coast, they usually look at that person and ask 'What do you think?' It's only around race where we don't do that. So people need to stop moving away from providing their expertise relative to markets that they know intimately for fear of being typecast or pigeonholed as 'the black person.'"

Learn the culture. "We have to understand the rules of a corporation, the rules of engagement, early on," explains Roldan. "Those who have been successful have been able to retain their own identity and learn how to play within the confines of that specific corporate entity -- and each corporation is different." Knowing the culture helps employees clearly determine the expectations and values, as well as how to form the most beneficial alliances and how to get recognized for accomplishments. "You have to know corporate politics," continues Roldan. "So if you're a high performer, [you know how] to go about tooting your own horn or have others toot it for you."
Reporting by Chauntelle Folds

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